TIFFIN

23

Hey everyone!! I thought Cardigan by Taylor Swift had a good beat to it <3
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Hero stood tall, grinning as he did so.

"Hi, cousin. Thought I'd drop by for a visit."

"Okay," Josephine began, seeming quite uncomfortable, "But why is Kristina here?"

Hero sniggered. "She's your friend, isn't she?"

Out of nowhere, an older woman with a kind face and long curly brown hair stood up from the table. I guessed she was Josephine's mother. 

"Hero," She began, "We are, of course, glad to see you visiting, but this is so unexpected." She turned to me, smiling earnestly. "I haven't had time to meet you yet."

"Oh!" I squeaked, rushing forward to hold out a hand. "My name is Kristina. Josephine is my dormmate- I'm so sorry to intrude-"

"Nonsense!" A man with shoulder-length brown hair and a beer belly said as he pushed back from the table. "We are glad to meet any of Josephine... or Hero's friends." I guessed he was Josephine's father.

"Are you hungry?" Josephine's mother asked. "We have steak wraps."

"Oh, um..."

I stared at Josephine, who still looked quite uncomfortable. I could only imagine what she must have thought. Though it seemed her parents were none the wiser, she hadn't expected me to show up. She hadn't given me an address and hadn't ever invited me. It was very intrusive. 

She eventually cleared her throat.

"Kristina... would you meet me in the laundry room?"

I smiled, feigning normalcy, as I rushed to follow Josephine into a rather cramped closet-sized room. I saw that there were several hampers stacked and filled to the brim with dirty clothes. The washer and dryer were vibrating violently. 

Josephine didn't speak, much to my surprise. She stood frozen with her mouth wide open. 

"I am so sorry," I said in a rush, "I had no idea Hero was bringing me here. He didn't tell me where he was taking me."

"What is going on?" Josephine demanded. "What is going on between you and Hero? Are you actually seeing him?"

"Are you mad at me?" I asked seeing the mixture of emotions crossing her face. 

"No," She replied, "I'm just confused. Why didn't you tell me you two were messing around?"

"We're not," I immediately interrupted, "I didn't lie about that. I swear, I was in town eating at Olive Garden and he just showed up, out of nowhere. He actually apologized to me for the other night. At the party."

"When he groped you?" She mused. "That's interesting. Hero doesn't go out of his way to apologize to anybody. He must have really felt bad."

I shrugged. "I guess."

"He also doesn't bring anyone over either."

I remained silent. I didn't really know what to say. What could I say? Hero had just shuttled me over here and I agreed. 

"Look," Josephine went on, "There's something I need to tell you. Hero is... interesting. We both know that. If you were to ever consider dating him, I would support you, but what you need to know is he's an opportunist. He's dangerous and I know for a fact he would hurt you. Please don't tell him I said this. He'd kill me."

I nodded. "Of course. But I don't know why you're telling me this."

"I just want to warn you." 

It wasn't long before we heard a hard knock on the door. A deep voice called from the other end. 

"Come in!" Josephine called out.

A figure soon stepped over the threshold.

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