#and then my campers from the week found BUCKETS and CHASED ME DOWN

[raycatzdraws]

@zolanort's "Who has the best worst tanlines" graphic is one of the funniest things I've seen. The closer you look at it the better it gets! I was inspired to draw goofs!

[threeorphanpilgrimage]

Chapter 79 - Quinceañera

Clementine could see light shining in past the edges of the curtains and instinctively covered her face with a pillow to block it out. Her hands reached out under the covers for Sarah, but she found nothing in her grasp. Sitting up and rubbing her eyes, Clem realized she was alone in bed. Checking her watch on the dresser, she was surprised to see it was already past eight in the morning.

Hurriedly getting dressed, Clem was also surprised to see the house was empty. Omid wasn’t in his room, and even heading out into the yard there were no clear signs of the others. She was starting to get worried when she heard voices coming from the driveway. Moving around the side of the house, she found everyone gathered by the door to the Brave.

“Just a bit longer, and there!” Sarah stepped back and Clem could see Patty holding Omid still on the bottom step of the Brave.

“He’s getting so big,” noted Patty as she helped Omid down.

“I know,” said Sarah as she wrote a date over the mark she made on the door. “We’re gonna need to get him new clothes again before long.”

“Just put it on a list,” suggested Devlin. “I’ll grab something when I go to check Tulsa in a couple of weeks.”

“Here, measure me,” said Sarah as she handed Patty the bag of markers.

“All right.�� Clem quietly approached the group as Patty checked to see how tall Sarah had gotten.

“I knew it,” said Jet as he leaned forward. “You’re taller than me now.”

“Well, it’s more like we’re about the same height,” reasoned Sarah.

“Your mark is just above mine,” argued Jet. “I haven’t grown at all since the last time we did this.”

“Complaining about it won’t make you any taller,” dismissed Sin.

Jet crossed his arms as Clem joined the others. He looked over at her briefly, before looking away in shame.

“Look who’s finally up.” Clem turned to see Anthony looking down at her. He had that weird little smug grin on his face that somehow felt like he was mocking her. “Sleep well?”

“I—”

“Clem, get over here,” called Patty. “We need to measure you too.”

Clem held her tongue and headed over to the Brave. Looking at the doorframe, she already saw new marks for Omid, Sarah, Jet and even Anthony at the top where another line was drawn over the old one.

“Just take off your hat for a second and we’ll see how much bigger you’ve gotten.” Clem removed her cap and stood still as Patty used a red marker to draw a line above her head. “Well look at that, all the farm work must have triggered a growth spurt.”

Clem spun around and was surprised to see her new mark was noticeably higher than her last one. “Huh,” said Clem as she put her hat back on. “I hadn’t even noticed.”

“You and Sarah are going to be taller than me by the end of the year at this rate, although that’s not saying much,” admitted Patty as she dumped the marker back into the bag.

“Thanks for the help,” said Sarah as she started moving towards the back of the Brave. “And you’re still okay with me borrowing your bike?”

“Knock yourself out, I made sure to top off the pressure in the tires this morning,” said Patty as Clem went running after Sarah.

“You’re going riding?” asked Clem as Sarah gravitated to the black bike on the Brave’s rack. “Get mine down and—”

“I want to go riding alone,” announced Sarah as she set the bike on the dirt.

“What? Why? What happened last night?”

“Nothing, I just went to bed.”

“With Anthony?”

“He slept in his truck’s cab so I could use the camper.”

“But, did he do something or—”

“He didn’t.” The way she stressed the word ‘he’ made it clear to Clem that someone had wronged Sarah.

“Well… okay. But going out alone could be dangerous and—”

“I have a radio and already told the others I’ll check in regularly,” said Sarah as she started wheeling the bike towards the gate. “And besides, it’s my birthday, and I’d like to be alone for a while.”

“Oh… okay,” conceded Clem, not wanting to risk upsetting Sarah further. Clem just watched as Sarah pushed opened the gate and mounted the bike.

“Clem…”

“Yeah?” she said expectedly as she looked up at her friend.

“You remember everything I told you about the greenhouse, right?”

“Huh, oh, yeah, don’t worry, I’ll follow the instructions you left me.”

“Thanks.” A slight smile escaped Sarah’s lips before she turned away, which made Clem feel a little better, then Sarah pedaled off and that fleeting sense of comfort left with her

“Come on partner,” said Patty as she placed a hand on Clem’s shoulder. “I saved you some breakfast.”

Breakfast was another salad along with corn and grilled green beans, one of Devlin’s concoctions. They were surprisingly good, being almost crisp like chips since they were still in their skins. Clem spent so much time trying to pick out the specific spices that were giving the beans a pleasant zest that she didn’t even realize it was already half past the hour now.

Heading into the greenhouse, Clem found herself slowly working her way towards every potted plant under the tent. Sarah had painstakingly written separate instructions for every specimen and Clementine followed every one of them, also painstakingly. Carefully measured scoops of fertilizer, doses of water, even adjusting their placement so they get the proper amount of sunlight was required for each and every pot, and almost never in the same amounts.

Most of the plants Clem wouldn’t even be able to tell apart if Sarah hadn’t labeled them. Carrots, potatoes, onions; they all looked just like short green sprouts in brown pots to her. Rotating the strawberry plants like instructed, Clem discovered several leaves missing from one of them and clear signs that something had been chewing on it. This sent Clem on a long chase for the culprit, which eventually she found right back where she started. Hanging from the top of the tent above the strawberry plant was a big green cocoon. Clem sighed, then decided to leave it for now, reasoning the damage was already done and killing it wouldn’t make any difference at this point.

