Four Fangs

003 - Where there is Light

"No, you cannot use one-two-three-four as the code," Sera said.

"And I can't use my birthday either," I complained.

"Just pick something already!"

"Fine." I thrust my hand out and pressed the number my finger landed on four times.

Sera sighed. "Four-four-four-four, that'll do. You better remember it."

"I will." After I pushed the mini fridge under my bed, I concealed it with a blanket and positioned a box of old volleyball trophies in front.

"She won't notice?"

I shook my head. "No, she's too busy with work."

Sera nodded as if she understood when the familiar sound of a click of a key in a lock, the rustling of a generously sized purse, and the clatter of heels against concrete alerted me to the front entrance.

"Shit, why is she home?"

Rushing out of my room, we came to greet her.

"Hi, Mom." Please don't ask what we were doing.

"Who's this?" she said in a harsh voice.

I sighed, relieved.

"A friend from school. I just transferred here. Name's Sera, nice to meet you." She smiled.

"You may call me Ms. Shiori." she said, face softening a little as she brought a circular white box over to the table. "I have something for you, sit down."

There was only one thing that could be in that box, and I sat down, dreading it. Sera took a seat next to me as my mom confirmed my fears, displaying a beautiful white and brown swirled sheet cake trimmed in red icing roses, strawberries, pineapples, and cherries, and covered in a light amber glaze.

"Wow, what a gorgeous cake. What's the occasion?" Sera said.

"Her birthday," my mom said.

"It's belated, but I hadn't celebrated it yet." I said.

"What kind of piece would you like?"

"A normal one is fine," Sera said.

Shiori wielded a large chef's knife and leaned her weight into it to cut through the still frozen cake, serving her a small square, the inside alternating layers of chocolate and vanilla cake and ice cream.

Fast enough that I almost didn't notice, Sera displayed a micro-expression of disgust, but quickly and smoothly replaced it with a pleasant smile, her eyelashes fluttering like she was savoring the bite. She swallowed, digging her fork in and hauling out another massive chunk. "Mmm, delicious. So sweet, and I like the chocolate ice cream."

How did she do it? How could she pretend she was enjoying it? My mom glared at me and handed me a much larger slice.

"Where are you from?"

"Morocco. My parents were in the military, so we've moved around a lot. I'm glad to be back in the U.S."

"I bet you are, after the Casablanca Inferno and everything else that's been going on over there."

At the mention of Casablanca, Sera tensed and went silent.

"Sorry, I didn't mean... I can't imagine what it would have been like to go through that."

"I won't lie. It was horrible, and I'd rather not talk about it."

"I understand. Sorry for bringing it up."