Ben set his lunch table down between Analise and Haley.
Analise looked up in surprise. "You're alive?!"
Ben rolled his eyes. "Yeah. I didn't die, just had a war flashback that made me unable to function for a week." He sighed. "Oh, and to top that off, I missed Christmas! Which wouldn't be a problem, except whenever Claire stops doing something Christian it makes me feel guilty, and I just made her spend Christmas making sure I didn't choke on my own spit. I'm not really in the mood for sass right now, Analise."
Analise huffed. "Geez, Braeden. No need to be so touchy."
Hayley started laughing, but stopped. "Look, it's the happy couple." She said sarcastically, pointing at three figures walking right towards them.
It was Parker and Elias, and a girl Ben had never met before.
They all sat down across from Ben, Analise, and Hayley.
Elias looked tired. "Braeden, Analise, Hayley, this is my little sister, Riley." He gestured towards the girl. "Riley, these are Dr. Analise Van Horn the badass, Dr. Hayley Wisteria the clutz, and Dr. Ben Braeden with the girlfriend who is way too hot for him."
Riley squinted at Ben. "His league seems pretty high. Someone out of his league would have to be... my level? Maybe like two points behind me?"
Ben sighed and pulled his wallet out of his pocket, pulling out an old picture of Claire. He handed it to Riley.
Riley looked at it and nodded in approval before handing it back. Riley glanced at her brother. "I bet you're just jealous of how hot his girlfriend is."
Elias rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. Never gonna happen."
Riley smirked. "Of course." She started poking at her food. "So, why haven't you told these friends about me before I showed up, Eli?"
Parker glared at Elias when he didn't respond. "Well, why didn't you?"
"Because you're all monetarily challenged orphans, with the exception of Analise." Elias finally mentioned. "Parker, you have no family left except for Ana. Braeden, you've got the ginger sister who looks nothing like you. Analise, I assume you're estranged from them, but I also assume that you're the heir to the Van Horn estate, you give off the vibe of 'pissed off and rebellious rich girl'. And Hayley... I actually don't know about you."
"My dad died when I was four and my mother and brother drowned in the flood of '22." Hayley said quietly.
"Yeah, that." Elias nodded. "Figured you wouldn't want to hear about my ultra rich sister with the huge trust fund. Sorry for trying to actually be nice for once, I guess I won't do that again."
Parker put her hand comfortingly on his arm and those two stood up and walked out of the lunchroom, talking quietly.
There was an awkward silence for a minute or two.
YOU ARE READING
Bad News (Coprolalia Part Three)
ParanormalBook 3 of 4. We never won, we just keep losing. We can't look each other or the people we love in the face and say that we did what was best, because what we did made the world worse. We made everyone worse. Before us Skinwalkers didn't walk the des...