Working in the greenhouse was hot work, and the already grueling sun was magnified by the clear plastic tent top, causing Clem to sweat profusely. By the time she had finished her shirt was drenched and stepping outside felt like escaping a sauna. Exhausted, Clem practically collapsed on the grass and spent the next minute just breathing in the relatively cool air while she wiped away the sweat running down her face. Checking her watch, she saw it was past noon now and picked herself up to get some something to eat.

Heading into the yard, Clem found the others already gathered for lunch. This time Devlin had managed to steam cook green beans somehow and this had given them a pleasantly soft texture. Clem was trying to figure what the beans were seasoned with when Sin informed the others he had cut the kernels off some corn cobs and pureed them into a kind of milk. Putting forth a pitcher of the apparent corn milk, Clem didn’t hesitate to try it. It didn’t quite taste like actual milk, but it was good, and very sweet.

After lunch, Sarah mentioned she was going swimming. Before Clem could offer her company, Anthony offered his, to which Sarah said she just wanted to relax and be alone. Clem was disappointed that she couldn’t join Sarah but was also a little relieved she wouldn’t be alone with Anthony. She wasn’t entirely sure why, but Clem didn’t like the idea of Sarah being alone with him. She also didn’t like working outside on such a hot day either, but that’s what she ended up doing next.

Tending to the field, carrying water back to the house a few buckets at a time, hunting for pests, all done under the burning hot summer sun. Working with Patty to give the crops some additional water to make up for the lack of rain, Clem felt nearly like fainting at times. By the time they were done, Clem was leaning on Patty for support as they limped back towards the house. Despite her weariness, Clem insisted they detour towards Devlin’s first to check in on Omid real quick.

“Hey there Clementine, Patty,” greeted Devlin as the pair stepped into his living room, relieved to have finally escaped the sun for a brief minute. “You two look like you could use a break.”

“Kem-men-dine!” Clem felt a swell of joy upon seeing Omid rushing over to meet her.

“Hey Clem.” And the lack of warmth in Sarah’s greeting sapped away that joy. “Patty.”

“Hey there,” said Patty in-between a couple of deep breaths. “You have fun swimming?”

“Oh yeah, it felt so good just to cool off and relax for a while.” Sarah examined a sweaty Patty and Clem and turned away. “Sorry, I shouldn’t—”

“Oh it’s fine Sarah, we all want you to enjoy your birthday,” assured an out of breath Patty.

“Oh I am, and I really appreciate it,” said Sarah before turning to Devlin. “And thanks for looking after Omid.”

“Oh it’s no problem, I love watching the little tyke,” said Devlin as Omid wandered over to a laundry basket sitting in the middle of the room.

“We all do, it means a break from working outside,” said Patty with a weak laugh.

“Kem-men, aye-bah-kib.” Clementine wandered over to where Omid was trying to tip over a laundry basket. She applied a little push to the back of the basket, allowing Omid to finally pull it over. Clem watched as balls and other playthings came tumbling out.

“You wanted your toys?” Clem tried to hand Omid a rattle, but he crawled past that and started pushing against the laundry basket from the inside.

“Here, he wants you to set the laundry basket up.” Sarah knelt down to grab the basket and Clem grabbed the other side. Slowly tilting the basket back up, Clem couldn’t stop herself from smiling as she heard Omid laughing hysterically as they moved it.

“Go! Go!” chanted Omid as he stood up.

“Give the basket a pull,” said Sarah, barely able to keep herself from grinning.

Clem’s arms were aching, but she couldn’t say no to a smiling Omid. She reached down, and just a single tug forward on the basket was enough to send Omid into a fit of excited squeals. Unable to stop herself from smiling, Clem started dragging the basket around the coffee table in the center of the room and Omid yelled in delight the entire time.

“So this is what you’ve been doing all day,” Patty said to Devlin with a smirk.

“Not this specifically, that was Sarah’s idea,” said Devlin.

“One of the parenting books I read said when your baby gets older you should teach them about organizing by stacking stuff in and out of containers,” said Sarah as Clem continued to pull Omid. “But after he got in the basket he refused to get out and then Devlin pulled on it, and—”

“Go!” demanded Omid as Clem stopped to catch her breath.

“And we kind of taught him a new word,” added Devlin.

“Bet you’re regretting that now,” said Patty.

“No,” said Sarah.

“Go!” repeated Omid.

“Maybe a little,” admitted Sarah as Clem started pulling again. “Still, after I got done swimming, I just really wanted to be with Omid for a while. We used to spend whole days with him, but ever since we started the farm—”

“We never have time.” Clem let go of the laundry basket and sat down, taking a deep breath as she massaged her aching arm.

“Go!” demanded Omid, sounding impatient.

“That’s enough for now,” insisted Sarah as she scooped Omid out of the basket. “I… um.” Clem looked up at Sarah, eager to hear what she had to say. “I cleared out the fish traps before I came back, to save you some time for making dinner. I killed them and gutted them and left them in a cooler in the Brave. I figure I’d let you skin them since you’re better at that than me.”

“Oh…” said Clem as she looked back down at her feet.

“If you two are tired, we—”

“We’re still making you dinner,” insisted Patty. “Right Clem.?

“Yeah, I want you to have a really great meal on your birthday,” stated Clem.

“And we should probably get started on if we’re gonna have it ready by sundown,” reasoned Patty.

“Thanks Patty, Clem.”

“You’re welcome,” mumbled Clem with whatever strength she could before following Patty back outside. With wanting to make the best meal she could, Clem elected to work in the Brave’s kitchen, where she already had most of her spices and best tools at her disposable. Skinning fish, measuring oils, cleaning her pan between dishes, cutting up fresh vegetables all just made an already exhausted Clem even more tired.

At Clem’s request, Patty dug up a couple of onions from the field so they’d have a special treat just for tonight. They were both kind of small, but slicing into them made it clear they were ripe as they irritated Clem’s eyes so badly she had to retreat to the bathroom to wash them out. Slaving away under a hot sun just to slave away in front of a hot stove instead was doing her no favors. Clem’s clothes were soaked in sweat, her hair a frizzy mess, and her face covered in dirt. At the very least she was able to correct the last one, but then she went right back to work.

