Natasha glares at him. I look over at him and smile. It is nice to know that I’m not the only one that doesn’t like Natasha. Her twin, Natalie, just sits to her left looking down at her empty plate.
Logan is sitting in front of me, Natasha to his side and Colton beside her. Throughout the whole dinner, Natasha keeps touching Colton’s arm and flirtingly flipping her perfect blonde hair over her shoulder. I’m a little envious of how straight and smooth her hair is compared to my curly mess. I look around the table…all the girls are blonde. Is that another mage thing? Logan keeps telling me jokes, trying to keep the conversation going. It actually works.
“Ok, if you on a reality television show called Elevator Shenanigans. What would you do?”
“Elevator Shenanigans? That’s the best you could come up with?” I ask. I can’t help but laugh.
“Yes, now what would you do?” Logan asks.
“Hmm, I’m not sure, what would you do?”
“I’d stand really close to everyone that came in. Maybe occasionally smell them. Pretend that I’ve met them before.”
“Smell them?”
“Yes, got anything better missy?”
“Hmm, I think it would be really funny to stare at a person for a long time, making your eyes get larger and larger, until they can’t get any bigger,” I demonstrate that. “When they ask what’s wrong, start backing away, until you hit the wall, and point a finger at them at the same time. Once they start squirming and right before the elevator opens, whisper ‘You’re one of THEM’ and then run out screaming.” I start laughing before I finish talking.
Logan joins me and I end up laughing so hard that I snort, sending us both into another fit of laugher. I cover my mouth to try and quiet my laugh a little. Liam and Emma, who had both heard our conversation, are laughing with us.
“Oh gosh, my stomach hurts.” Logan says. Finally taking a deep breath, I’m able to calm the laugher. The table is awkwardly silent. Tom, Claire, and Colton are smiling at us, probably happy that for once I’m not about to pass out or anything. Avoiding everyone’s eyes, I glance down at my lap. One last giggle escapes and I glance up at Logan to see him still smiling.
“You totally have to do that sometime. It would be hilarious coming from you,” says Logan.
“I don’t think so. I’ll video-tape it and you do it. We could be YouTube stars!”
Colton looks around the table, “Does anyone else feel really out of that conversation?”
“You had to be here man,” says Logan.
“I was here, man.” Colton does his best imitation of Logan.
“I meant here.” He circles his arms in my immediate direction. “You were over there,” he says while pointing to the other half of the table.
“Is everyone done eating?” asks Claire. “Why don’t you guys go hang out in the entertainment room, while I clean up.” Everyone starts getting up from their chairs and leaving the room.
“Can I help you clean up, Claire?”
“No. Go hang out with everyone else. I’ve got this.”
“Are you sure?” I don’t want to leave the mess for her to clean up on her own. There are a lot of dishes to do.
“Yes, go. Go.” She pushes me towards the door. Taking the hint, I walk out of the room and up to the entertainment room. The couch is already occupied, as are both of the smaller chairs.
Natasha is sitting very close to Colton on the couch. Emma and David are sharing a chair. Logan is sitting on the other side of the couch. Conner and Natalie are sitting with Madison on the floor. Liam is sitting by himself against the wall, so I walk over and sit beside him. Wrapping his arm around me, he pulls me close to him.
“You feeling any better?”
“Yeah, I really am. I promise this time. I am hoping that if I get back in the habit of training, things will slowly start to return to normal. I could really use normal right now.”
Liam squeezes my shoulder a little, “I hate to break it to you Ryanne, but none of this is really normal.”
“True. Well, any semblance of normal would be fine.” I rest my head on his shoulder and look around the room. Everyone seems to be involved in their own conversations.
“Natasha keeps giving you the stink eye,” Liam tells me.
“I read her thoughts earlier. She thinks I’m ruining her chances of getting back with Colton. Apparently they were an item at