Page 49 of Outdrawn

“I hope they’re paying you enough, Rissa,” she mused when the girl stopped to catch her breath. “And you have good benefits.”

Marissa laughed. “I don’t get paid for going to school, but Harry pays me for chores. Just ten dollars.”

“Ten dollars?” Sage rested her hands on her hips. “You know, you can negotiate with a boss, right? How long have you been doing chores?”

Marissa tilted her head to the side, trying to think. “All my life.”

Harry scoffed. “You were not doing chores as a toddler. Trust me, I would have been so impressed.”

Marissa giggled. “Okay, maybe since five.”

“Sounds like enough for at least a couple dollars’ raise,” Sage insisted with a knowing smile thrown in Harry’s direction.

“Really?” Marissa’s eyes lit up as she bounced on the balls of her feet. “You think so?”

“We’ll work on some negotiation tactics,” Sage promised.

“You’re going to pay for that,” Harry said in a low voice once Sage and Marissa had moved closer to our group. Despite the threat, he seemed amused at his sister’s excitement.

“A girl’s never too young to learn her worth.” Sage rubbed Marissa's head.

“Looks like we have an even number now,” Seline said, mischief in her eyes. “We can do a buddy system.”

“Is that necessary?” Sage frowned. I’d been trying my best not to stare at her, but she’d stopped right next to me, and I couldn’t help but take lingering glances. She hadn’t looked at me once.

“It is when I don’t want to go on coasters with strangers,” Seline said.

“Well, I don’t want to go on a coaster at all, so…” Harry shook his head. “I’m not your buddy.”

“Same.” Tyson winced at the thought. “I had an early dinner.”

“I want to go on one!” Marissa announced.

“You’re with me then.” Seline offered her hand. “We’re going to show these scaredy-cats how to do it.”

Sage glanced at me then. “You a coaster girl?”

Even though the question was loud enough for everyone to hear, it felt more personal than it should have. It was her cadence and the low register of her voice that did it, I was sure.

“Bumper cars seem like more my speed, since this is my first time,” I said with a laugh that was shyer than usual.

“I can do a bumper car,” Sage offered before anyone else spoke up.

My stomach did a few cartwheels back-to-back. I didn’t know what to say, so I just nodded in agreement.

“I guess it’s you and me,” Harry said to Tyson, who nodded with a smile almost as shy as mine.

“Yeah,” Tyson said, voice not as confident as I was used to hearing. “Sounds like a plan.”

There was dead air I couldn’t quite make sense of, and I looked at Sage to see if she understood, only to find she was already glancing at me, the look in her eyes not seeming concerned with Tyson. She stuffed her hands in the pockets of her jacket, trying to play off the fact she was staring by giving me a shrug.

“You okay?” I asked in a whisper, finally finding my footing again. “You look…”

“What?” she whispered back.

“Happy to see me or something,” I teased.

“You’re the one who lit up as soon as I got here,” she tossed back with a smile.

---