“Feeling better?” asked Patty as Clem stepped out of the bathroom.

“Not really,” said Clem as she headed over to the counter. “But we’ve still got a lot of work to do.”

“Why don’t you at least let me chop the onions, that way you can sit down and catch your breath at least.”

“Thanks,” said Clem as she stepped aside and let Patty take her place. Clem threw herself on the couch and tried her best to not think about all the other things she needed to do to finish dinner before it got dark.

“I’ve been thinking,” said Patty. “After what Jet did, maybe I should just move into the house and he should just move out here.”

“Here?” mumbled Clem without sitting up. “You mean in the Brave?”

“Yeah, it’d be an upgrade for him and then it’d just be the four of us under one roof like before,” said Patty. “I mean, we’ve never even finished moving in because we’ve been so damn busy. You and Sarah’s photo album, your camera, some of your clothes, all of that stuff is still packed away in overstuffed closets and compartments. Maybe this is just the excuse we need to finally clean them out and get settled properly.”

“Or maybe I should just move out here with you,” mumbled a disinterested Clementine. “Then I won’t bother Sarah anymore.”

“What? What did you do to bother Sarah?”

“Nothing,” insisted Clem.

“Look, if you don’t feel like talking just say so, but don’t think I haven’t noticed she’s been kind of short with you today.”

Clem groaned as she forced herself to sit up. “I… I said something really mean to her last night and I’m pretty sure she’s still mad at me… she should be.”

“You guys had a fight?” asked Patty in disbelief as she turned away from the counter. “What could you have said?”

“I… I said Anthony liked her how Mick did,” blurted out Clem.

“Mick? Wait, wasn’t that the creep you told me about who forced Sarah to kiss him?”

“Yeah,” admitted Clem with a sigh. “I shouldn’t—”

“Why did you say that?” asked Patty in a harsh voice.

“I was mad, and—”

“No, I mean, what did Anthony do that made you think of that Mick guy?”

“Huh? Nothing, I—”

“Bullshit nothing, that didn’t just come from nowhere,” said Patty as she took a step closer. “What happened?”

Clem rolled her eyes. “We were going to bed and Sarah went out to get her glasses. When she came back she said she talked to Anthony.”

“And what’d he say?”

“Not much, but Sarah was already undressed and—”

“What?” exclaimed Patty. “She was walking around in her underwear?”

“She… she had a shirt on,” reasoned Clem. “She said I was just jealous that someone else liked her, and I said Anthony liked her the same way Mick did and… she ran out of the room and stayed in Anthony’s camper for the night.” Patty started moving towards the door. “Wait, where are you going?”

“To talk to Sarah.”

“Right now?”

“Yes!”

“Wait!” objected Clem as she moved between Patty and the door. “Don’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want you making things worse just because I got mad.”

“I’m not doing this because you’re pissed, I’m doing this to protect Sarah.”

“From what?”

“Anthony, what else?”

“Why does she need protecting from Anthony?” asked a concerned Clem.

“What do you mean why? You just told me why.”

“I did?”

“Yes, you just said—I don’t have time for this.”

“Make time!” demanded Clem as she shoved back against Patty’s attempt to push past her.

“Jesus Clem, would you just trust me on this, there’s a very good reason I need to talk to Sarah.”

“What is it?”

“What?”

“The reason.”

“Are you serious?”

“If it’s a good reason you can explain it to me.”

“You think I don’t have a good reason?”

“I think you just don’t like Anthony… I don’t like him either,” admitted Clem. “But, that’s not a good reason to tell Sarah to stay away from him.”

“That isn’t the reason,” insisted Patty.

“Then what?”

“Are you serious? Did you forget about how he treated me? Hell, treated us just last night when Jet was caught peeping on you?”

“I know, and that’s why I don’t like him. But, Sarah does, and he seems to be nicer to her than—”

“He’s full of shit, and he’s just pretending to be nice to her because she’s literally the only woman here after me.”

“Do… do you know that for sure?”

“What? Of course I do!”

“How?”

“I… I just know. What else could it be?”

“Maybe he really likes Sarah?” reasoned a reluctant Clem.

“Oh come on Clem.”

“Maybe he does. Sarah’s smart, and kind, and… pretty. Maybe Anthony really does like her.”

“What… what are you doing?” asked a confused Patty. “You just told me about how Sarah walking around in her underwear in front of Anthony bothered you and now you’re defending him? Why did you even say what you did to Sarah if you weren’t afraid for her?”

Clem looked down at the floor. “I… I guess because I just miss having Sarah around and I’m mad at Anthony because Sarah wants to be with him more than me, and… I’m jealous.”

“Oh…” Patty’s face softened as she processed what Clementine had said, then a sharp scowl returned to it. “Well I’m not jealous, and she needs to stay the hell away from Anthony, and I’m gonna tell her why.”

“Tell me first,” insisted Clem as she once again blocked Patty’s attempt to leave.

“You really need me to explain this to you?” asked Patty in disbelief. “Were you really jealous of Anthony or were you afraid for Sarah?”

“I was jealous… but, I do get a bad feeling when she’s alone with him.”

“That feeling is you worrying about what Anthony and Sarah are doing when no one is around,” explained Patty. “What do you think they were doing last night in his camper?”

“She told me she just went to sleep.”

“With Anthony.”

“He slept in the truck.”

“Do you know that or did Sarah tell you that?”

“Sarah told me.”

“So you don’t know then.”

“Sarah wouldn’t lie to me,” asserted Clem.

“She ever get mad at you like that before last night?”

“Not like this, no.”

“Then maybe she lied to you this time.”

