Premonitions | ✓

nine

 "Come on in My Kitchen" -Larkin Poe

The three of them were sitting in Anna's small living room quietly. 

     For some reason, Lars was tense at the sight of the kid. Scott had caramel skin, dark brown hair that he and his older sister shared, but it was buzzed, and he was a big kid. 

     Anna rushed around the house, Lars had never seen her so frenzied except for once when she was studying for her master's and had forgotten to turn in an assignment, she was constantly on the verge of tears. 

     Lars sat in the large, brown-leather recliner, staring at the young man who avoided all eye contact. Scott watched his sister run around as she tried to clean up the place as if it was to make a difference.

      Lars knew nothing of the boy, only his name, and that was only because Anna had hollered it at the sight of him. He knew Anna had a younger sister in Texas and another brother but Lars didn't know their names, where they lived, or what they did for a living. 

      "Scott, you want something to drink? I have water, beer, lactose-free milk..."

     The boy's laughter rumbled through his chest, the sound deep and loud, "No, Anna. I don't want anything to drink. But, what I do want is for you to come sit down and chill the hell out."

     Lars didn't miss her timid smile as she rounded the couch, instantly obeying him, this unsettled Lars. Is this what she meant when she said she didn't like who she was around her family? Lars was annoyed at both the fact that she obeyed like a pet and that she hadn't even introduced the two men. 

     "My God..." Anna sighed as she sat next to him, "I don't remember the last time I saw you. You've grown so big."

     "And you," Scott gushed, "You must have lost over fifty pounds!"

     Lars' brows furrowed together. He noticed her slight weight loss from the year he had not seen her but fifty pounds was stretching it. Anna tucked a strand of hair that fell out of her braid behind her ear, looking down at her lap, "Seventy," Anna corrected, "I lost seventy pounds."

     Lars couldn't help but be astonished, "Well, good for you! I know how hard it was for you and seventy pounds...You look great. A little sick, but you look great," Lars felt like peeling wallpaper, like he was purposefully being ignored. 

     "Thank you-" Anna began, but Lars cut her off.

     "I didn't know you had lost so much weight."

     The siblings' heads snapped to the Viking, "You must have been over two-hundred pounds since you were in sixth grade, Anna?"

     Scott had a smile on his face, but at his statement, Anna was horrified, "No," she quickly said, looking over at Lars as if he was about to jump out of his seat at the thought of her being that big at such a young age, "No, no. I didn't start getting big until high school. Can we talk about something else besides my previous obesity like why you're here?" 

     Lars' eyes almost bugged out at the mention of the word. For as long as he had known her, she was a curvaceous creature, but she could never have been obese. Lars was almost ready to punch her brother for even making her weight a hot topic. He watched as Anna's green eyes darted around. She was nervous and eager for a topic change.

     "Yeah, why are you here, Scott?" Lars asked in a clipped tone.

     The Swed grew up to respect everyone, whether he liked it or not, to be polite. But for some reason, this little shit was pushing his buttons. Scott ignored him, still not looking at him as he answered, "Do you know how much begging I had to do to get Nana to tell me where you were? I even called Kat."