Especially Kody and Duke’s.
“Come on. We can sit down at that table over there,” Mama announced after she had talked to Dianna.
Fennec’s hand gripped mine, nudging me to continue walking.
“Ignore them. We’ll have a nice dinner and then leave. Keep those pretty eyes on me, all right?”
I smiled at him and nodded, squeezing his hand and then letting him pull me toward the table.
We sat down on one side of the booth while Papa and Mama sat down on the other.
They were so deeply in love, and it showed as they couldn’t take their hands and eyes off each other.
“Good to see all four of you together again. Here for the holidays?” Dianna asked as she stepped up to our table.
“Yes, they’re spending a few weeks here with me. Thought we needed good food the first time they’re back,” Mama said with a smile.
“Looking more and more like a mountain man, Judd. I like that beard,” Dianna told him, making him chuckle.
“Gotta fit in out there somehow, right?” Papa replied.
“Looks good. And you…” She turned to us, looking at Fennec with a grin. “You grew up to be a good-looking young man. How are you holding up out there?”
“Thanks, Dianna. It’s great. It’s where I belong.”
She didn’t need to make a comment about me since she had last seen me during the summer, so she directly got to writing down what we wanted to drink.
“I’ll have a beer too. And those marinated meatballs would be great as an entrée,” Mama told her.
“Awesome. I’ll be right back.”
I turned to Papa and smiled at him, seeing that he had already gotten used to the people around us.
It took me a little while, but with Fennec’s hand on my thigh and my hands over his, I was slowly getting used to them too.
We came to eat here a lot, but back then people didn’t know Fennec and I would be living in the wilderness with no electricity and running water, isolated from society.
They would never understand, but that’s okay.
I had my family, and even with Mama living here, we would always belong together.
“I heard the venison burger is delicious. I never tried it, but they just got a delivery from some hunters who sold the meat to Brian,” Mama said.
“Sounds like something we’d like,” Papa grinned, and Fennec chuckled.
“Now that we’re here, I think I’m going for a delicious beef burger. What about you, sweet girl?”
I looked at him and shrugged. “Everything sounds delicious. But I’ll stick to a normal cheeseburger with extra cheese and fries.”
“And a milkshake?” he asked, grinning widely, knowing I loved to dip my fries in it.
“Yes, please!”
“You two are strange. Dipping fries into a milkshake?” Mama asked, laughing.
“We eat far worse things out in the wild, Mama,” Fen pointed out.
“Yeah, like livers and hearts,” I added.
“When did you ever eat liver?”
I moved my gaze to Papa. “Uh, one time when I was on my period. Fennec said it’s good for me when I lose a lot of blood.”
“That’s true,” Mama said, not letting Papa ask more questions.
We did a lot of things behind his back up there, and more than half of it was something I never wanted him to find out.
He couldn’t find out.
I laced my fingers through Fennec’s, looking at him with a crooked smile.
“How about we also order some veggies? We don’t get a whole lot of those in the wild either,” he suggested.
I nodded, thinking that would be a great idea.
*
“Sure you don’t want anything else?” Papa asked as Fennec was about to get up.
“We’re full. We’ll have some snacks back home too, so we’ll fill up later,” he responded, putting his coat back on.
“We’ll stay here a little while longer if that’s okay with you,” Mama said.
“Of course. You two enjoy the rest of the night here. We’re going to watch a movie,” I told her with a smile as I got up from the booth myself.
Most guests had left, and only the older men were still sitting at the counter, drinking their beers.
“Enjoy the movie. See you tomorrow morning,” Papa said.
We waved goodbye and headed to the exit where Dianna gave us two brownies to bring home, and after we thanked her, we went outside to walk back to the house.
It was just across the street from the diner, but it was far enough away for two familiar faces to follow us.
“Fennec, man. Didn’t know you were back,” Kody said, making us both turn to look at him and Duke.
The two dogs are back, I thought.
Fennec stepped in front of me to spare me from their stupid looks, but their grins stayed on their faces.
“We’re back for the holidays. You two doing okay?” he asked.
“College’s stressful but fun. You’re missing out, man,” Duke told him, his eyes moving to mine every two seconds.
God, as if I was some kind of animal at the zoo.
“I’m good out in the wild.”
It was quiet after Fennec’s words, and when he started to turn around, thinking the conversation was already over, Kody spoke again.
“Hey, there’s gonna be a New Year’s party at Clara’s. You should come and have some fun,” he suggested.
“Clara? I think I’ll pass.”
“Dude, you don’t have to talk to her, but the party’s gonna be sick. The girl can come too.” Kody nodded toward me, sounding as disgusted as his facial expression looked.
“The girl? Come on, Kody. You’ve known her since Kindergarten. You know her name,” Fennec said, annoyed at his old friends.
“Vespyr. Sorry, I just never want to butcher your name. It’s a strange one, you know?”
I frowned.
Anyone who knew English should be able to pronounce my name right, no matter how rare it was.
“It was good seeing you again. We’re going home now.”
Fennec reached back for my hand, and as surprised as I was, I let him hold my hand in his no matter who was watching.
“Come on,” he told me, and we started to cross the street to get home.
“Well, if you change your mind, you know where Clara lives!” Kody called out, but Fennec didn’t respond.
“Freaks,” I heard Duke hiss.
“Ignore them. They don’t know shit,” Fennec muttered.
I nodded, shaking their words off my mind and trying to focus on Fen and me and the night we would be spending together.
“What movie did you decide on?” I asked as he unlocked the front door, and once we were inside, he locked us in again.
“I was thinking of some horror movie. Remember the list I made when we were fourteen? I think I still have it in my room somewhere.”
“A horror movie?”
“Scared?” he teased, pinching my side.
“No, I’m not scared. I don’t care what movie we’re gonna watch,” I told him, smiling at him.
“Good. Go grab some snacks from the cupboard while I look for the list.”
I nodded and watched him go into his room, then I walked over to the kitchen and looked through all the cupboards to find chips and popcorn, and even some Pop-Tarts.