Seven in One

Chapter 5: "Trouble"

Felix greeted Sophie with a smile at the door but Sophie dove in for a hug.

"No hugs?" Sophie sighed sadly, when Felix didn't return the hug. Felix looked at the table when he entered the kitchen. There were four plates accompanied by a spoon. "Four plates? Is someone going to join us at the table?" Felix asked cautiously.

"Yup, I'm here," a voice called out from the other room. Fraya poked her head out just enough to spot Felix and stuck her tongue out at who she thought was Sevin. "Sevin?" She questioned, as she scrutinized Felix.

"That's my name." Felix responded, trying to play his role.

"You look... different somehow."

"I did borrow this shirt from Calvin," Felix responded after several moments of quick thinking. "He's not exactly my size, but -" Joana walked in with the food startling Felix. He stopped mid-sentence in his explanation but no one seemed to notice. "So what are we eating?" he asked as he lifted the top off the pot. The scent of meat and spices filled the air, enticing his stomach to gurgle at just that moment.

"Hungry like always." Joana said as she sat down beside him and handed him the ladle to serve himself.

Felix tried to take his time eating but it was just so good and he was so hungry. He was tempted to take a third serving but when he reached for the pot, he realized it was empty. "I um, left my phone at Calvin's. I should go get it." He slipped out of his seat heading to the bathroom.

"What about me, you're going to leave me here alone, your favorite cousin." Fraya responded, interrupting his escape.

"You're not alone, you have Sophie. You can girl bond or something." Felix responded without turning.

"What?" Fraya mumbled, but Felix was already out the door.

---

Paul started a fire with the wood Teron and Ashton collected while Kristine stared at the fish, obviously not wanting to do her job of cleaning them.

"You haven't even started gutting the fish," Paul complained once the fire was roaring hot and ready for the fish.

"And why should she? That's a man's job." April interjected coming out from the surrounding woods.

Paul scowled at April. "You found us."

"Well of course, when it smells like you're gonna burn down the woods around you." April chattered, taking the knife from Kristine's hand and holding it out to Paul.

Making short work of the fish, he placed each on a stick, and handed them to Kristine and April. "I cleaned, now YOU cook," he commanded.

The girls sneared at him but complied, putting the fish over the fire and rotating them every so often to cook them completely.

The assortment of trout, bass, and perch tasted delicious and they finished off every last scrap. They heard someone moving through the brush as they started to cover the firepit with sand to kill it completely. Teron picked up the sticks that were used to cook the fish, handed them out to everyone, and then took up a defensive stance to wait and see who or what was going to come through the bushes at them.

"I hate mosquitoes." The words were followed by a slap.

"You missed, Felix!" Paul teased, raising his voice so that it could be heard over all the noise that Felix was making coming through the bushes.

"Right," Felix answered sarcastically, flicking the dead mosquito off his arm at Paul. "So how was your fish? I could smell it a mile away - bet the bears could too."