“She wouldn’t do that. She tells me everything.”

“Maybe she’s doing something she doesn’t want to tell us about.”

“What… what do you think she was doing?” Patty only sighed loudly in response. “Patty!”

“She’s a teenager Clem, she and Anthony both.”

“What’s that’s supposed to mean?”

“It means… they’re at that time in people’s lives when their hormones are going crazy and they’re prone to making terrible decisions because they’re horny, in love, or both.”

“Horny? What—”

“It means you want to have sex, or at least stuff relating to sex.”

“What? Sarah doesn’t want to do that.” Patty’s face twisted slightly, like she was going to say something but stopped suddenly. “She doesn’t,” insisted Clem.

“She’s asked me about sex a couple of times.”

“What? When?”

“Once when we were working on the Brave and another time a few days after I found out Devlin was gay,” reported Patty. “I didn’t think anything of it at the time because, well, she’s a teenage girl and she’s curious.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t know this,” spoke a stunned Clem.

“She knows you get squeamish on the topic, and you’re… well, ten, and it’s usually something you don’t discuss with most ten-year-olds,” explained Patty.

“So wait, does this mean, Sarah wants to… have sex with Anthony?”

“Maybe, maybe not. Either way, I’m not waiting around to find out,” insisted Patty as she tried to push past Clem.

“Wait,” ordered Clem as she pushed back yet again. “If… if that’s what Sarah wants, then—”

“Then someone needs to talk some sense into her.”

“About what?” asked an increasingly confused Clem. “Do you think Anthony would ever… rape Sarah?”

“Clem, not every man has to rape a girl to get what he wants from her,” said Patty with a wince. “Some of them are patient enough to con a girl into doing what he wants.”

“But if Sarah… wants to do this, then—”

“Then she’s making a horrible decision.”

“But—”

“Clem, you’re just gonna have to trust me on this. You remember how you felt when you caught Jet watching you take a bath?” Clem shuddered as she was forced to remember last night. It made her skin crawl to even think about it. “Well I can guarantee you Anthony wants a lot more from Sarah than just to see her naked.” Patty hastily slipped past Clem in a moment of confusion.

“Patty don’t!” Clem spun around and grabbed the woman’s arm.

“Let go Clem!”

“Just don’t! For me?”

“Clem, I’m not letting Sarah literally fuck up her life for you or anyone.” Patty pulled her arm free and headed towards the guest house.

“Then can you just wait until tomorrow?” Patty stopped. “Please? Just don’t do this on her birthday, okay? Let her be happy tonight, then talk to her tomorrow, please? She made a really great party for me and… I want to make one for her.”

Patty let a long groan, then marched back into the Brave.

“She can have her birthday tonight,” dictated Patty as she returned to the kitchen counter. “And then first thing tomorrow morning, I’m telling Sarah to stay the hell away from Anthony because he’s a lying sack of shit only interested in her for one thing and he’s no good for her, regardless of what she thinks.”

“What if you’re wrong?” asked Clem in a biting tone. “What if… what if Anthony does just care about Sarah, and she’d be happy with him?”

“He doesn’t and she won’t be,” retorted Patty.

“How do you know?” asked Clem in a biting tone.

“I just do.”

“And what if you’re wrong?”

“I’m not.”

“But what if you are?”

“Frankly Clem, I don’t care.”

“You don’t care you’d mess up everything for Sarah just because you don’t like Anthony?”

“Me messing up this little bubble she’s probably building around Anthony is a lot less horrible then him conning her into doing something she might regret for the rest of her life. I see the way she looks at him sometimes, I know what she’s thinking about.”

“She’s not allowed to think a certain way?”

Patty turned and glared right at Clem. “You wouldn’t let Omid touch a hot stove, no matter how much he wanted to.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“What it has to do with this is that sometimes you’ve gotta do things people don’t like to protect them from themselves, and if you really care about them, then their safety is more important if they like you or not.”

“So if you do something and they hate you for it, they’re the one who’s wrong?”

“Depending on what that something is, yeah, they can be.”

“That just sounds like an excuse to make it sound like you’re right.”

“You know, Clem, people don’t always tell kids they know best just to shut them up. Sometimes, they really do know what’s best.”

“Sometimes?” repeated Clem.

“Yeah, sometimes.”

“That means sometimes they don’t.”

Clem did her best to ignore Patty and tried to get back to work. Between Sarah getting mad at her, Jet peeping on her, and now Patty insisting she knew better than her, Clem suddenly felt like she was stuck cooking dinner for a bunch of people who weren’t even her friends anymore. Working around a scowling Patty while scooping up diced onions that made her eyes hurt made Clem seriously consider just quitting out of protest. But then she thought about how much Sarah was probably looking forward to her birthday party and went back to work.

Cooking the fish was a simple affair, and the addition of onions to them would be a very welcome treat. Patty had made another salad with little effort, also adding onions to it. This once again left Clem with the dilemma on how to prepare the green beans. She managed to dig out an old recipe book she used back in Spokeston and looked for suggestions, but most of the green beans recipes called for things she didn’t have, usually dairy products like cheese and butter.

After a lot of agonizing, Clem remembered the corn milk Sin made and thought it might serve well enough for a recipe calling for milk. Slicing off the kernels, mashing them up and straining the pulp just to get half a cup of milk was a long and painstaking process, and then that was followed by having to remember how to pan fry onions along with learning how to cook them and green beans into a casserole from a cookbook she hadn’t looked at in almost a year.

The sun was already setting as Clem finally finished the casserole, and she didn’t even time to taste it before Patty urged her to get ready for Sarah’s party. A quick rag bath in the Brave’s mostly waterless shower was all she had time for. Putting on a bright pink top and a matching skirt, Clem stopped for a second to examine her outfit in the mirror. It was the first time she had actually worn it since taking it from Tulsa, and Clem didn’t mine admiring her reflection one bit, but then she noticed the scars on her back.

