Cherished

8

Eva was in the kitchen again with Rosetta a few days later, helping her clean up from breakfast. She liked to help her. It beats sitting in her room all day.

Pierce came into the space.

Eva tensed, setting down the slice of apple that she was eating. She shouldn't have been eating; she shouldn't have been down here. She felt frozen to the stool she was sitting on.

"Hello, Pierce." Rosetta smiled. "Lunch won't be long."

"Thank you, Rosetta," Pierce said. "I see you found some help."

Rosetta nodded eagerly. "Eva has been a great help. It gives the other girls a break after they were such big help while I was away."

Pierce turned to Eva.

"Hi, Eva," he greeted politely.

Eva didn't answer, and Pierce went over to the fridge, pulling out the same bottle of juice that Graham did a few nights ago. She was suspicious. What were the odds of that?

Maybe Miles really did drink it all.

"You boys drink too much of that stuff. We've gone through several bottles in a week," Rosetta said. It seems as though she was suspicious too.

Pierce shrugged. He left the kitchen.

"I wonder what that was about," Rosetta mumbled, pulling out all sorts of sandwich supplies and laying them across the island.

Eva had learned that's what the big counter space in the middle of the kitchen was called. It made sense.

Eva went the long way back to her room, hoping not to run into anybody this time, and she was successful.

Bri brought her dinner that night, and Eva was hoping to get some answers out of her.

"What's the story with Pierce and Graham?" Eva asked her before she left.

Bri giggled, flopping onto her bed.

"Graham loves to keep to himself. You'll hardly catch him around, and if you do, he probably won't say much. Pierce and Miles came to live here together. They had been on the run since they left their group home as teenagers. They were adults by that point, desperate for shelter. Graham took them in. The three of them are inseparable, but I don't know much more. They are all very private."

Graham kept to himself? That couldn't possibly be true.

"What is it?" Bri asked curiously.

Eva shrugged. "I've run into Graham several times. He always talks to me."

Bri gave a dramatic gasp, jumping up and running out of the room.

Eva turned to her food, getting a few bites in before Kenzie and Bri both stormed back in.

"Graham talks to you?" Kenzie asked skeptically. "What does he say?"

"Not much," Eva mumbled.

"Don't leave us hanging, please," Bri said. "Tell us his exact words."

"The first night was just an introduction, and then the second night he poured me some juice. Oh, and I ran into him in the foyer, and he asked me if I was feeling better."

Bri screeched. "Three times, Kenz."

"It just sounds like he's being polite," Kenzie said back, crossing her arms over her chest. Some of her earrings dangled today. Eva liked them.

"Did he ever go out of his way to do that with any of us?" Bri asked.

Eva furrowed her brows, confused about what the big deal was.

"I thought he had a thing for Pierce and Miles," Kenzie whispered.

Bri shrugged. Something was definitely different.

"Rosetta is off for the next few days, so Kenzie and I are back on kitchen duty if you want to join us," Bri said, changing the subject.

"Logan and Van will probably be in there too," Kenzie added quietly.

Eva nodded like she would consider it, but there was no way that she would. She would just hang out in her room.

"Pierce came into the kitchen for the same reason Graham did," Eva blurted, unable to keep it to herself.

"What?" Kenzie asked.

"I was with Rosetta, and he came in looking for orange juice, and that's what Graham had done," Eva said, quieting her voice. She had said too much. She was making a big deal out of nothing.

Kenzie's gaze went to Bri, who was wide-eyed.

"Eva, Pierce hates orange juice," Bri whispered.

Eva's heart thudded in her chest. It was violent and she felt her stomach twist up. What was going on?

"That's crazy," Kenzie mumbled, laughing in disbelief. They must've come to some kind of different realization because all Eva considered was the fact that the two largest men she had ever seen were scoping her out for some unknown reason, and it was probably to watch her, keeping track of all of her mess ups.

She set down the tray of food. Dinner sounded less appealing now.