Page 52 of Hot Tea & Bird Calls

Is that right?

I get it. You’ve been extra tense lately.

Celene – 7:01 pm

I bought bread-themed jewelry.

Nadine – 7:03 pm

I’m jealous, tbh. Everybody at my job wears the same ol’ shit.

Hold tf on. I know you, Moneybags McGee.

What’d you get for Skye?

Perceptive best friends, ugh. Nowhere to hide, much less from a hundred miles away. Celene sent an up-close shot of their photo on the cringey couple wall at Pearl’s. She pictured Nadine’s perfect, cynical face scrunching.

Nadine – 7:10 pm

That smile doesn’t look fake to me.

Celene welcomed the distraction as their missing groupmates returned from their final snack hunt, triumphantly bearing a platter of funnel cake piled high with toppings. That allergy sign up front should paint in a grinning gluten character, too.

An unashamed sugar lover, Larkin held out an array of plastic forks and knives. “Powdered sugar Nutella funnel cake, drizzled with caramel and bacon bits, you’re welcome.”

June cut a hunk onto a paper plate for her and Zinnia. “Damn, Lark. You pregnant?”

“Great photo op,” Larkin countered, showing the table a reel she’d shot when the plate arrived. They nodded their approval—solid food porn.

Thalia broke off a segment with the least number of extras. “Too many flavors. I can stomach three bites of this, tops.”

Skye, to joy Celene didn’t want to unpack, portioned a bacon-less wedge for the two of them to share. Their crew herded around a single table to eat. The funnel cake satisfied Celene; it made her feel younger, unburdened. She could attribute that to this entire day, actually.

As the sun set, the temperature dropped along with it. Nothing unbearable. Still, Celene grinned at Skye bunching the end of her sleeve over a fist as she ate.

There was something special about inherently quiet women. With them came a tranquility that Celene chased. And Skye’s eyes told so many unearthed stories.

Tempted, she drew fingers over Skye’s shoulder, resting at the back of her smooth neck. Pleased Skye consented to the touch with a quirked smile around her fork, Celene massagedthe skin she’d eye whenever Skye veered ahead of her that evening.

Celene angled nearer, meeting Skye’s ear like they’d done earlier. To deliver the whispered words Skye asked for, like, “You’re so sweet for inviting me.”

Skye made a choking noise. She sipped her water, cleared her throat, and then continued to chew.

Strange. Skye wasn’t too verbose anyway, but...

“Everything okay?” Celene asked.

Had she gone too far somewhere? Change of heart?

Celene sensed herself being watched. And when she caught hazel eyes staring, June rushed to shovel funnel cake into her mouth. Now, what was that?

Licking her lips of sugar, Skye projected ‘Dragonfruit’ before she mouthed the word, and they wandered several feet away, steps crunching on the dirt. Nerves roiled through Celene’s insides. Very much like the ant pile a contractor disturbed while scaling for the new deck installation. Celene whispered the reality word and waited.

Skye wiped her hands with a napkin. Then, wrung it into a compact ball.

God,what?

Accompanied by a trenchant little smirk, Skye said, “Uh, the neck pinching. You should be aware of what it does to me.”