Clem sighed as she turned to get a better look at them. The top was open enough in the back to make the scars incredibly easy to see. She tried adjusting it, but it was hopeless. Instead, Clem returned to her old bedroom and, after some digging, managed to unearth a nice pink shirt she had never moved out of the Brave. Switching tops, Clem stopped to look at the nicer one she had tossed aside, then sighed again.

“There you are,” said Patty as Clem stepped out of the bedroom. “You ready for the party?”

“Yeah, I guess,” said Clem. “How do I look?”

“You look nice.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really. How do I look?” Clem took a step back to examine Patty. She was wearing her black leather jacket and the scarf Clem had given her for Christmas, neither of which she had seen in a long time. She also had on the little skull earrings she used to wear when they first met her.

“You look nice,” concluded Clem.

“Really?”

“Yeah.” Patty seemed unsatisfied by that answer, then disappeared into the bedroom. Clem shrugged and went to collect dinner. Between the salad, the fish, and the casserole, they had a lot to carry.

“Here.” Clem looked over her shoulder to find Patty offering her something small.

“What is it?”

“Earrings.”

“Earrings?” Clem took the small metal studs and examined them.

“They’re not fancy, but I think they’ll help pull your look together.” Clem took the earrings and hurried back to the bathroom to put them on. Looking at the little round pieces of metal glinting in her ears, Clem did think they looked good on her, and it made her feel a bit better about her appearance.

“Thanks,” said Clem as she left the bathroom.

“No problem.” There was a forced sincerity in Patty’s words, just as there had been in Clem’s ‘thanks’. The pair looked at each other awkwardly for a moment, then moved to collect dinner.

Patty removed a half-full jar of homemade jam from a cupboard along with a half-empty bottle of whiskey. She pilled them and most of the food into a laundry basket while Clem grabbed what was left. Arriving in the yard, they found everyone but Sarah already gathered around the dinner table, setting out plates, forks, cups and everything else needed for a meal. Peeling back the aluminum foil covering one of the plates of fish, Clem watched as Omid immediately came hurrying towards the table.

“Migh!” he said as he climbed onto the seat, clearly intent on claiming the fish for himself.

“Oh no, we gotta wait on Sarah,” insisted Clem as she picked up Omid.

“No!” objected Omid as he was pulled away from the table.

“Where is the birthday girl?” asked Patty.

“Still up in her room getting ready,” reported Anthony. “We wait on her much longer and the fish is gonna get cold.”

“Well then it’s a good thing I’m here then!” Clem looked over to see an excited Sarah standing at the back door. She was wearing a dark blue gown with an ornate floral pattern running down the center of it. The sequin material running across her waist sparkled in the low light of the lanterns and there was a rosy smile on Sarah’s cheeks the likes of which Clem had never seen before.

“You look beautiful…” Anthony had said it, but Clem was thinking it at as well.

“You wore the dress I gave you,” realized Clem suddenly. “But I thought you didn’t like wearing dresses?”

“Well, normally I don’t, but I figured since this was a party, I might try it on tonight.”

“I didn’t think you even kept that dress,” said Clem.

“Of course I kept it, you gave it to me.” Clem found herself oddly touched by hearing that.

“You’re not wearing your glasses either,” noted Jet.

“I figured for once I won’t have to be constantly checking notes I wrote and I could go without them for tonight. Glasses are such a pain.”

“You get used to them after three or so decades,” quipped Sin as he tapped on his own glasses.

“Happy birthday Sarah; God knows you deserve it.” said Devlin with a smile. “Hey, we should all sing her a quick happy birthday. Happy—”

“Ugh, no!” dictated Sarah. “I hate that song. My dad got all my friends together before I woke up on my sixth birthday, and I came downstairs to hear them all singing it and… I just hated it. It’s a song that sounds like people are making fun of you. I ended up running back to my room crying I hated so much.”

“No singing, got it,” confirmed Devlin with a smile.

“But you don’t mind getting presents on your birthday, right?” asked Anthony as he pulled a small box with a red ribbon wrapped around it from his pocket.

“You got Sarah a present?” asked a surprised Clem. “How?”

“I grabbed it when we went to Tulsa a couple of weeks ago,” explained Anthony as he stepped forward. “Been sitting on it, since just waiting to surprise you.” Clem cursed herself for not thinking of that herself.

“I can’t believe you did this.” Sarah grabbed the box from Anthony and immediately tore it open. “Oh it’s a… a necklace.”

Clem watched as Sarah removed a heavy looking necklace out of the box. There were numerous large gems hanging from it, which Clem thought looked more tacky than anything, but Sarah carefully put it on anyway. “Thank you Anthony.”

“It’s the least I could do for the special girl who built the best damn farm in the whole wide world.”

Clem noticed Patty eying Anthony suspiciously before opening her mouth to say something.

“Sarah, why don’t you sit down and eat with us?” Clem was relieved to hear Patty say that. “Clem spent like an hour cooking for all of us.” Clem was less relieved to hear that and she tensed up as Sarah hurried over to the big tray sitting on the table.

“What did you make?” asked Sarah as she peeled back the foil covering the dish.

“I don’t suppose you made us a cake?” asked Anthony as Sarah picked up a spoon.

“No, it’s a green bean casserole.” Clem noticed Anthony cringing upon hearing that. “It was just a recipe I found in my old cookbook, and I didn’t have milk so I had to…”

Clem went silent as Sarah took a bite from the casserole, and felt her stomach tie itself into a knot as Sarah’s eyes almost bulged out of her head.

“Oh God…”

“It’s bad, isn’t it?” concluded a dismayed Clem.

“No, it’s really good.” Sarah turned to Anthony. “Try it.”

