The Marvels

Ep. 26 | A Voldemort Situation

Vidya was good at art because she sucked at baking.

After mixing up salt and sugar, overloading on yeast, and kneading too little because of her weak arms, she'd created a monstrosity of 'bread' and switched from baking class to art class in disgrace. That was six years ago, but it was still a touchy subject.

So when Jonah invited her over to bake with him and Emma, she should've said No, I'll set your kitchen on fire.

But she was stupid and in love and she said yes.

So far, nothing catastrophic had happened. Three trays of cookies sat baking in the oven, but they were still making more. Vidya was using a cookie cutter and passing unbaked dough circles to Emma, who pushed a Hershey kiss into the center of each one. Jonah was mixing chocolate chips into the next batch of dough. Early 2000's music played in the background, filling the absence left by their comfortable silence.

Vidya snuck a look around. There was no reason for her to be here. These cookies were for fun, not for a class or a bake sale. Jonah could've easily done this with only his sister or any of his friends, but he'd invited Vidya because they seemed to be at that point in a relationship when you do mundane things like this together and simply enjoy the moment. It was nice.

It was nice, but it reminded her that she wasn't doing enough.

They were both busy, but at least he could be honest and tell her what he was up to. All Vidya could do was give excuses. It bothered her sometimes, how good she'd gotten at constructing expert lies to lead people astray from Frostbite.

"Hear back from Chicago yet?" she asked.

He shook his head but smiled. "I heard Amber's going to New York. Tell her I said congratulations!"

"Will do." Vidya passed another circle to Emma and cleared her throat, trying to appear nonchalant. "Are you free Sunday night? We should see a movie or something."

Jonah blinked. "Are you sure about making plans so early? Doesn't your job have unpredictable hours on weekends?"

Where's your new lie, liar? Vidya thought acridly. "It does," she admitted, "but they'll just have to get over it."

"You're sure? They're not going to miss you or anything?"

"Oh, please," she said, flapping her hand dismissively. "It's not like I save lives."

Sometimes, humor was the best deflection.

___________________

Vidya went home with a heavy box of cookies. For whatever reason, they'd baked the whole day without ever considering just who was going to eat it all. She'd taken only a fourth of what they made, but it was twice the amount she wanted.

She set the box down on her kitchen counter and stared at it. Her parents had no sweet tooth, so she set aside only a few for them in a tupperware. Amber's father was a baker, and she wouldn't want any more sweets, and neither would Teddy. So what was Vidya going to do with all of these?

She glanced at her pager, face-up on the counter, the screen dark. There was no reason for it to beep now, at 7 pm, when there were no calls all day. She took out her phone and texted Aisha, hoping that she and David were hungry and that they were free tonight.

The answer was immediate and affirmative.

Vidya went to her room to change into her supersuit. No music this time because she'd finally decided that 'shuffle playlist' hated her and didn't want her to find a good theme.