Sparks - Wendy Higgins Page 0,43
a handful of popcorn in, still shaking it, her brown waves popping out of her high messy bun. “And Viola’s in the shower.”
Good thing I peed before leaving the airport. We had one bathroom for all of us. Major downfall of city apartment living.
I snuggled down beside Holly and took a handful of popcorn. She threw part of the blanket over my lap. Rhea came out of the bedroom with one of those freaky Korean masks on that made it look like your face was melting off.
“Scary,” Holly said, and I giggled. Rhea sat on my other side, putting her cold feet against my hips. I pulled the blanket so that it was over all three of us. We watched some trashy reality love-connection, and I wanted so badly to tell them about Shawn, but something held me back. I recognized it immediately as guilt. The gross electric eels were at it again, zapping me from the inside and making me nauseous.
My phone whistled, and I snatched it up. What the??
It was our roommate group chat with an awful picture of me zoning out at the television, resting bitch face in full force, taken three seconds ago while I’d been thinking of Shawn.
On either side, Rhea and Holly burst into laughter, practically falling over.
“Hahaha.” I shook my head haughtily. “Hilarious.”
They really thought so. I couldn’t hold back a smile for long. Damn them.
The bathroom door burst open and we all jumped as Viola came walking out of a steamy cloud, her head wrapped in a towel, wearing a very puffy pink robe. Her lips pursed.
“Who ate my fucking cereal?”
Oh, shit. The three of us froze. And then my guilt surfaced.
“I took a handful, Vio. I’m sorry. I’ll buy you a box on Friday.”
She smacked her lips and gazed down at me like I was an angelic cherub. “No, this was more than a fucking handful. I had half a box and now it’s at a quarter.”
I shook my head. “I only poured a tiny bit into my palm. That’s all I had, I swear.”
Her eyes narrowed. “It was that skinny fucking bitch, Beth, wasn’t it? I know you wouldn’t do that, you little doll baby.” She leaned forward and squeezed my cheeks. I shut my eyes tightly as she shook my head around and then kissed my nose.
Viola let me go abruptly and moved down the long hall, griping about Beth and how people couldn’t keep their hands out of her stuff. “What the fuck do I gotta do? Get a fucking lockbox for my cereal?” More griping as she went into the room and shut the door.
“Manager, please!” Rhea whispered.
Holly and I literally had to grab hold of one another, pressing our lips together against laughter. I closed my eyes because if I looked at either of them I would lose it.
We finally calmed down and Holly said, “I’d hate to be Beth.”
“Pff.” Rhea waved a hand, jangling the bracelets at her wrist. “Beth won’t care. She’ll laugh it off. We need to say something to her.”
“Yeah, she takes what she wants and never feels bad,” Holly said. She peered at me. “Rhea told me all about last night. Can I see a picture of him?”
“I already deleted him,” I said. “Sorry.”
“He was hot,” Rhea said, then glanced at me and cringed. “But a dick. Sorry. How are you today? You’re on call tomorrow, right?”
“I’m okay. And actually, I checked before I left and I’m working at six AM. A two-nighter. And listen to this—the dispatcher said Silas requested me to be their FA.” I made a face like, isn’t that weird?
Rhea and Holly caught eyes across me.
“What?” I asked.
“I mean, are you surprised?” Holly asked. “He freaking adores you.”
“I was kind of surprised,” I said. “I didn’t know pilots could request crew members. And yeah, I mean, we get along great so I guess it makes sense. He doesn’t want to get stuck with a sky muffin he doesn’t like.”
Oh, my gosh. They looked at each other again! Another bad feeling slithered through me, and I felt myself getting defensive.
“Why are you looking at each other like that? I would never mess with Silas, you guys. And you know he’s loyal to his wife.”
“We know, boo,” Rhea said gently. “It’s just that…have you ever noticed how you’re the only female who’s allowed to touch him?”
“What?” I flew forward, throwing the blanket off Rhea as I stood to face them. “I don’t touch Silas!”
Both of their eyes widened as