"I think it's time for us to head out," Cassie's dad said. Her parents had been on edge ever since Tom's "minority" comment.
"Thanks for coming," Jake's parents said. "Great to meet you."
Cassie needed my help to extricate Jordan and Sara from her legs, where they were clinging in anticipation of another Parcheesi game. But at last, they were safely buckled in the car and on their way home.
>The snow's pretty thick out there>, Tobias commented. I hope they'll be okay.
"They'll be fine," I whispered to Jake. He nodded. I knew he care about Cassie's well-being as much as I did, if not more. Although it was hard to imagine her being closer to anyone than me. We'd grown up together, which was one of the reasons it was so hard to imagine her parents on bad terms with my family.
"So how well do you know these kids?" I caught Marco's dad whispering to him.
"Well, Jake's…my best friend…and the others I know through him. So pretty well."
"The foreign exchange student seems a bit…odd."
"He's still adjusting. It's hard on him." Marco was able to get away and slide over to where Ax and I were hanging out.
"Good job dodging the bullet," I said.
"Poor noble Marco, being forced to think in a flash, saved only by his incredible brain…" Marco would say anything to look good, wouldn't he.
"Actually, I believe that his brain exists, so it is not incredible from my perspective." In-credible…wait, we did this in eighth grade English…
…
…
Okay, I've been fighting evil. You can't expect me to remember everything.
"You believe that Marco's brain exists? How do you know? Have you, like, crawled into it?"
"Like, what?" A heavy hand weighed down on my shoulder from behind. Tom.
Paralyzed, my teeth chattering, I turned around.
"Aw, Rachel's cold. Sit by me, I'll keep you warm." Marco slid in closer to me. I didn't know whether to thank him for changing the subject, or kill him for…obvious reasons.
"You would be too if you were…um…"
"Subject to a burst of cold air coming from the door?" Ax piped up.
"Burst of cold-" Sure enough, three snow-covered humanoids were emerging.
"The streets are too snowy to drive on," Cassie's mom explained.
"You're welcome to stay here," Jake's dad said. It seemed he was trying to apologize for Tom's behavior.
"We might have to take you up on that," Cassie's dad said.
Marco's dad tried very hard to keep his face even. It would be a long night.