Deadly Secrets

Chapter 35: Operation Gobble

Orion pushed the whiteboard into the lounge-room, its wheels squeaking along the floor. The other three sat sprawled across the sofas, eagerly awaiting for their friend to pull himself together-operation Gobble (kudos to Saffron for the stupid-as name) wouldn't get underway on its own.

"Hello, class. My name is Orion Zhou, but you can call me Mr. Zhou," Orion announced, hands on his hips. He looked like an overly-earnest substitute teacher, new to the system and naïve about the upcoming hell his teenage students would make him endure. He just needed to tuck his shirt into his jeans, snag a pair of oversized reading glasses, and change his Nikes into moccasins and he'd be perfect for the role.

Crickets chirped in the background, and a tumbleweed rolled across the room.

Orion's neck shrunk away into his oversized t-shirt like a turtle. "Wow, looks like a couple of somebodies are a lil grumpy today," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Do we really have to do this?" Saffron sat up, phone in hand as if it was an extension of his arm. He always had his damn phone on him nowadays; Zara was extremely tempted to just steal it when his back was turned and go through his messages...she blinked incredulously, biting the inside of her cheek. Was she jealous? Hell no she wasn't. They were friends, just friends. She forced herself to look away from him before he caught her staring. "Can't we just have a normal Thanksgiving?"

Orion chuckled dryly, turning his back to Saffron so he could momentarily rest his forehead against the whiteboard. "Do we seem 'normal' to you?" He said when he turned back around, then raised his fingers in the air, imitating quotation marks. Saffron swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

"'Course not. But my parents want me to go see the floats with them this year-"

"You can join us, or get out Saffron," Zara snapped. She didn't want to hear about his parents or anybody's parents for that matter! She didn't get to pick, and neither did he. It was selfish of her to think that way, but she didn't care. If he was going to be difficult with her, then so was she. So was she!

The muscle in Saffron's jaw tensed at her words, but he didn't look at her, instead ducking his head and resting his elbows on his knees. Orion looked first at Saffron then at Zara. He even shot a look at Aurora, who shrugged with one shoulder, "She's right, dude."

Zara raised an eyebrow-had she heard that right or...? Saffron shook his head and stood up, grabbing his belongings. "Since not even you are going to back me up, I'm leaving," Saffron said, pulling his jacket on and glaring at Orion. "I'm not going to sit here and get gang-banged. I'm spending Thanksgiving on my terms, and that's that."

Zara just watched him, confused.

Nobody is arguing with you?

"No one's stopping you," Zara said, pulling her hair into one hand and bringing it over a shoulder, "we can easily do this on our own. We always do anyway. You're too much of a wuss to ever join in."

"Ooooooooooh," Orion hooted, covering his face with his hands. Aurora's eyes widened and she bit her lower lip, tucking her feet underneath her. Saffron's red hair started to shimmer, morphing into flames which danced around the crown of his head; even his eyes seemed ablaze, his brow twitching with anger. He looked like he was about to have an embolism, for how far the vein in his neck protruded outwards.

"That's because I-" His mouth stayed open, as if he was about to say something earth-shatteringly denigrating but had then thought better of it. It opened and closed, like a nutcracker.

"Are you going to take that? Are you going to take that?" Orion taunted, his teenage-side coming out more arduously than ever. Saffron snarled at him and sat back down, crossing his arms and pouting like a toddler.