A Wall Between

Chapter 37

Being left on his own was a great blessing for Sasha's personal productivity. By the time Cooper and Ellie returned, he had finished clearing out his parents' garage and even swept the floor.

Cooper kissed the top of his head. "Wow. All done?"

Sasha nodded.

"We got a TV," Ellie told him. "Abra has enlisted himself as someone's personal chef for two weeks, which I must admit freaked her out a little at first because he's an adult male stranger and she's a single mother with young kids. She seemed to be getting into the idea by the time I left, though. Mothers love Abra."

"Everyone loves Abra," Cooper said. "Anyway, we're probably going to hook up the consoles tonight and play some video games if you want to join us, Sash. Or just sit and watch or whatever."

Sasha nodded. "Watching is good."

"Okay. We'd better go and get started on George and Joy's garage."

Sasha still wanted to help, so he went with them, but working on George and Joy's garage was a much more socially demanding experience than working on his parents' had been. George and Joy were there the whole time, micromanaging and telling them about every little thing they came across.

Cooper seemed to love it, and Sasha... well, he liked the intention behind it. The energy? They seemed like nice, safe people, but so much conversation, especially from people he didn't know well, was hard to process. He wanted to just go in, pick something up, and take it to the skip, but every time he went back, they'd be talking about something and he wasn't sure if it was okay to leave again until they were done. Was he even part of the conversation? He didn't do much more than nod from time to time, but they kept glancing at him like they were talking to him, so maybe.

Abra continued to be the deals master, and by lunchtime, they had a sofa and an outdoor dining set that they planned to put on the concrete area in the backyard. After they had carried the sofa in, Sasha snuck back to his room. He felt bad for leaving the rest of the work to the others, but they'd told him it was fine if he'd had enough at least half a dozen times over the last few hours, so he tried to brush those feelings away.

He stayed in his room for the rest of the day, occasionally thinking about how he should eat something but ultimately doing nothing about it. His brain had decided that it was Hiding Time and he mustn't leave.

He heard the others return late in the afternoon, but it was still Hiding Time, so he stayed where he was. He didn't even know what he was afraid of, really. He knew nobody would be mad at him for ditching them, but maybe it was like how he also knew that cockroaches couldn't hurt him and yet, if one flew at him, he wouldn't be okay with it.

Sasha's heart jolted when someone knocked on the door. His anxiety mode brain said he shouldn't raise his voice to call out, so he got up to open it. It was Cooper. He was holding a plate with two toasted cheese sandwiches and a salad on the side.

"Your parents ordered takeout for their dinner today to give Abra a break from cooking, so we made these," Cooper said. "Abra made a deal with someone where they'd give us their toasted sandwich maker and a hundred dollars in exchange for painting their fence."

"Thanks." Sasha took the plate from Cooper and then tugged Cooper's sleeve to guide him into the room.

Sasha sat down on the edge of his bed and took a bite of one of the toasted cheese sandwiches. The cheese tasted a little stronger than he was used to, but not in a bad way.

"How are you doing?" Cooper asked.

Sasha shrugged. He didn't really want to talk.

Cooper nodded. "Okay."