where the water meets the moon | e.d.

twenty-six

ethan

wednesday, june 1, 6:34 am.

"addy," i sigh out of pure defeat, looking down at the pancake mix all over my fresh clothes.

she holds a hand over her mouth to stop a laugh, but i can see it peeking out through her eyes. evan looks like he's going through the same emotions.

i close my eyes and take a calming breath.
"i'm going to change."

"no, wait," she says and grabs a rag from a kitchen drawer. she quickly rinses water over it before lamely attempting to get off all the powder.

"don't think this is helping," i singsong when she starts to scrub the rag against my chest.

"you're right," she admits and drops the towel. "it's not helping. but don't change until we get it all finished. what if i spill the measuring cup again?"

the reason we're making breakfast is because it's captain avery's birthday.

we only know because evan was eavesdropping on him and dr. cornell's radio conversation last night, and then he reported the news back to us.

"if you spill again i'll throw you overboard," i joke, only half-kidding.

"don't drown," evan snorts.

it's kind of a running joke on the boat now. my fake drowning and addy's desperate and frantic attempt to "save me."

addy giggles and sprays some cooking oil on the small griddle that we found in the back of the pantry closet. it makes a sizzling noise, and she jumps back.

"here," i say, nudging her out of the way and taking the cooking spray from her. "you're not doing it right."

"well then what's the right way?"

i hold up the can with raised eyebrows, then turns back to the hot griddle. "i call it the spray and run."

"spray and run—"

before she can finish, i'm coating the surface in vegetable oil and already moving to dodge the oil that flies back up at me.

she screams a little and follows me, trying to get away from the sizzling pops.

i start to laugh once the griddle has calmed down, but addy looks up at me with angry eyes, holding a hand close to her.

"maybe explain the rules of spray and run before you do it?"

"it's literally in the name."

"well it burnt me," she mumbles sadly and looks down at her hand, which has a small red spot where some of the oil hit.

"here, run it under some water," i nudge her towards the sink and switch the tap to cold, and grab her hand to let the water run over it.

she looks at me out of surprise, but doesn't pull her hand away.

"it's not that big, but if it blisters over then you should ask avery for the first aid kit," i mumble, turning off the water and grabbing a fresh towel.