Chapter Text
The moving truck had come and gone, taking all of their things with them, leaving Silco to rot in a hotel until he could join them.
Mylo and Claggor had called dibs on the middle row and were lounging in it, having already said their goodbyes.
Vi was standing with Silco, both speaking in low voices, discussing something out of Powder’s reach.
She hugged her knees and watched Vander close the back of the van.
Stupid bar closing.
Stupid crime rates and bad schools.
Stupid Benzo for telling Vander and Silco all about the great schools where he lives and how there’s an old building that used to be a bar for sale that would be just what they’re looking for.
At least Powder knew Silco fought for them. He loved their home city, crime and grime and all, and he didn’t want to leave. When Powder brought that up, he just smoothed her hair and told her that it was true, he loved the city, but loved them more.
Powder should be mad at Vi, but didn’t want to be. If she were mad at Vi for getting in trouble with the cops and making them move, she wouldn’t be able to talk to Vi, and that was a fate worse than having to move in the first place.
Stupid move.
They were leaving Silco behind and going to move states away. Powder knew that Silco wasn’t going to be gone forever, just until he had finished the details of selling the old bar and their apartment, which made no sense to Powder. Didn’t they need to sell the stuff first, so they had money to buy a new place?
Vander told her they were buying a new bar, yes, but renting an apartment, which was different. That most of the money would go towards renovations of the bar. Whatever. Powder still thought it was stupid Silco had to stay behind.
Why did Benzo have to live so far away? Why did they have to move to be closer to him? So what if he’s Vander’s best friend? Vander’s old. Best friends don’t count anymore.
Powder kicked a pebble.
Vi told her to try to cheer up. She said it would be busy the first week or two, but after that they’d get settled and be ready to have fun. Claggor tried coaxing her with promises to reinstate sibling ice cream outings once he found a new job, and Mylo swore up and down that being the new kid would make her cool and making friends would be easy peasy. Powder knew they were lying but tried not to show it.
The fear that they would all be too busy for her didn’t fade. They have been all the time lately. Silco said that’s what being a teenager is, being busy and figuring life and stuff out. He didn’t say it like that, but that’s what he meant. He said Vi is still her best friend and still likes her, you just like being alone more when you get old. Powder hated being alone. That’s why she was with Silco all the time. He always made time for her and let her do stuff with him, giving her attention she craved and reassurance she needs. And they were leaving him behind.
Powder glanced over. Vi and Silco seemed to finish their talk. They exchanged a very brief hug, barely a glance. That was a lot for them. As many hugs Powder got from both parties, neither were very affectionate with each other. It was almost weird to watch.
Silco said something, and Vi laughed a little, a smirk settling on her lips. With one last goodbye, Vi took her rightful seat in shot shotgun as the oldest.
Powder watched as Silco approached her. She turned her gaze away, looking at her feet, as he sat down next to her.
They sat in silence.
Powder’s eyes stung with tears.
“It won’t be long.” He finally said.
Powder threw her arms around him. She buried her face in his shirt, letting the tears fall. He smelled like he always did, like tobacco and expensive cologne Powder isn’t supposed to touch, but sometimes sprayed in her room to help when she got nightmares. His skinny arms wrapped around her, waiting for her to decide when she was ready to let go.
Powder didn’t want to, but she did.
“You promise you’ll be quick?” Powder asked, voice thick with tears. Silco pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and carefully wiped her cheeks.
“You’ll be so busy, you won’t even notice.” Silco said. That just wasn’t true, and they both knew it. Powder fixed him with a look. He gave a small smile in return. “This isn’t a loss. It’s an opportunity.” Silco reminded her. “You can start fresh. Be whoever you like. No one will know any better.”
Powder knew exactly what he meant.
“I can use a nickname?” Powder asked, sitting up in excitement.
She had been trying to get her self appointed nickname, Jinx, to stick forever, but no one but Silco called her that. The name Powder was both too babyish and too grandma-ish at the same time. It was fluffy and girly and silly. If Vi didn’t have to go by Violet, then Powder didn’t see why she had to use her stupid name.
“Who will stop you?” Silco asked.
The excitement was short-lived. Behind Powder, Vander’s heavy steps thudded closer.
“Time to head out, kiddo.” He told her gently.
Powder sniffled, tightening her grasp on Silco’s shirt. He gently pried her away. He kissed the crown of her head and promised to call every night. She wrangled another promise she would be the first to know when he was done with the stupid money stuff and could meet them at their stupid new house.