“I think I’ll stick to the fish.”

“Try it,” insisted Sarah in an oddly forceful tone.

Anthony shrugged and ate a spoonful of casserole, and then looked as surprised as Sarah.

“You put green beans in this?” asked an astonished Anthony.

“Yeah,” said Clem.

“Because it sure tastes a helluva lot better than green beans.”

“Hum-bee!” cried Omid as he struggled against Clem’s grip.

“I’ve got your back little man,” assured Patty as she spooned some casserole out of the dish. “Open wide.”

Omid immediately opened his mouth and Patty fed him the casserole. Clem listened carefully as she heard Omid’s grouchy grumbling transform almost instantly into happy cooing noises as he chewed. “More!”

Clem felt a little like crying after hearing Omid say that. Seeing Sin, Jet, and Devlin all descending on the casserole like vultures, Clem quickly placed Omid in his high chair and hurried to get a taste of her own cooking. Biting into freshly fried onions again was an experience worth the effort alone, but the green beans had a hearty taste now that Clem quite enjoyed and the sweet cream of the corn milk caused everything to mix together into a warm treat that practically slid down Clem’s throat.

“Well before everyone gets fat on casserole, we should have a toast,” proposed Patty as she uncapped the old bottle of whiskey. “It’s a special day with Sarah turning fifteen, so I propose we toast to the birthday girl.”

“I’ll drink to that,” said Devlin as Patty poured everyone some whiskey.

“I’ll drink to anything,” said Anthony as he grabbed a glass.

“To Sarah,” declared Sin in an uncharacteristically upbeat voice as he raised his glass. “Whose vision, foresight, and determination have led us to where we are now.”

“Chai-yo!” Jet’s proclamation was followed by a disorganized clinking of glasses in the center of the table. Clem sipped the whiskey before abruptly remembering how much she disliked the taste of it. Hastily putting the glass down, Clem was left with where to begin their great feast. In addition to the casserole, which barely lasted a minute after the toast was finished, they also had the salad, freshly cooked fish with onions, jam, and even a jar of pickles Jet brought out, which tasted different than the pickles Clem remembered but still very good.

Except for the whiskey, everything the group ate had been things they grew or caught themselves, and Clem couldn’t be happier to fill her empty belly with a little bit of everything. While she ate, the others talked, and like last night, everyone seemed eager to shower Sarah with praise, and Sarah appeared all the more tickled to be receiving so much attention. Patty poured more whiskey for everyone and after a while, the conversation turned more towards reminiscing about their past exploits.

Patty regaled everyone with the tale of Clem saving her back in Titusville while having a sprained ankle, which led to Sarah recalling the time she and Clem escaped Shaffer’s. Sin talked about what it was like driving out of the Port Arthur refinery as it was exploding around him, and Jet related that to having to drive the Sunseeker during the flood that nearly toppled the Brave.  Eventually, everyone was discussing the entire day they spent slicing and hacking their way to the Tulsa shopping center.

It was surreal for Clem to hear all these dark and difficult days be discussed as triumphs now by the others; distant things that could no longer hurt them. Watching Sarah, she was laughing and smiling more now than she probably had in the last month. It warmed Clem’s heart to see her so happy, but there was also this nagging voice in the back of her head constantly whispering that she could leave right now and Sarah would be no poorer for it.

Noticing a now very well-fed Omid appeared drowsy, Clem took hold of the heavy boy and carried him back into the house. She changed him into his jammies and carefully tucked him in before placing his favorite stuffed elephant in his crib. Looking at him sleeping soundly, Clem found herself pondering what she’ll tell Omid as he gets older. He was talking more and more every day, which made Clem wonder what she would say when he started asking her questions.

Heading back downstairs, Clem could hear the others laughing just outside and realized there wasn’t much point in her returning to dinner. Instead, she headed across the driveway and unlocked the gate, thinking some quiet time away from everyone would do her some good. She kept walking down the dusty road until the sounds of the party became so distant she could barely hear them. Thinking she was far enough away now, Clem stopped and looked around.

She saw the three saplings she and Jet had planted when they first came here and sat down next to them. Two of them were full of leaves now while the splinted one the right wasn’t. Clem took a breath of the crisp country air as she gazed up at the sky. It was a warm summer night and the moon was bathing everything with its comforting glow, which Clem felt content to just rest under for a while.

“Um… hi.” Clem looked over to see Jet walking towards her.

“Hey,” said Clem in a weary voice.

“I… I wanted to talk to you, about last night.”

Clem groaned as she rolled her eyes at Jet. “I don’t feel like talking about last night,” she said in a harsh voice. “In fact, I don’t feel like talking to you at—”

“I was looking at your scars!” Clem was stunned by Jet’s sudden outburst. She watched as his face twisted from angry, to remorseful, and then to frustrated as he turned back to the house.

“Wait,” said Clem. “Don’t go.”

Jet sighed, then moved closer to Clem. He sat down beside her and took a breath. “I didn’t know you were in the bathroom and when I saw you I was just going to go right back out… but then I saw those scars on your back.” Clem found herself instinctively flinching when Jet said that. “I didn’t mean to stare but… I just couldn’t believe it.”

“Me either,” spoke Clem in a glum voice. “Anytime I see them in the mirror, I can’t believe they’re there.”

“They look almost like wings,” noted Jet. “I mean, like if you had wings there, and… someone tore them off, that’s the kind of scars they’d leave.”

“I didn’t have wings,” mumbled Clem.

“Back in Tulsa, you asked Devlin did they ever whip people. Did—”

“Yes.”

“Why?” asked Jet in disbelief.

“They thought I stole something. Actually, they knew I didn’t, but they whipped me anyway because they didn’t want to admit they were wrong.”

“That’s… that’s sick. How could they just whip a little girl?”

“They were cheering when they did it.”

