prodigy | e.d.

twelve

morgan

friday at dinner, ethan's late.
he texts the group chat saying that he's on the other side of campus, and to save him some of the good garlic bread.

peter listened to his request and has a small dessert plate reserved just for warm garlic bread in front of ethan's spot.

when he does come rushing in, he's slightly out of breath and his hair is a little messy.

"hey," joss smiles when he sits down. "where you been?"

he reaches up to push back his hair off his forehead. "around. thanks for the bread."

i furrow my brows at the dark, reddish brown stain on his palm. devin seems to notice it too.

"hey, what's that?" he asks, looking directly at it.

"oh, this?" ethan inspects his hand. "i don't know. i must've touched wet stain, or something. they're re-coating the wood in the science classrooms."

"think it'll wash off?" peter asks.

he shrugs, trying to rub it off with his fingers.
"it should. maybe after i wash my hands a couple of times."

"you should try nail plush remover without acetone. or dish soap and baking soda," i add in. "my dad does a lot of wood staining back home."

josslyn gives kind of a pity look to the rest of the guys, and i try not to notice. i've been bringing up my family a lot recently and she says i'm starting to feel homesick.

"hey, you should ask your mom to send you frames and stuff for your pictures," devin offers to me, tapping the table like he just solved world hunger. "it's what got me through my first year."

i playfully roll my eyes, picking the chicken out of my chicken fried rice. "i'm fine, guys. you all seem to think i'm a ticking time bomb about to explode if i don't get even a taste of home soon."

peter shrugs. "you aren't?"

i glower at him, and ethan stifles a laugh.

"what i mean is, i'm fine," i raise my hands to my chest. "i don't miss home."

"not even your sister?" peter asks.

josslyn kicks him under the table, and he grimaces and reaches down to touch the leg she hit.

"my sister is probably fine without me, like i am without her," i say casually, but inside i know it's furthest from the truth.

ethan frowns. "you can miss home, it's okay."

"yeah i do miss home, but you guys are acting like i'm about to like, fall apart or something."

josslyn speaks up. "no, no that's not it. we all just know how difficult it was for each of us on our first weeks."

"which is why we should all go out tonight. do something fun," peter declares.

"like what? this is a school campus that we're not really allowed to leave. are we going to play duck duck goose in the bookstore or something?" i snort.