Vander and Silco exchanged a brief kiss and a promise to call when they arrived safely. Vander laid a hand on Powder’s shoulder and walked her to the van.
No one made fun of her for being a crybaby when she made her way in. She struggled to squeeze herself and her bag full of stuff to keep her busy in the very back.
Powder buckled. Vander got in the front and started the car.
Powder watched Silco leave to go to the other car, the one that didn’t fit all the kids, and head off to his hotel.
She stared at it through the window as both cars pulled away, leaving in opposite directions.
Her vision blurred with tears. She looked away.
Vi glanced at the back. She sent Powder a small smile. Powder struggled to summon a grin back.
It’s just for a little while, Powder thought. Just a little while.
The drive was very, very long and very, very boring. Powder’s butt had gone numb, she kept accidentally sitting on her hair when she tried to wiggle around, she was bored with her book, bored of coloring and was failing to nap.
They had been in the car for what felt like decades when Vander finally pulled up a long driveway with their moving truck already there.
Vander put the van in park. “Alright,” he announced. “Get out.”
The doors flew open. Powder didn’t have to wait long for Mylo and Claggor to move.
“Freedom!” Mylo whooped from outside the car, spreading his arms and spinning. Claggor stretched his back and sighed in relief. Even Vi seemed to be in the leaving-the-car-finally spirit.
Powder finally managed to free herself from the back row. She got out Mylo’s side, van blocking the view of the house.
Powder craned her neck.
Vander immediately went off towards the moving truck, talking with the movers and going to open the house for them.
Mylo whistled. “Man, look at the size of this place.”
Powder walked to stand next to him.
“This place is way better than the apartment.” Vi agreed, facing the house with hands on her hips.
“You would say that now that you get your own room.” Claggor jibed.
A pang hit Powder’s heart. She had nearly forgotten. No more bunk with Vi. She would have to sleep in a room by herself completely for the first time.
“You can have it when I graduate.” Vi snarked back. Claggor grumbled about that being two years away.
Powder peered at the house. It was big. Powder knew they’d be living on the main floor and the one above it, and the rest of the house was the other apartments. But still. It was way big.
It was also way pink. Powder liked pink. Pink and blue were her favorite colors. Powder liked the pink in Vi’s hair though more than the pastel pink of the house.
There is a stairwell leading upstairs, with a baby gate blocking the small landing leading up to the apartment. Craning her head up, Powder noticed a small, bushy haired man watering his plants. There seemed to be a small swarm of little dogs yapping at his feet, the noise distant from Powder’s place on the ground. He looked up, noticing Powder, and offered a friendly wave. She ducked out of sight, face turning pink at being noticed.
A look at the staircase leading down didn’t reveal anything interesting. No plants by the downstairs neighbor’s door. There was a sign near the house labeling who lived where. Right in the middle, in apartment A were their names in blocky letters: THE LANES. Powder scowled at it. She wondered if she could kick it down.
Before putting her plot into action, Vi waved her over. Powder eagerly followed, squeezing around movers and boxes to get in the house.
The entry room was big, with their hutch already set up, surrounded by boxes and newspapers. The wallpaper was a light blue with print, and the wood floors were light too.
Powder and Vi weaved around people, getting into the main hall and turning the corner to find the stairs. Powder could see into the dining room, where the table was set up and Vander dragging it across the floor, toward the white door next to the entryway.
Vander called for Claggor to come grab the backside. Vi and Powder hurried up the stairs before they too were given a task.
The upstairs hallway in long and straight, with two doors on each side and one at the very end. Mylo was through the open door on the bottom right side, pushing boxes around and appearing to try and shove all of Claggor’s boxes to one side and his to the other.
“C’mon,” Vi murmured, tugging on Powder’s hand. Powder eagerly left her brother to his devices and followed Vi all the way down the hall, to the bedroom at the end.
There are windows overlooking the front lawn, grey floral wallpaper and grey carpet as the rest of the upstairs. Vi’s bedframe was disassembled on the floor, likely taken out of its box by Vander, with her mattress propped up against the wall and her dresser already moved in.
Powder got queasy looking at the bed, recalling how Vi would be sleeping in it tonight and Powder wouldn’t.
Vi cocked a brow at her. “You wanna help?” She asked, holding out a discarded tool to Powder.
