Possibilities

・☆《Part Fifty-Five》☆・

With lunch finished and the conversation coming to an end, they cleaned up and returned to the last of the unpacking. Spread throughout the house, everyone worked together to find a place for Jensen's belongings.

Briella left Renna alone in Jensen's bedroom, taking a bottle of shampoo to the bathroom. When Renna finished all she could do, she walked out to find Briella and Jada in the kitchen area, and Kelan and Jensen in the loungeroom. The girls talked between themselves. The boys huddled around the tv.

Renna stood behind the couch and watched the boys deal with the tangle of cords, plugging them in behind the tv. Connecting the last cord to the tv and plugging it into the wall, they stood back to stare at the black screen. The words 'No Signal' in a grey box bounced around the screen.

Kelan picked up the tv remote and Jensen grabbed the PlayStation controller. After a few clicks on the remote, the screen lit up blue. Jensen sat on the couch and flicked through the menu.

He stopped on an icon. 'Overcooked 2.' Looking back at Renna, he smiled. "Wanna play again?"

"Sure." She walked around to sit beside him on the couch.

"You know she played that?" Jada asked from the kitchen.

A tiny tingle stung her spine from the question. She hadn't been completely honest about that time, and she had an idea it was about to come out.

"Yeah," answered Jensen, keeping his eyes on the screen. "We played for about an hour."

"The three of you?" Jada questioned.

"No, just Renna and I."

"Wait." Briella put down the glass she had been cleaning and walked around the bench towards them. "I thought you had said you played that game with Levi." She stopped behind the couch, raising an eyebrow as Renna looked back at her.

Levi's name put a bitter taste in Renna's mouth. She looked away to answer, afraid she wouldn't get the words out. "No. I said I played the game. I never mentioned with who."

"You purposely left that out." Jada moved closer.

A quick glance over her shoulder and Renna spotted Jada stood next to Briella. "Maybe."

The game loaded and Renna internally begged Jensen to start the game as fast as he could, but he paused as Briella continued.

"So, what did you and Levi do that night?"

Fear prickled in her chest. "Why does that matter?"

"You said, you watched movies and ate dinner. Right? Is that really all you did? Why lie?"

Renna couldn't bring herself to turn and look into Briella's intense stare that burnt a hole in the back of her head.

Her heart rate spiked. Stomach dropped. A chill trailed up her spine, and she suppressed a shiver. Lie. Lie. Lie, she repeated in her head, but couldn't force the sour words out. Instead, she asked, "Why are we talking about him?"

The pause lasted long enough for Renna to relax, believing Briella had dropped the topic, until she spoke again.

"Renna, can I talk to you outside?"

Her heart halted and she stopped breathing. Without a doubt, she knew why. She also knew she didn't want to be a part of that conversation. She answered, "No. I want to play this game," without looking back at her.

Jensen handed her the second controller. She flicked the joysticks on the character selection screen.

The silence suffocated her. No one moved. She landed on the magenta alien and stopped, but wondered if she should try another character this time.