The Villainous Children Retire

Chapter 23

The kids sat on soft grass under the trees. It was a particularly warmer day for the season, a day which most likely wouldn't occur for a long time.

Esther pulled off her thick coat that her grandfather forced her to wear and used it as a cushion on the grass.

"Hey." She'd heard Eli say. He took off his thick coat leaving him with another thicker coat underneath, something he had been forced to wear as well, and tossed it over his sister. "Don't get careless just because it's a little warmer than usual. It's still winter."

Esther could've argued with him, but instead thanked him. She quickly tuned back in to the conversation the others were having.

It wasn't anything important, Bryce had asked when their next hangout would be and where and Cheryl was trying to figure out if she could get clearance for her house. Liam didn't bother to add anything to the conversation, Eli didn't either, and Esther simply listened.

Suddenly, Cheryl forced Liam into the conversation in a way that intrigued Esther.

"What about you, Liam? You never say anything!"

Liam squirmed in response.

"Can we play at your house?"

After thinking about it for a moment, Liam opened his mouth to answer. Esther was all ears and ready to listen when Eli suddenly put his head on her shoulder and said loudly, "It's so cold!"

"Eli!" snapped Esther, "what are you doing? Why are you being so loud? Especially now of all times!"

Eli, who was extremely nonchalant replied in a whine, "But it's so cold! I'm going to freeze at this rate!"

"Then put your coat back on!"

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I gave it to you to use."

Esther put her hand on the fold of the jacket. "You can have it back then; I don't need it anyway."

"No," replied Eli sternly. "I gave it to you because you took yours off in this weather."

"It's not even that cold," Esther rebutted.

"It is to me." Eli nuzzled Esther's coat. "I don't want you to get sick because of something as silly as taking off your coat."

Esther realized Eli was still worried about her. She slowly took her hand off the coat and reached for his hand. Even though she had been fine for a while now, Eli was constantly reminded of her sick days. She wanted to prove to her brother she was perfectly fine, but she knew the anxiety of the matter would never truly go away.

She thought hard about what consoling words to say, but it was no use; her mind was completely blank. As she prepared to give a pathetic excuse, Eli sneezed.

His little sneeze caught everyone's attention.

"Uh-oh!" gasped Cheryl. "Someone's getting sick!"

"Oh no!" Bryce chimed in. "That's not good. Getting sick is the worst!"

Liam nodded and exclaimed, "Yeah!"

Esther turned to her brother slowly. "See?" she asked softly. "You're concerned about me when you should really be worried about yourself. If you ask me, you're the one who seems to be getting sick."

Eli rubbed his arms and sat up a little. With a small smile, he replied, "Nah, I'm not sick, I'm just cold."

"Cold?" repeated the kids confused.