The Devil [NYSM]

LITTLE KIDS

"Shit!"

"Shit!" Jack mocked.

Eva scowled and threw the nearest pillow at him. He lamely let it bounce off his face as she got up and pushed past him.

"Danny, I told you not to mess with it!" she complained.

"It wasn't me," he defended, holding his hands up.

She sighed and turned to the other two, "Merritt? Henley?"

They shook their heads, which left only one other person. But when she turned around to find him, he was cowering behind the pillow from his spot.

"Oh you little-"

He yelped loudly as she charged at him. They scrambled around the living room and kitchen, frantically trying to outrun the other. The other adults simply rolled their eyes at the antics.

Eventually they took a break on both sides of the table.

"I've spent months on that projector!" she shouted angrily, "And you broke it!"

"In my defense, I was curious."

She growled and resumed her chasing. He led her down the narrow hallway and back into his room.

"I told you not to touch my stuff!"

"I was curious!" he repeated.

She narrowed her eyes and tried to grab him but he jumped up onto his bed. She chased him and hopped up as well. But when she jumped off, she pretended to fall disastrously.

Her knees crumbled and she thumped. She instantly winced and cradled her ankle.

"Oh, shit are you okay?" Jack asked instantly.

She shook her head, "I think I rolled it or something."

He kneeled next to her and tried to inspect it. But when he was close enough, she grabbed his shoulders and threw him down on his back. She used her own body weight to trap him; her legs were practically straddling him.

He chuckled through the slight pain, "Fake ankle injury?"

She nodded, "An oldie but a goodie."

He muttered an agreement. He was about to move but he realized that she was still holding him down. Their position wasn't ideal but somehow felt strangely comfortable to him.

She noticed the shift in attitude. His expressions had changed minutely and he had relaxed under her touch.

Even though she felt the same pull towards him, she ignored it. She huffed and got back on her feet. He lifted his head to see her better as she scolded him.

Merritt came walking down moments later to see him still lying on his back on the floor.

"This girl's really something, isn't she?" he chuckled.

Jack breathlessly nodded, still in awe of the small encounter. Merritt observed it; he didn't even need his mentalism skills to know the boy had a crush on her.

"You're fighting is interrupting my peaceful lunch," he stated to the two.

"He broke my stuff!" she defended. She accusingly pointed at Jack.

"I don't care. It's wasted time so from now on, the two of you will work together even faster."

Eva's mouth dropped open in disbelief, "That's not fair!"

"I don't care if it's not fair little lady," Merritt mocked, victoriously smiling in her face, "You're working together and that's the end of it."

He began to march out but Eva followed him in anger. She was quite clearly stubborn, which was the trait they'd all noticed off the bat.

Once they were all back in the kitchen, she began to rant off.

"This is bullshit!" she shouted, "All my hard work down the drain because you guys were a little impatient? I actually don't even think you guys realize how much I do for us!"

Henley tried to be the voice of peace and reason but she was cut off.

"I steal; I build; I model; I plan," she listed, "I do every goddamn thing except for assign the jobs and get zero credit! And Danny may be the technical leader but I've done everything here for months."

She aggressively swiveled her head to glare at them all. They shrunk under her fierce look.

"You guys may plan the work, but I'm the only one actually doing it," she stated, "And yet, there's still no appreciation for it."

She huffed and abruptly turned around. She roughly bumped into Jack's shoulders on her way back to her room. Once she was there, she slammed and locked the door loudly.

She pulled at the roots of her hair as she flopped down on the bed next to the broken projector. She closed her eyes and tried to calm down her breathing.

But her peace was disrupted when a timid knock sounded on her door. She instantly groaned and grit her teeth to keep from exploding.

"It's Jack."

"Go away!" she shouted.

He ignored her and instead picked the lock. But when the door swung open, he was already prepared for something to be thrown at him in retaliation.

"Is it safe to come in?"

Her lack of response encouraged him to step into the room. He shut the door quietly behind him and carefully sat besides her on the foot of the bed.

He tapped his fingers against his knees nervously to prepare for his apology.

"I didn't mean to break it," he stated, "I just thought it was cool how you built that thing from pretty much nothing. And then it accidentally slipped out of my fingers and I panicked."

She scoffed.

"I'm sorry, okay? I really am," he said sincerely, "And I'm willing to help you fix it."

She sighed and removed her hands from her face. She lifted herself up to a sitting position where her shoulder was nearly level with his.

She tiredly glanced at him in small thanks. Her expression also conveyed a small apology for being mean, "I'm sorry too. I'm just used to being protective over the things I have."

"Hey, I get it," he chuckled, "When you're used to stealing things you don't have, you fight for the things you do have."

She nodded and bowed her head.

He noticed the dark circles under her eyes from the lack of sleep. His hand unconsciously raised itself to brush his thumb underneath it.

She glanced at him warily as he did so, unsure if she enjoyed the action or was confused by it. Either way, it only lasted a few moments.

His hand dropped and he awkwardly cleared his throat to ease the tension; it didn't help at all.

"By the way, I do appreciate all the work you do," he stated, "And I know the others do too. We can't pull this off without you."

She smiled and tried to play it off flirtatious,

"To quote Han Solo...I know."

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