All thoughts of sleeping that night flew out the door. Powder gleefully scrambled to sit next to her sister, who was unfolding the directions and holding them out. She loved to build and tinker. She had her own little tool set somewhere that Vander and Silco had gotten for her last birthday, when she turned ten.
They worked side by side like that, slowly assembling the frame, only pausing to take boxes from Claggor.
Powder reveled in getting Vi all to herself. They talked, laughed when they got something wrong, pitched ideas on how to set up the room to make it look cool. Powder suggested putting up all of her posters first so she had something interesting to look at. Vi nodded seriously, asking her opinion of what should go where.
The door creaked open. Mylo stood looking annoyed. “Vi, can you come look at this?” he asked. “Claggor and I are fighting for our lives putting this bunk together.”
Powder opened her mouth to tell him no, they can’t, they’re almost finished putting together Vi’s bed when Vi says, “Yeah, no problem.” She got up, leaving Powder alone.
Powder sat, criss cross on the floor, the nearly completed bed sitting assembled next to her. She was unsure what to do. She sat on the dingy carpet and waited for her to come back.
Powder waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Eventually the door opened again. It was Vi, armful of a box. Powder perked up.
“Are we gunna finish your bed now?” She asked eagerly, watching Vi set down the box.
Vi blinked. “Oh,” Vi said. “Don’t worry about it, Pow Pow. I’m helping with some boxes right now, I’ll finish the rest later.”
Vi reached over, ruffled her bangs, and left.
Powder scowled. Great.
With nothing else to do, she left Vi’s room and went down the hall. She poked her head into Mylo and Claggor’s room, disappointed to see their bed was already set up. The room across there was closed.
Powder opened it up. Inside was all her stuff. Vander was on the floor, setting up her bedframe, facing away from her.
“Can I help?” Powder asked hopefully.
Vander sat up, turning to smile at her. “I’m about done, kiddo.” He replied. Before she could pout, he asked, “Can you help move the mattress on top?”
Powder grinned. She nodded, moving to where the mattress was propped against the wall. With a grunt, she wrapped both arms around the side, barely reaching. She wobbled it back and forth to move it, careful not to tip over and crush herself. She plopped it on the frame, nearly hitting Vander. The two push it into place, and Vander stood, nodding in approval.
“Ok,” he sighed. “Somewhere to sleep tonight, check.” He turned to leave. Powder moved to follow.
“Do you need help with your bed?” She pleaded, but Vander just smiled at her.
“You focus on unpacking, Powderkeg.” He said. Powder groaned. Vander chuckled and closed the door behind him.
She halfheartedly opened a few boxes. She hastily threw random clothes into random drawers of her painted dresser. The plain grey walls made her twitchy. They didn’t even have a floral pattern like Vi’s.
Her walls had no doodles or art or anything to mark the room as hers. No toys out, or books, or projects, nothing. The bedframe was stark white, brand new to replace the bunk that she and Vi shared. Eventually, Powder gave up unpacking.
The white bedframe called to her, begging her to use her paint markers to make it better. After wasting time looking for them, Powder opted to waste even more time to decorate.
After an hour or two of sitting in her quiet room, she got bored. Powder dropped the paint markers onto the ground, resolving to add more later. She left her room to wander.
A peek into Mylo and Claggor’s room showed Mylo unpacking with his headphones on.
Powder stomped her way downstairs, taking two steps at a time. No one was in the dining room.
Powder took a left, toward the back of the house, and was faced with two rooms. One seems to be a living room, containing Claggor and Vander, who are moving stuff around and grunting in effort.
Boring.
Powder chose the opposite way, toward the front. There was a little white door next to the entrance. Powder opened it. Inside was a dingy kitchen with whitish tiles on the wall and bluish ones on the floor. Vi stood in front of the stove, cooking.
“Whatcha doooing?” Powder asked, standing behind her and peering over her shoulder.
“Cooking dinner.” Vi replied in the same singsong tone.
Box Mac and cheese with peas. Great.
“Can I heeeeelp you?” Powder continued swaying back and forth as she waited for an answer.
“No, you can’t,” Vi replied. The singsong nature of the words did nothing to diminish the blow. Powder pouted.
Vi glanced out the window. “It’s still light outside.” Vi remarked. “Why don’t you go explore the yard?”
Powder groaned. Dismissed again. She stomped out of the kitchen.
