Decided, I looked at the clock. Now what would we do for the next few hours?
As soon as I walked back into the living room, the quiet conversation between Morik and Danielle stopped. They both turned to look at me though I didn’t make any sound. I felt as though I’d interrupted something, but Morik stood and joined me, watching me expectantly. I wondered if he’d somehow heard my end of the phone conversation.
“I was invited to a party tonight. Would you like to come with? We could watch a movie here until it’s time to go.”
“I’ll stay for the movie and give you a ride to the party, but I don’t think I’ll join you.”
“Alright,” I agreed, hiding my disappointment. How would I match him up with other people if he didn’t mingle with them?
Aunt Danielle suggested a movie we had. Morik obligingly started it for us while I settled on the couch. I had a whole movie to come up with a plan…
Two hours later, I scowled at the rolling credits. Stupid movie had distracted me from my plotting. I’d gotten nowhere. Gran and Aunt Grace, who’d arrived home mid-movie, had joined us in the living room after quietly putting away groceries.
Looking over at Morik, who reclined on the other end of the couch, I asked again. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with? There’s going to be a lot of people there. You’ll blend in fine.”
“What are you up to?” Gran asked from a nearby chair.
Aunt Grace turned off the movie. I had the room’s attention.
“Beatriz from school invited me over. Her brother’s home from college and is inviting a bunch of his friends over.” Gran said nothing, but I could tell by her expression that she didn’t think my going was a good idea. “Where’s mom? Isn’t it a little late to be working?”
“She should be home soon. We’ll start dinner. You two go find something to do,” Gran said making shooing motions toward Morik and me with her hands.
Smiling, I turned to Morik. “Let’s go to my room.” He nodded his expression neutral.
At times, I could easily read his thoughts or feelings. Why did he sometimes mask it? Or maybe it wasn’t masking. Maybe when he showed emotion, he made an effort to do so. After all, he did say he didn’t interact with humans much.
In my room, I went straight for the desk and the incomplete puzzle. “You must see pretty well in the dark, huh?”
Focused on finding a piece, I half-listened to him follow me in. The snick of the closing door caught my attention and I looked back at him. He ignored my look and joined me at the puzzle. Without hesitating, he started placing pieces.
“Have you done this one before?”
“Yes, I can see in the dark. No, I haven’t done this one before,” he said answering my questions in order.
“How are you finding them so fast?” I leaned close to watch him, studying his eyes as he searched for and placed the right pieces.
Spirals of bright green, tiny bits of color, flared in his irises each time he found the piece he wanted. When he placed the piece, the green faded into silver, notably the primary color of his iris. Other colors danced in the silver pools, but the green caught my attention because it happened consistently. I wondered what it meant.
A sudden swirl of violet took me by surprise. I couldn’t help but watch it flow around in the liquid silver background. Before it could fade, green and brown strands joined it. It took a moment for me to realize he’d stopped looking at the puzzle and instead faced me with an amused expression. I couldn’t look away.
“Your eyes are amazing to watch,” I said without thinking. A blush immediately infused my cheeks. I hoped he didn’t read anything into what I’d said. “What do the different colors mean?”
“I don’t know. You’ll have to tell me when they change.” He went back to finding puzzle pieces still looking amused by my attention.
My mom called out from the kitchen distracting me. Not wanting Gran to tell mom about my plans before I could, I hurried to her, leaving Morik to follow me if he wanted.
Walking into the kitchen, I asked where she’d been idly curious. She didn’t look like she’d been working all morning and afternoon. Her hair was still neat. Usually after work, her hair had little twisty spirals in it. She curled it around her fingers when lost in thought.
“Don’t be nosey Tessa,” she said a bit more abruptly than I thought the question warranted.
“Sorry,” I immediately apologized. “Beatriz invited me to her house tonight. I planned on leaving after dinner and back by ten.” Given the curfews I heard my peers mention, I didn’t think ten unreasonable. “Beatriz’s brother’s home so there will be a lot of people there.” More people meant more guys, which meant more options… something my mom would like.