Page 25 of Always Us

“Works for me.” Jade hands me a plate and takes one for herself.

Ryan has platters of scrambled eggs, hash browns, and bacon set out on the kitchen island.

“I went out this morning and got you these.” Ryan holds a tray of donuts in front of Jade.

“Donuts! Thanks, Ryan.” She takes two. “Frank, are you eating?”

“Yes.” He’s sitting in the living room, watching one of those Sunday morning political shows. “I was just listening to our new president to see what promises we can look forward to him breaking when he takes office in a few months.”

Frank walks to the kitchen and I hand him a plate. “Not a fan of Kent Gleason, huh?”

“It’s not just him. They’re all liars. Doesn’t matter what party.” Frank scoops some eggs on his plate. “And Gleason never should’ve been elected. Part of me thinks they rigged the voting machines to make him win.”

Jade looks at me, her hand frozen in place over the piece of bacon she was about to pick up. Luckily, I’m the only one who notices. She needs to get better at hiding what we know. She can’t react every time someone says something like that. People will get suspicious.

“Look, Jade. Name brand.” Ryan’s holding up a carton of orange juice. “Remember when we used to have to buy the generic brand and water it down?”

Jade relaxes and picks up her bacon. “Yeah, it was gross. That’s why I drank soda for breakfast.”

“Real orange juice.” He takes a sip of it and smiles. “Having money is awesome.”

Just like Jade, it doesn’t take much to make Ryan happy. He’s used to having nothing, so undiluted, brand name orange juice is a big deal to him. Even though he has money now, he’s still careful with it. He doesn’t spend much. But at least he got some new clothes. He used to have on the same clothes every time I saw him. It’s like he only had one pair of jeans and a few t-shirts and they all looked really old. Other than clothes, Jade said he’s only used his money to pay for school and to buy his car.

“We never took the car out,” I say to Ryan.

“Yeah, I was just thinking that. Let’s go after breakfast.”

Jade reaches across me for the salt. “Garret and I need to be at the airport at ten, Ryan.”

“We won’t go very far. And your flight leaves at noon. You don’t need to be at the airport at ten.”

“He’s right, Jade.” I grab a piece of bacon. “That’s way too early.”

“Okay, but if we miss our plane, I’m blaming both of you.”

We finish breakfast, then Jade offers to clean up the dishes so Ryan and I can go for a drive. It’s only nine-thirty, but Jade’s already getting anxious, convinced we’ll miss our plane if we don’t leave for the airport soon.

“We’ll be back around eleven,” I say as I follow Ryan to the garage.

“You better not be gone that long!” Jade yells from the kitchen. “Garret, did you hear me? Turn your phone on.”

I just laugh. “We should probably get back by ten or she’ll have a panic attack.”

Ryan hits the garage door opener. “Jade’s always been one of those people who likes to be early. Like way too early.” He gets in the car and waits until I’m in the passenger’s side, then says, “In high school, Jade went to a party at seven forty-five because her friend said it started at eight.”

“Which means it really starts around nine or nine-thirty.”

“Yeah, exactly. So she got there and nobody was there. Nobody showed up at eight either so she just left. I had explain to her that you always add at least an hour to whatever time they tell you.”

He backs the car out, then stops. “Did you want to drive? Sorry, I didn’t even think to ask. Here, let’s switch places.” He undoes his seat belt.

“No, that’s okay. You can drive.“

Ryan nods. “I guess you’ve already driven one of these before. You have a six series so this is a step down. Or several steps.” He fakes a smile. “We can just skip the drive. We don’t have to do this.”

“What are you talking about? I want to take it out.” I motion him to go. “Hurry up. Show me what it can do.”

“Okay.” He smiles for real this time as he backs out onto the street.

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