Heists and Vengeance

Eight

Lana

Lana's stomach chose that exact moment to let out a loud growl. She closed her eyes and mentally cursed herself for not getting a bite to eat before leaving the apartment. The truth was, she'd been in such a hurry, she'd figured it couldn't hurt to skip breakfast.

She opened her eyes to see that the whole group was studiously avoiding looking at her. They stood in awkward silence for a few minutes before Cole deigned to speak.

"So...I guess you're hungry?"

Erin smacked his arm. "No, her stomach has decided to demonstrate a whale's mating call. Of course, she's hungry."

Lana knew that Erin was just trying to be nice, but now she felt more mortified than ever. Luckily, Ryder stepped in.

"Erin, wisecracks like that are the reason Cole usually has the good sense to stay quiet." He turned to Lana. "Don't worry. We'll get you something to eat."

But he didn't make a single a move, and neither did Cole – both boys just stood and looked at Erin.

She raised her hands. "Why're you guys looking at me? You know I can't do better than some pancakes."

"Well, at least you can accomplish that. Cole and I have no cooking skills whatsoever, and Brett- "

"Brett would find a way to burn down the kitchen while making cereal. Fine I'll go" Lana didn't know who Brett was, but she guessed it was the lanky boy from earlier.

As she bustled out of the room, muttering something about the patriarchy, the other boy – Brett – entered, wearing a fresh t-shirt and jeans. His twinkling green eyes flitted about the room, seemingly unable to focus on one thing.

Ryder threw his hands in the air. "Stars! Why can't you all be in the room at the same time, so we can get started?"

"Started with what? I hope it's breakfast." Brett replied. His words were so quick, like bullets firing from a machine gun, that Lana could hardly keep up.

Ryder waved him over, and muttered something to him quietly. Brett responded in equally hushed tones, and they started a conversation that (thankfully) lasted only a minute or two.

Brett stepped back, and in doing so, noticed her standing there. He shook her hand, giving her a small smile. "Hi, you must be Lana. I'm Brett and-stars! What'd you do – shrink in the washing machine?" At her raised eyebrows, he continued hastily. "I mean-you are short."

"Thanks, I hadn't noticed," she replied dryly. She'd had so many people comment on her height that she didn't even notice it anymore.

Erin walked into the room, a plate of blueberry pancakes in her hand, laughing all the while – evidently, she'd heard Lana's response. "I like this girl!"

"Finally! You're all here." Ryder clapped his hands. "Okay, take a seat." They did as he said – Ryder on a squashy armchair, Cole, Erin, and Lana on the sofa, and Brett stretched on the carpet.

Erin handed the pancakes over to Lana, who took them gratefully. As soon as they were in her hands, she started shoveling them in. As soon as the first bite entered her mouth, her taste buds lit up in pleasure and appreciation.

"Wow! These are really good!" she said, through the mouthful.

"Thanks. It's my mom's recipe." Erin smiled again, but this time while the grin was still wide, there was a sadness in her eyes that hadn't been there before. But the expression was gone as soon as it had appeared, and they all turned to Ryder.

He wasted no time getting into it. "So, mainly what I wanted to do here was introduce ourselves a bit more to Miss Tur-Lana." He took a breath. "I'll start. Okay, uh. I'm Ryder Donahue, and despite what Erin might believe, that's my real surname."