As she stood in the hall, she groaned a second time. Well. She had nothing better to do.
“I’m going outside!” Powder hollered down the hall.
After a brief pause, Vander answered. “Be careful!” He called. “There’s an old well back there somewhere, I don’t want you falling in!”
Powder rolled her eyes. She dragged herself over to the front door, zipping up her blue raincoat, and chucking her paint markered-rain boots back on from where she tossed them earlier. She saw a random bag lying on the hutch and took that too. Hers now.
She went down the hall, past a still busy Vander and Claggor, and let herself out the back.
She walked about the porch for a second before realizing nothing cool was back there. She scoffed at the boring boringness of the porch before taking off down the stairs.
There was a small stone path leading to a dead garden. That could be kind of cool if anything were growing. Powder imagined a garden full of bright colors, cool stuff like Venus flytraps and whatever, putting something like fish in the dried fountain to feel. Powder kicked something as she meandered. A forked branch. Kind of looked like a dousing rod. Powder picked it up, swinging it around to decide what direction she would go.
Further investigation, courtesy of the dowsing rod, revealed a dried up pond. Powder retconned her plans for fish in the fountain and relocated them here.
She was rewarded for digging her boots through the muddy pond with an empty turtle shell.
So cool.
They didn’t have a yard at their old apartment. When Powder played outside, it was in the alley next door. It was sorta cool they had one now.
She put the shell in her bag, alongside some cool rocks and the like.
The clouds rolled in, and the air started to feel damp.
Over Powder’s shoulder, she felt eyes.
She turned to the house. No one was there.
Uneasy, Powder wrapped her arms around herself.
“Hello?” she called out. The wind responded, blowing dead leaves up into the air.
There was a noise behind the stone wall ahead of her. Her belly did a flip.
“Mylo?” She pressed.
It had to be Mylo. He loved to try to scare her.
Well, it wouldn’t work this time. Powder reached down and plucked a rock. She hurled it over the wall, hoping it would teach him a lesson.
Someone yelped. Definitely not Mylo.
Spooked, Powder took off into a run. She flew past apple trees, shrubs and grass, panting as she hopefully lost whatever weirdo was watching her.
Powder lurched forward, nearly tripping, before looking down. A ring of toadstools surrounded her. Underneath her feet looked like an old stump.
“Huh,” Powder said. “Cool.”
The leaves crunched behind her. Powder’s stomach dropped. She whirled around, jumping at the sight of…
An old, mangy cat.
Powder screamed. The cat jumped. Her dowsing rod dropped to the ground with a clatter.
When she realized it was not in fact a stalker, but just an old, black cat with old burn scars and missing fur, she huffed.
“You scared me to death!” Powder scolded the cat, glaring down as it sat at her feet.
The cat let out a low growl before sitting, broken tail twitching, eyes resting on Powder.
Powder tilted her head, observing. She put her hands on her hips. “Have you seen a well?” Powder asked.
The cat slowly blinked up at her.
“Not talking?” Powder prodded. The cat didn’t move. She shrugged. Powder stooped down and snatched her stick.
Without thinking much about it, Powder waved it around, making random patterns in the air.
“Dowsing rod, dowsing rod, show me the well!” She announced to the air.
Nothing.
Powder’s shoulders slumped. Even the yard was boring.
A loud horn blared. Powder jumped, whirling around to face the obnoxious noise.
Lightning flashed above.
Barreling toward her is some creep in an owl mask on a motorbike.
Powder screamed.
The motorbike sailed down the hill before she could run. It stopped right in front of her, owl mask having no control of the stupid thing. Before he could get off, Powder hurled her stick at him. It bounced off his head and towards Powder.
Owl mask yelped. He clutched his head, rubbing it.
He took off the owl mask. “What was that for?!” he snapped.
It was a boy about her age, with dark eyes and skin but shock white hair.
Powder narrowed her eyes at the intruder. “That is for following me.” She sniffed
The boy tilted his head. “I wasn’t following you,” he argued. He pointed to Powder’s feet. “I was following the cat.”
The cat blinked up at Powder, as if to say, ‘Told you’. The boy kicked her stick further away from him. It scattered towards Powder. She picked it up and gripped it threateningly.
The cat pattered towards the boy, leaving Powder to go rub up against his legs. He reached down to scratch it on its chin.
“Well, you found your cat,” Powder challenged. “Get lost.”
