Last Flight to L.A.

chapter thirty: pumpkin spice

"Just because someone stumbles and loses their path, doesn't mean they're lost forever."

~X-Men: Days of Future Past

~~~~~~~

"You've got a guy coming up around the corner," Jacob warned. He and Ethan were sitting rigidly on the coffee table, playing a seemingly intense game of Call of Duty.

Kelsey and Carissa sat on the couch, pretending to be interested in the explosions on the screen. Carissa had pulled out a book three minutes after they'd stopped playing Scrabble (Jacob had won).

"Dude, nice shot!" Ethan laughed.

Kelsey twirled her thumbs around and around, trying not to be frustrated at Ethan, or Jacob for that matter, since he was the one who suggested playing video games.

Ethan knew his sister was shy! And he knew that Kelsey was unbearably awkward. The two personalities were almost destined to be at odds.

At least they were getting along.

"So, uh, how long are you going to be in L.A.?" Kelsey asked.

"Just until Monday," Carissa replied with a polite smile before returning to her book.

"Cool," Kelsey muttered.

Ethan and Jacob's round ended and they high-fived.

"Did you see that last kill?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah! It was awesome. That sniper came out of nowhere."

Kelsey sat up. "Um, Ethan?"

"I think you should've used the SMG to take out that group in the warehouse," Ethan was saying.

"Ethan?"

"Nah, dude, I was on the other side of the map," Jacob replied.

Kelsey sighed and gave up. She firmed her lips and turned towards Carissa. "Do you like coffee?"

Carissa blinked as if she were annoyed and looked up. "Um, yeah, I do."

"I know a really great recipe for pumpkin spice," she offered. 

"Oh, okay,"

Kelsey got up, relieved when Carissa put her book aside and followed her to the kitchen.

"Sometimes it feels like I can't go four hours without cooking something," Kelsey said with a jittery laugh. "I'd probably gain five hundred pounds at work if my boss didn't have me running around all day."

"Ethan told me you were a chef," Carissa replied quietly.

Kelsey smiled as she grabbed a can of pumpkin from Ethan's cupboard. She discreetly checked the expiration date, figuring he hadn't used pumpkin in a while. It had expired two months ago, but it was probably fine.

She dumped it into a pot of milk, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, and coffee.

"Do you like to bake?" Kelsey asked hopefully.

Carissa shrugged. "Not really. I mean, I like to eat baked stuff, don't get me wrong."

Kelsey laughed. "Understandable."

A shout came from the living room. "Ethan!"

"What?!"

"Dude, you might be good at acting, but you can't shoot zombies worth crap!"