Spirit of Shadows

| Chapter Seventeen |

Em woke to the smell of bacon and eggs, wafting in from downstairs and hurriedly threw a plush-pink robe on that was hung by the door. Kachina must've placed it there that morning, Em thought with a small smile. Maybe she really does care about me?

Em's thoughts slipped away as she smelled the glorious waft of breakfast foods once more. Continuing down the stairs, she could see Jonah, Matthias, and Kachina sitting at the table. Jonah had a cup of coffee in hand, Matthias was peeling an orange, and Kachina was talking excitedly about something.

Em stilled before she reached the next flight of stairs to reveal herself to them. What if they hate me for what I did last night? What I told them? Em's fingers wrapped into fists at her sides and she let out a quiet exhale, telling herself it was okay. With a small burst of courage, Em tipped her head down and walked forward.

Kachina stopped talking immediately and Em didn't want to glance over to see any of their faces. She was sorry about last night. She knew she had made a complete fool of herself for acting the way she had.

"Good morning!"

It was Kachina, her voice as bubbly as ever. Em actually shifted her gaze toward the Native American girl for a split second. Kachina was smiling kindly at her, her feet moving to approach her.

"Morning." Em said.

"Sleep okay?" Kachina asked. Em looked over to see the girl pouring Em a cup of dark coffee. The smell was strong as it stung Em's nostrils.

Em decided that she was even acting ridiculous now. Kachina has been nothing but nice to her and well, Jonah and Matthias have seen her freak out multiple times before and they're still here.

"Yes, I did actually. Thank you for welcoming us here." Em replied. This time, she met Kachina's kind smile straight on, and Kachina's eyes brightened.

"Of course, babe. I'm fine with housing you and Brooding-Boy-Wonder over here..." Kachina said, pointing her finger at Matthias. Em pressed a fist against her lips to stop herself from choking out a laugh. Matthias only rolled his eyes. "But Jonah-the-pain-in-my-ass-Rogue, could've stayed outside." She pouted playfully.

"You know what–" Jonah began but Em and Kachina were too busy wheezing with laughter to hear much more than that.

...

By the time the girls had finished crying with laughter, they dug into their delicious breakfasts. Em had picked out two helpings of scrambled eggs, two pancakes, and a small orange which she peeled into with gusto. Matthias had taken smaller portions of everything and Em tried her best to get him to take half of one of her pancakes. He declined, saying he was totally stuffed, but Em didn't believe him.

Jonah, on the other hand was a pig when it came to food. It was gone so fast off his plate it looked like he had inhaled it. Kachina's eye twitched at the way Jonah, purposefully snapped his mouth with every bite. He even moaned loudly with each swallow and Em thought Kachina would eventually lunge across the table and slap him into next week.

So, Em interrupted their silent teasing and spoke up. "Listen, guys. I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry about how I acted yesterday, that was...inexcusable..."

Everyone's eyes were on Em as she apologized. Even Jonah had stopped being obnoxious for a moment.

"It's alright, babe. We get it. What you told us last night...that was some heavy stuff and you're really brave for admitting it." Kachina said, her tan fingers cupped around the white coffee cup in her hands. She smiled across at Em and nodded reassuringly.