“It’s not really my cat,” the boy corrected, ignoring her to continue lavishing attention on the ugly thing. “He’s more feral. I do feed him every night, but he goes where he wants to go.”
Powder rolled her eyes. “Reeeeeeeally interesting. Unless you know where the super dangerous well is, buzz off.”
The boy fixed her with a pointed look. “You stomp too hard and you’ll fall in.” He replied.
Powder looked down.
The stump she thought she was standing on wasn’t a stump at all, but a wooden cover. She hopped off it with a jolt, long braids whipping around her and she scrambled away.
The boy reached over. He used a branch and a rock to pry it open and pointed inside.
“It’s supposed to be so deep that if you fell in, you’d see a sky full of stars in the middle of the day.” He said, kneeling down to peer inside.
Powder joined him.
Inside was like a black hole. Not even light reflected at the bottom.
“Cool,” she said, entranced. Then she remembered she didn’t like him. Powder sat back up, sniffing at him like snobs in movies do.
“I’m surprised she let you move in.” The boy said, not giving any attention to Powder putting her nose up at him.
Powder blinked. “What do you mean?” She asked curiously.
“My grandma owns the Pink Palace,” the boy said. “And she doesn’t rent to anyone with kids.”
Powder snorted.
“Well, we have a whole van full.” She retorted, crossing her arms over her chest.
The boy tilted his head. He scrutinized her for a minute before smiling. He offered a hand.
“My name is Ekko,” he said.
“Like the noise?” Powder said skeptically, looking down at his hand.
Ekko dropped it. “Yup.” He replied, popping the ‘p.’ “And your name is Powder, like what you bake with.”
Powder scowled.
“My name is Jinx.” She corrected hastily. He wasn’t supposed to know anything otherwise.
“That’s not what your dad said,” Ekko blathered on, not noticing how he was crushing Powder’s dreams.
Powder’s face turned red. “When did you talk to my dad?!” she hissed.
Ekko jerked a thumb behind him. “He was out in the yard earlier.” Ekko said. “He said you’re my age.”
Her face burned, and heart hammered from embarrassment. She can’t believe Vander did that. She wasn’t a baby, she didn’t need him trying to make her friends.
“You’re a creep.” Powder declared.
Ekko frowned.
From behind them, a woman’s voice called for Ekko. Powder put her hands on her hips. Finally triumphant.
“Someone’s calling you.” She pointed out.
Ekko chuckled nervously. “Whaaaat? No…” he tried to play it off.
“Ekko!” The voice called again, this time louder.
He frowned. He kicked some rocks, brows furrowed. “Aw man,” he complained. “I’m gonna get in trouble…”
Powder smiled meanly. “Good luck.” She taunted, swinging her branch back and forth.
The rain started to fall. It wasn’t heavy, and Powder’s raincoat kept her dry.
Even so, Vander’s voice boomed from the house. “Powder! Time to come in!” He called.
Powder scowled. Ekko grinned back at her.
“By the way, I’d wear gloves next time.” He said cheekily.
Powder gave him a weird look. “Why?” She asked skeptically.
“Your stick? It’s poison oak.” He said smugly.
Powder dropped it, gasping. She gave a grinning Ekko her nastiest glare.
She stuck her tongue out at him. He stuck his right back at her, smirking, before hopping on his bike. He ran off, pushing the bike alongside him. The cat ran after him, following like a good little creature. Powder made a face at his back.
“Powder, now!” Vander yelled out.
Powder groaned. Before she went back, there was something she wanted to try. She glanced over her shoulder.
It looked like Vander wasn’t ready to risk the rain yet to come get her. She had a minute. She picked a pebble up and dropped it in the small hole in the well cover.
Powder put her ear to the cover and counted the time it took to hear it plop. She got to twenty one Mississippi’s before she heard anything. The rain came down harder.
“Powder Blue!” Vi yelled.
Powder glanced at the house.
Vi stood on the porch, arms crossed, getting soaked.
Powder scrambled up and ran towards her, forgetting about the well and its unending drop.
After dinner, everyone went back to the van to get their luggage from the car. Except Powder. Vander told her she had to eat something off her plate first.
It wasn’t fair. She wasn’t hungry. She poked and prodded her food and waited for them to come back so she could plead her case. They were taking forever.
Powder eventually gave up, shoveling the peas in her mouth and dumping the cold mac and cheese in the garbage. She left the kitchen and left for the entryway.
