Point of Retreat (Slammed #2)(3)

I often wonder when Kiersten’s visiting, how she turned out the way she did. I have yet to actually meet Kiersten’s mother, but from what I’ve gathered, she’s definitely not ordinary. Kiersten is obviously smarter than most kids her age…even if it is in a strange way. The things that come out of her mouth make Kel and Caulder seem somewhat normal.

“Kiersten?” Eddie says. “Will you be my new best friend?”

Lake grabs a french fry off her plate and throws it at Eddie, hitting her in the face with it. “That’s bullshit,” Lake says.

“Oh, go butterfly yourself,” Eddie says. She returns a fry in Lake’s direction.

I intercept the french fry, hoping this doesn’t result in another food fight like last week. I’m still finding broccoli everywhere. “Stop,” I say, dropping the French fry on the table. “If you two have another food fight in my house tonight, I’m kicking both of your butterflies!”

Lake can see I’m serious about the food fight. She squeezes my leg under the table and changes the subject. “Suck and sweet time,” she says.

“Suck and sweet time?” Kiersten asks, confused.

Kel fills her in. “It’s where you have to say your suck and your sweet of the day. The good and the bad. The high and the low. We do it every night at supper.”

Kiersten nods as though she understands.

“I’ll go first,” Eddie says. “My suck today was registration. I got stuck in Monday, Wednesday, Friday classes. Tuesday and Thursdays were full.”

Everyone wants the Tuesday/Thursday schedules. The classes are longer, but it’s a fair trade only having to go twice a week, rather than three times.

“My sweet is meeting Kiersten, my new best friend,” Eddie says, glaring at Lake.

Lake grabs another french fry and throws it at Eddie. Eddie ducks and the fry goes over her head. I take Lake’s plate from her and scoot it to the other side of me, out of her reach.

Lake shrugs her shoulders and smiles at me. “Sorry.” She grabs a fry off my plate and puts it in her mouth.

“Your turn, Mr. Cooper,” Eddie says. She stills calls me that occasionally, usually when she’s trying to point out the fact that I’m being a “bore.”

“My suck was definitely registration, too. I got Monday, Wednesday, Friday.”

Lake turns to me, upset. “What? I thought we were both doing Tuesday, Thursday classes.”

“I tried, Babe. They don’t offer my level courses on those days. I texted you.”

She pouts. “Man, that really is a suck,” she says. “And I didn’t get your text. I can’t find my phone again.”

She’s always losing her phone.

“What’s your sweet?” Eddie asks me.

That’s easy. “My sweet is right now,” I say as I kiss Lake on the forehead.

Kel and Caulder both groan. “Will, that’s your sweet every night,” Caulder says, annoyed.

“My turn,” Lake says. “Registration was actually my sweet. I haven’t figured out the statistics yet, but my other four classes were exactly what I wanted.” She looks at Eddie and continues. “My suck was losing my best friend to an eleven-year-old.”

Eddie laughs.

“I wanna go,” Kiersten says. No one objects. “My suck was having bread for dinner,” she says, eyeing her plate.

She’s ballsy. I toss another slice of bread on her plate. “Maybe next time you show up uninvited to a carnivore’s house, you should bring your own fake meat.”

She ignores my comment. “My sweet was three o'clock.”

"What happened at three o'clock?" Gavin asks.

Kiersten shrugs her shoulders. "School let out. I butterflying hate school."

All three of the kids glance at each other, almost as if there’s an unspoken agreement between them. I make a mental note to talk to Caulder about it later. Lake nudges me with her elbow and shoots me a questioning glance, letting me know she's thinking the same thing.

“Your turn, whatever your name is,” Kiersten says to Gavin.

“It’s Gavin. And my suck would have to be the fact that an eleven-year-old has a larger vocabulary than me,” he says, smiling at Kiersten. “My sweet today is sort of a surprise.” He looks at Eddie and waits for her response.

“What?” Eddie says.

“Yeah, what?” Lake adds.

I’m curious, too. Gavin just leans back in his seat with a smile on his face, waiting for us to guess.

Eddie gives him a shove. “Tell us!” she says.

He leans forward in his chair and slaps his hands on the table. “I got a job! At Getty’s, delivering pizza!”

He looks happy for some reason.

“That’s your sweet? You’re a pizza delivery guy?” Eddie asks. “That’s more like a suck.”

“You know I’ve been looking for a job. And it’s Getty’s. We love Getty’s!”

Eddie rolls her eyes. “Well, congratulations,” she says, unconvincingly.

“Do we get free pizza?” Kel asks.

“No, but we get a discount,” Gavin replies.

“That’s my sweet, then,” Kel says. “Cheap pizza!” Gavin looks pleased that someone is excited for him. “My suck today was Mrs. Brill,” Kel says.