You Are What You Eat

Dinner was served and we were all sitting in the dining room, it was quiet except the background noise of the TV show playing in the living room.

I looked down at the bowl of soup I had in front of me. The steam warmed my face. There were chopped vegetables and what looked like chicken. I started eagerly eating away which earned me some weird looks from Nadine and Helen. They were all eating slowly and politely and there's me, I haven't had a home cooked meal in a very long time. The chicken kind of tasted weird and different, but I haven't had chicken in a long time either. I guess being away from your mother's home cooked meals really does have an effect on you. I finished the bowl and thanked Anne and the rest of the girls for dinner.

Anne and Colleen both exchanged weird looks but I shrugged it off. I felt a judgement and I'm not sure why.

"Thanks again," I said politely and sat up, pushing my chair in. "Thanks for the meal and shower. I'll leave now." I started to head towards the door.

"Wait! Blake!" Colleen stood up and walked towards me, placing her soft hand on my shoulder. "We don't want you to leave so soon. Why don't you stay the night? You shouldn't be sitting out in the rain much longer. You'll get sick." Colleen sounded concerned. Her words were all jumbled together, it seemed like she really didn't want me to leave.

"Oh. If you guys don't mind–"

"We don't. Just please stay." Colleen smiled and the rest of the girls continued to eat.

I walked back towards the table and waited for the rest of the girls to finish eating.

After dinner I offered to help Anne load the dishwasher and clean up. I thought she would say no, but she actually let me help. She was really quiet and it seemed like she didn't want to talk that much. I loaded all of the dishes and Anne put the leftovers in a Tupperware container. She handed it to me and asked if I could find a place in the fridge to put it.

I grabbed the soup and opened the fridge, and placed it on the middle shelf. There was some object or meat wrapped up in tinfoil, but I didn't question it. It was oddly huge in size and took up most of the back of the top shelf. Anne noticed I'd been staring into the fridge for too long and she walked up to me.

"That's the pork roast I'm making for tomorrow's dinner." She politely said, answering my internal thoughts and questions.

"Thanks for helping clean up." She smiled, and then looked at the floor and frowned. Something definitely seemed wrong with her, but I was afraid to ask, and have her say everything's fine. That's what most girls do anyway, they say they're fine when they're obviously not.

I heard some rumbling noises but I couldn't tell exactly where it was coming from. I walked out of the kitchen and sat on the couch next to the girls.

Anne was cleaning around. She was wiping down the dining room table, she took out the trash, and she went back in the kitchen to mop the floor. She seemed like she needed to keep herself busy.

"Need a hand?" I asked.

She seemed surprised by my question, but she silently shook her head.

"I just want to thank you again for having me stay here. It means a lot." I told her, and I meant it.

It seemed like Anne really didn't want me to be here for some reason, but I think I know why. She doesn't want her nice home to be open to strangers and homeless people. I bet that I was making her uncomfortable just by being here. But she smiled at me.

"It's only a temporary thing, okay? You shouldn't be here... I mean, you shouldn't be here too long." Anne told me. I was confused for a second, I wasn't sure what she meant by that.

"I promise, I'll be gone tomorrow morning." I told her, even though I didn't have anywhere else to stay.

She looked worried, and a little sad by my response. In her eyes, it looked like she truly felt bad for me. But she had to stand her ground, and if kicking me out of her home makes her comfortable, then I will leave.

"I'm really sorry. I don't want you to think I'm a bitch. It's just.. my sisters. They-" She stopped herself sharply before taking a minute to rephrase herself. "They don't like company."

"That's okay. I understand." I responded.

She held pity in her eyes when she looked at me. It looked like she had more to say, but she decided to keep it to herself.

A few hours had passed by and everyone looked exhausted. I was tired too. The girls had gone in and out of the shower and already dressed for bed. Nadine and Helen yawned as in cue and got up.

"I need to go to bed. I might have work tomorrow and I'm not looking forward to it." Helen laughed and waved at me. "Goodnight.. Drake is it?"

"Blake." I laughed and she laughed too while saying, "Oh. Sorry."

"Well goodnight. See you tomorrow I guess." And she walked somewhere upstairs. Nadine and Colleen also went upstairs and it was just me in front of the TV. Anne got out of the shower and looked at me.

"I'll show you where your room is. Sorry that they didn't show you." Anne said quietly and I told her it was okay.

The TV was shut off and so were some lights. It was completely dark. She led me all the way upstairs and all the way to the furthest room down the hall, to the right. It looks like it hasn't been touched in years. She opened the door and it showed a decent room. Everything was red, kind of what the color scheme is I'm assuming. Red bed and sheet set, red curtains, but the carpet was white. There were also white walls, and a white nightstand and dresser.

"Well, goodnight." Anne said and shut the door. I walked over to the window and pulled the curtains back. It was a far view from the ground. Not too far, but still pretty far. I began to wonder what I'm going to do for the next couple of days. I know these girls won't let me stay forever. They're probably just going to drop me off at the same place I've always been at, for the past couple of weeks. Staying here and taking a nice warm shower, changing into clean clothes and eating dinner has been a luxury for me.

I kept hearing a rumbling sound, but it was muffled now and I couldn't hear it as clearly as I did earlier. Maybe it's something up with the plumbing? I didn't know what it was. I shook it off and slowly drifted off into a peaceful, comfortable sleep.