Powder looked through the window in the door. Everyone was standing around the van talking to some strangers.
Powder’s belly did a flip. She wasn’t scared. She just didn’t like having to talk to new people.
Powder reluctantly opened the door, closing it softly behind her so no one would notice. She stood on the steps, hovering, wondering if she should go over or go back inside.
They’re talking to a tall man, a kind of snobby looking woman and a kind of snobby looking teenage girl. The girl is making goo goo eyes at Vi, who wasn’t holding up much better.
Bleh. Powder wrinkled her nose. Gross.
Vander turned his head and looked at her.
Powder froze.
He smiled softly at her and nodded for her to come over. Powder wouldn’t pout because she didn’t want to look like a baby in front of people she didn’t know. But she wanted to. She approached them cautiously.
She stood next to Vander, hoping to hide behind his broad frame. He put an arm on her shoulder and pushed her forward instead. “This is my youngest, Powder. Powder, this is Mr Talis, our neighbor.”
Powder didn’t say anything.
It was another person who she was introduced as Powder A, and that was annoying. B, she just didn’t have anything to say to him. She wasn’t shy. Vi told her there was nothing wrong with being shy, but that didn’t matter because Powder wasn’t.
“Jayce is fine.” Mr. Talis corrected. He was good looking, with bronzy brown skin and pretty amber eyes. He gestured to the snobby looking woman. She had a sort of pinched face and looked a lot like the girl next to her, though the girl’s hair was much darker. “This is my godmother, Mrs. Kiramman, and her daughter, Caitlyn. Cait’s about your guy’s age. She’ll be going to the Academy with you.”
“That sounds cool.” Vi piped up, unabashedly staring down ‘Cait’.
Caitlyn turned kind of red and looked pretty stupid in Powder’s opinion. Powder turned away from them, looking down at her rain boots instead.
“Well, it was very nice to meet you all.” Mrs. Kiramann said in a funny accent. “I hope you all enjoy the academy this year.”
“It was nice of you to bring this,” Vander replied. Powder hadn’t noticed, but in his other hand he had what looked like weird bread. Powder wrinkled her nose. She was so not eating that.
“I’ll be back tomorrow!” Caitlyn said, her eyes still fixed on Vi. “I come over all the time. To see Jayce.”
Vi smiled. “That’s cool.” She replied. “Maybe we can hang out.”
Caitlyn perked up at this. “That would be great!” She said. She held out her phone. “Could I be so presumptuous as to ask for your phone number?”
The same time Vi reached for the phone, Powder made a barfing noise. Caitlyn startled, Vi glared at her, Mylo laughed and Claggor elbowed him. Jayce laughed too, so Powder didn’t feel too bad.
Caitlyn and Vi exchange numbers. With a round of goodbyes, the Kiramman’s leave and Jayce headed back inside. The Lanes followed suit.
Vi spent the rest of the night on her phone.
Powder waited patiently. Then she waited not patiently for her to finally get off, but she never did. She just sort of floated off to her room, grunting a good night to everyone.
It made Powder’s chest ache. She stood in the hall, staring at her door, refusing to cry.
She really, really wanted to tell her about the well.
Mylo and Claggor weren’t any better. It was like she wasn’t even there as they all piled into the shared hall bathroom to brush teeth and wash faces.
Powder felt stupid for lingering in the hallway. She stomped into her room, swinging the door shut behind her.
She kicked boxes out of her way and threw herself onto her bed, waiting for someone to say goodnight so she could call Silco.
About five minutes later, Vander poked his head in. “Goodnight, kiddo.” He said, flicking her lights off.
Powder sat up. “Can I call Silco?” She asked.
Powder could see his expression soften in the dim light of the hall.
“I’m sorry, kid,” Vander said, crushing Powder’s hope. “It’s already late. We’ll make sure to call tomorrow, ok?”
Worry wriggled in Powder’s stomach. She clutched a pillow to it trying to squish the feeling away.
“He said he’d call every night.” Powder reminded him, voice wobbly.
“I know, kid,” Vander replied gently. “But it’s late, and we both have to be up early tomorrow.”
That was so not the answer Powder wanted. Powder threw herself back and groaned.
“Love you, Pow. We’ll call tomorrow.” Vander promised. He closed her door.
Powder’s face burned. Tears welled. Powder already hated it there.