“Really?” “Yeah… everyone but the one boy they made do it.”

“I’m… I’m so sorry,” spoke Jet, his voice dripping with sympathy. “And I’m sorry about what happened last night. I tried to explain but—”

“I’m sorry too,” professed Clem.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” insisted Jet. “And I know what it looked like, so I get why you were mad.”

“Still, I could have let you explain,” reasoned Clem. “You’ve been a really good friend, and I didn’t even let you do that.”

“More like Granddad didn’t,” stated Jet in a bitter tone. “I hate him.”

“Don’t say that.”

“I do,” insisted Jet. “And he hates me too.”

“No he doesn’t.”

“Yes, he does, because he hates my dad for getting my mom pregnant when she was still in college, and taking care of me held her back, and so Granddad blames me for that.”

“How could you possibly know that?” asked a dubious Clem.

Jet turned and looked Clem in the eye. “My dad told me, the night before he and mom left for Afghanistan.”

“Oh…”

“I asked him, why was Grandad always mean to him, mean to me? I told my dad, the least he could do was be honest with me, in case… I never saw him again.” Jet sighed. “He told me all about it, how Granddad thought my mom would be better if she hadn’t met my dad, or if… I hadn’t been born.”

“Well he’s wrong,” concluded Clem. “Like I told you, adults are wrong all the time. They always think they know better just because they’re older.”

“Granddad doesn’t think that think about everyone, just me.”

“That’s not—”

“He likes you a lot more than me. He asked me once, ‘why can’t you be more like Clementine?’ And after tonight, he’ll probably be asking me why can’t I be more like Sarah too, and before that he always asked why couldn’t I be more like my mom… I’ll never be good enough for him.”

“I’m sorry Jet.”

“Did you know he didn’t want to help you back when your RV was almost pushed off that bridge? I wanted to say something at dinner but didn’t. After a couple of tries didn’t work, he just wanted to leave, he said we couldn’t reach you without getting ourselves killed and I said I’d drive the Sunseeker into the river if he didn’t try again.”

“But he did try again, and did save us,” noted Clem. “And I don’t think your granddad hates you.”

“You don’t know him like I do.”

“No, but I know what it’s like to fight with someone you love. I used to fight with my mom. The last thing she told me was she loved me, but I wouldn’t say it back to her because I was mad at her.”

“Why?”

“Because I wanted to go on vacation with her and my dad, and I didn’t understand why I couldn’t come. It was stupid, and because of that I’ve always wondered did she… die, wondering if I really loved her or not.” Clem turned to look Jet in the eye. “Think about if something happened to Sin, or something happened to you; do you really hate each other?”

“I… no, I don’t really hate him,” confessed Jet as he turned away. “But I’m still not sure he doesn’t hate me.”

“Ask him.”

“Ask him if he hates me?”

“Or at least tell him he shouldn’t wish you were never born, and how that makes you feel,” suggested Clem. “I think he does care about you Jet.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

“Then at least you know he does hate you, and if that’s true, you shouldn’t worry about what he thinks of you anymore, because why do you care what someone who hates you thinks about you?”

“That’s just it,” said Jet. “Hates me or not… I think he’s right about me.”

“Right about what?”

“About me not being good enough. Like you said, he was the one who actually had to go out there and almost get killed in that flood. He was the one who went out to get food while I stayed in an RV. All I ever do is… tell him he’s wrong.”

“It’s good that you do.”

“Is it?”

“Yes,” stated Clem with no uncertainty. “If no ever tells someone they’re wrong, then they’ll just keep doing bad stuff, until they can do something like whip little girls, or worse, way worse…”

“Yeah, but—”

“When people aren’t afraid of doing the wrong thing, they can do anything, and that scares me,” dictated Clem. “People like you and Sarah make me feel safer, a lot safer.”

“I guess so,” said Jet as he turned away.

“I know so,” said Clem. “You just said you had to tell Sin to save us.”

“Yeah, but he was the one who actually went back out there and did it… I don’t think I could do something like that.”

“I think you could.”

“Yeah right, and I can still be an astronaut too.”

“Maybe you could.”

“Come on Clem.”

“It could happen someday a long time from now,” reasoned Clem.

“People are just going to what? Kill all the walkers, stop worrying about food, and decide to make a new space program?”

“That’s kind of what they did before,” shrugged Clem. “There were no walkers then, but there was tons of other bad stuff, and people still had to grow food, but they invented rockets and sent people into space with them.”

“Yeah, I doubt that’s going to happen a second time.”

“Why? That stuff didn’t come from nowhere, people built it, and they could do it again. If they wanted to do it now there’s even books and stuff still out there that tells them how; before that people had to figure it out the hard way.”

“I don’t know.”

“Look at what we’ve done. None of us knew how to build a farm, but we read stuff in books, and worked hard, and now we’ve got one, all in like three months. Who knows what people will be doing in like ten years, or what you’ll be doing.”

Looking at Jet, Clem could tell he was thinking hard about what she said. “The first person in space was Yuri Gagarin,” he said to himself. “I remember reading that when he was a boy, he was just living in this tiny village in the middle of nowhere, and when the second World War started, the Germans forced them out of their house, and they had to build this crappy mud hut to live in. In just fifteen years he went from living in a mud hut during a war to being the first person in history to go into space.”

Clem smiled as she heard some enthusiasm return to Jet’s voice.

“Still, I don’t know if I’d ever be brave enough to be an astronaut.”

“Fifteen years is a long time, I bet you’d be brave enough by then.”

“Where would you want to be in fifteen years?”

“Me?” asked Clem. “I guess, with Omid… and Sarah.”

“Are… are you okay?” asked Jet, suddenly sounding concerned. “I noticed you were quiet at dinner. When I saw you leaving the yard I thought something might be wrong and wanted to talk to you… and instead I just told you all about my problems.”

