I walked with Leslie along the path to Celeste’s house, Leslie carrying a pan of chocolate cake they’d made just for her.
“You didn’t have to come with me, you know,” Leslie said.
“I know,” I replied. “But I need to come with you in case I need to rescue you again,” I teased. The real reason I was tagging along was to see if Celeste would let me have some of the cake Leslie made.
Leslie chuckled. “How long have you known her?”
“About three years. Why?”
“Since she hasn’t tried to kill either of us yet,” Leslie replied with a sly smile, “I think we’re safe.”
I rolled my eyes. Leslie knocked on the front door of Celeste’s house. We waited for some time, not hearing a thing from inside. Maybe she wasn’t home.
“We could try-” I started, but then the door flew open. Celeste stood on the other side, her hair up in a messy tail like she’d been in a rush.
“Oh, sorry,” Leslie said at the sight of her. “Did we wake you up?”
“No,” she replied, her dark blue eyes darting from Leslie to me, her expression unreadable. “I just needed to… change.”
I caught the slight narrowing of Leslie’s eyes in response. I barely stopped myself from sighing. Of course they were being suspicious of how she’d said that. Celeste said things oddly all the time – Leslie didn’t know her well enough to realize this was normal.
“Leslie has something to say to you,” I said to Celeste.
“Right, um,” Leslie held the pan of cake out toward Celeste. “I’m sorry for how I talked to you the other day.”
Celeste looked down at the pan, her face blank for a moment. Then a smile, her eyes sparking with excitement. “No worries,” she said, gleefully taking the cake from Leslie. “And I’m sorry too for rethoijelwkmfdnjfite. I bwetijekmdfjsnhuefjay. Cewoijmkfedin, we’ll share.”
I was already drooling when Leslie and I followed her in. I knew coming along would be worth it. “No eggs or milk,” Leslie told her as she served the cake. “Dax meeiowjatkmednfhuiojaklewmtnghfdsuijokmfndhsufijods. Just in case.”
“I appreciate that,” Celeste replied with a broad smile.
I dug into the cake. It crumbled in my mouth, practically melting as I swallowed. Definitely worth coming along.
“Listen,” Celeste said to Leslie, “I don’t know what you two are training for, but you’re welcome to use my property as much as you like. Even when I’m not here.”
“Thanks,” Leslie replied slowly. I fought back a groan at their tone. It was obvious to me, but Celeste may not have noticed: Leslie still didn’t trust her.
To be continued…