Page 38 of Thorns and Ashes
She laughs and crosses her arms, cocking her head to the side.
“You’re messing with me,” I say flatly, surprised I didn’t catch on sooner.
“You made it pretty easy.”
“Who are you again?” I ask, trying to wrap my head around who this woman is in front of me. There’s a vague sense of familiarity about her that I can’t place. She has dark blue eyes with a light blue ring around her pupil, and pink curly hair that fades to rose gold in some spots. Standing straight, she barely reaches my chin, and is dressed in a crop top, jeans, Converse, and a flannel wrapped around her waist.
“I’m Rory, Rory Bolton.” The girl curtsies. Literally. Curtsies. “Now, if you’re done checking me out,” she says sarcastically, and I tilt my head up to the ceiling, silently asking God to give me patience, before she points to the baking trays lined up on the table. “Tell me what those are supposed to be?”
“Ugh, not again.” No matter what I do or how I try to reshape them, these biscuits always end up looking the same.
“You realize those look like—”
“I’m aware!” I look on in disappointment. “I’ve been trying to get the hearts to look more like hearts, but instead they still look like,” I pause. “This.”
Rory quirks her head to the side and inspects them. She picks one up, and I debate letting her eat one just so I can watch her spit it out, but I decide to stop her as it reaches her mouth.
“Why can’t I try one?” She pouts.
“They’re not for people,” I attempt to explain.
“Huh?”
“They’re for Ellie.”
“Who’s Ellie?”
“A dog.”
“You have a dog?”
“No.”
“Then why can’t I have one?”
“Because they’re for Ellie!”
“Ellie?”
“Yes.”
“The dog?”
“Yes.”
“The dog that doesn’t belong to you?”
“Exactly.”
“Then who does Ellie belong to?”
“That’s not important,” I huff.
“Got it,” she says. “Okay. There’s a dog. Her name is Ellie. You’re not the owner.” She nods her head like she’s writing it all down somewhere in her head. “So, these are Ellie’s biscuits.”
“Now you’re getting it. Also, that’s a much better name for them than ballsack biscuits.”
Rory’s jaw drops. “Shut up! Is that what you’ve been calling them?”
