Page 32 of The Challenge

“Wanna make friendship bracelets?” she asked.

“That sounds like a ton of fun.” I smiled, relieved that she’d changed the subject. I didn’t feel comfortable discussing that situation with her.

“I have a kit I haven’t opened yet,” she said.

“Well, go get it.”

The chair skidded as she got up and ran to her room.

I rolled up my sleeves and made space on the kitchen table for us.

Effie returned with a pink box that was sealed in plastic. She broke it open.

“Have you ever made these before?” I asked.

She shook her head. “This is my first kit. I was saving it.”

“Well, cool. I’m honored, then.” I leaned my elbows on the table. “I’ve never made bracelets either, so we’ll be learning together.”

Effie dumped out the colorful beads, some of them falling to the ground. We separated them by type: letters, shapes, and sparkly pieces. We chose our colors carefully, and it was adorable the way Effie’s little tongue stuck out the corner of her mouth as she concentrated.

Over the next hour, she and I made a bunch of bracelets for her friends and then three other bracelets for her, me, and Evan.

Later that evening, Evan walked in carrying another bag of Chick-fil-A.

Effie jumped up and ran to him. “Chick-fil-A again?”

“Don’t get used to it. This’ll be the last night for a while. It’s late, so I knew I wouldn’t be able to make dinner.”

“This is the best day ever!” Effie cried.

He looked between us, seeming a bit surprised by Effie’s joyful demeanor. “You guys doing all right?”

She returned to the table and lifted one of the bracelets, running back to hand it to him. “We made you this.”

Evan’s eyes widened as he looked down at it. “You opened the bracelet kit?”

“Yup.” She nodded.

He placed the bracelet on his wrist. “Well, I might just wear this and never take it off.”

“If you wear yours, I’ll wear mine,” Effie said.

I lifted my arm. “And I’ll do the same.”

Evan’s eyes locked with mine. “Thank you,” he mouthed.

I nodded with a smile and mouthed back, “Of course.”

He stared down at his bracelet and cleared his throat. “We should eat before the food gets cold.”

“Let’s move our mess from the table, Effie,” I said.

The three of us sat down and devoured the Chick-fil-A. Then Evan sent Effie to take a shower, and he and I cleaned up.

“Did you fix the leak?” I asked as I put trash in the bin.

“After much trial and error, yeah. The plumber the management company sent showed up right when I was done.”