Page 44 of Derivation

Gabi had to take a moment with that new touch before she shook her head, trying to keep herself in check because that felt way too good, and it was her first full day living in this house. She could not make things awkward by asking Sarai to do that again, which was what she really wanted.

“How many do you want?” she asked after clearing her throat.

“Silver dollar or IHOP size?” Sarai checked.

“Important question,” Enya agreed.

“Whatever you want. I’m not picky,” Gabi replied.

“Silver dollar and, like, four or five,” Sarai said.

“Did I hear someone say pancakes?” Violet asked, leaning inside the kitchen from the garage.

“When did you get here?” Sarai asked. “And is Stella in there, too?”

“No, she’s still sleeping. I just got alerted to the bug and wanted to help.”

“How, exactly? You don’t know how to fix it,” Enya said.

“Moral support. Besides, I have some things to pick up for the party tonight anyway, so I let my girlfriend sleep and decided to get an early start.” Violet walked into the kitchen. “And I skipped breakfast, so…”

Gabi chuckled and asked, “Pancakes all around, then?”

“We have a griddle. I’ll get it for you.” Enya pointed to the cabinets under a counter. “And I’ll take three or four.”

“Me too,” Violet added. “And Arlowe will want, like, eight.”

“I do not!” Arlowe yelled from the garage. “I’m busy.”

“Make her eight,” Sarai said softly.

“I heard that!”

“You heard nothing!” Sarai yelled back.

Gabi laughed. As chaotic as this whole thing was compared to her living alone and just being able to make pancakes for herself and then eat them, she liked this. It was only day one, so there was a chance it would get annoying or old after a while, but for now, she liked having these roommates. Enya pulled out a portable griddle and plugged it into the wall behind the counter next to the stove. Sarai grabbed her a mixing bowl and a fork, along with a ladle to use later, and she smiled softly at Gabi when she handed it all over.

Gabi remembered what Sarai looked like first thing in the morning. She’d seen it only twice and years ago, but she still remembered what that long, brown hair had looked like in a messy morning bun, with wisps flying all over the place, what still-tired brown eyes had looked like when Sarai had smiled at her before she’d put on her glasses, and it was only then that Gabi realized that Sarai no longer wore those dark-rimmed glasses that had inspired Gabi to get dark frames of her own when she’d visited the eye doctor and they’d told her that she needed glasses. Maybe Sarai wore contacts now or had gotten LASIK or something because she hadn’t worn them at all that Gabi had seen, and she would’ve noticed them because she loved staring into Sarai’s eyes. She had to look away from them now because she needed to focus on making pancakes for five people; or four, if she believed Arlowe, which she didn’t.

“Hey, Vi, can I talk to you about something since you’re here?” Sarai asked.

“Yeah. I’m useless in helping Arlowe anyway.”

“I already ran it by Arlowe and Enya, but Gabi is actually a hardware developer. Is that what it’s called, Gabi?”

Gabi laughed and replied, “Sure. Let’s go with that.”

Then, she was about to pour the mix into the bowl but remembered that she should probably follow the recipe on the box because she wasn’t just making these for herself.

“Anyway, she wants to help us with our wearable,” Sarai said. “Arlowe and Enya both said it was fine, but I was going to talk to you about it tomorrow.”

“What do you mean, help us out?”

“She wants to design something for us.”

“We can’t afford her,” Violet replied. “We can’t afford you,” she added directly to Gabi, who had turned and saw Violet sitting down in the chair that she’d planned on sitting in herself.

Noticing that each of her roommates sat in the same seat each time, Gabi had planned to make that chair hers, which meant that it was Violet’s first. They would have to figure that out if they were all going to eat breakfast in here together.