“It’s okay,” assured Clem. “Sarah and I had a fight last night, and I think it happened because I was jealous.”

“Jealous of who?”

“Anthony I thought, but now I think it’s just everybody,” realized Clem. “When it was just the two of us and Omid, I felt like the most special person in Sarah’s life. But now there’s lots of people here and they all know how amazing she is, it feels like she doesn’t even notice me anymore, and she’s the one person I want more than anyone to notice me.”

“Like you have a crush on her?”

“Crush?” asked a confused Clem.

“If you have a crush on someone, it means you want to be with that person because you like them, more than anyone, but they don’t even know, or it’s impossible to be together, or both…” Jet sighed. “I know how that feels.”

“You do?” asked Clementine. “Wait, do… do you like Sarah?”

“What? No. I mean, I like her, she’s great an all, but I don’t feel like that about her.”

“Who then? Wait, is it—”

“It’s not you,” hastily assured Jet. “You’re amazing and all, but you’re also ten years old, and usually people don’t crush on ten-year-olds… I wanted to tell Patty that last night but Granddad wouldn’t let me.”

“Patty,” repeated Clem. “Do… do you have a crush on her?” Clem watched as Jet turned away, blushing as he did. “She’s way older than you.”

“Yeah, I know,” sighed Jet. “And I know grown women don’t get crushes on twelve-year-old boys… and if they do that’s a bad sign. Still, she’s so cool and funny and beautiful—I don’t think she even knows how beautiful she really is.”

“She probably does,” quipped Clem. “She used to hog the bathroom every morning when we all lived in the Brave.”

“I wish I was older… and that she didn’t hate me.”

“Do you want me to talk to her for you?”

“About me having a crush on her? Don’t do that! It’s bad enough she thinks I’m a pervert. If she knew I… liked her, it’d just make things even worse.”

“I meant about last night; I’ll tell her what you told me.”

“You’d do that for me?”

“It’s the truth, and that way she’ll at least be friends with you.”

“Friends… better than her hating me,” said Jet, sounding disappointed. He leaned his head back and gazed up at the sky. “I guess we made it into space once before, maybe it could happen again in my lifetime.”

“I’d be happy just to live a lifetime.” Clem yawned and checked her watch. “It’s late.”

“Yeah, we should—whoa!” Jet stumbled onto the dirt as he tried to sit up, nearly colliding with one of the saplings.

“Are you okay?” asked Clem.

“I think I had too much to drink,” he answered as he slowly stood up.

“This is why I only had a sip this time. The last time I drank too much whiskey it was horrible,” said Clem as she stood up and dusted herself off.

“Oh man, I almost killed that tree when I fell over,” noted Jet as he looked at the leafless sapling.

“Isn’t it already dead?”

“No, actually,” said Jet as he gestured to the tiny tree. “See that, there’s a new branch growing, and there’s even a leaf on it.”

“Huh, I didn’t see that before,” said Clem as she noticed the little green stem jutting out from the top of the trunk.

“I guess you were right.”

“Me?” said Clem.

“You were the one who told me to keep watering it, at least until I was sure, now I am: it’s alive,” said Jet with a smile.

“Still, how come there aren't any leaves growing on the old branches?” asked Clem as she examined the small tree more closely.

“I don’t know. It’s probably still messed up, but it’s not dead, at least not yet. Hopefully it’ll survive long enough to grow into a big tree.”

“Hopefully.” Clem and Jet headed back to the yard. The sounds of the party had gone silent now and Clem found her eyes growing heavy as she stopped to lock the gate behind her. She parted ways with Jet, him heading for the guest house and Clem heading for the Brave. Clem figured Patty wouldn’t mind if she stayed the night and went to pull out the sofa when she noticed a light coming from the second floor of the house.

Clem let go of the sofa and instead sought out a piece of paper and a pen. Trying to commit her thoughts to words proved difficult, and she found herself constantly stuck and what to write next, but kept forcing her hand to make words anyway. Creeping back into the house, Clem was surprised to there was no else there, and she found herself tiptoeing up to an empty bedroom. Clem left the note on the pillow and prepared to leave when she heard someone coming up the stairs.

“Oh, hey,” greeted a nervous Clem as Sarah stumbled into view, an odd grin on her face as just stood there outside the door. “Are you okay? Do you need—”

“I… I… I’m not drunk,” slurred Sarah suddenly. “I… I’m just… buzzzzed… Patty explained the difference to me.”

“Yeah, she got good and buzzed.” Sarah stumbled into the room while Clem suddenly felt Patty pulling her closer. “She’s drunk,” whispered Patty.

“Yeah, I kind of thought so,” said Clem as she noticed Sarah laughing softly as she collided with the bed. “What happened?”

“Oh, we all headed over to Devlin’s so we wouldn’t wake up Omid and… I might have poured her one shot too many,” explained Patty as Sarah flopped face first onto the mattress. “Figured it best if she just went to sleep before she did anything she’d regret. Seeing as you’re up here, you think you can make sure she gets to bed in one piece?”

“Sure.”

“Good, I’ll take Omid with me back to the Brave so you two can have a little peace and quiet; Sarah will probably need it to sleep off her hangover in the morning.”

“Thanks Patty. And, thanks for letting her have her birthday. Do… do you still want to talk to her?”

“Yeah, I do.” There was an awkward pause after Patty said that. “But, we’ll do that in the morning, and, we’ll work it out one way or the other. Between Anthony and Jet, this feels like a talk that’s long overdue.”

“I talked to Jet actually,” informed Clem. “He wasn’t actually trying to watch me in the bath; he just saw my scars and stared at them by accident.”

“That just sounds like an excuse.”

“I believed him,” stated Clem as she looked Patty in the eye. “And you should too.”

Patty stared at Clem for a moment. “All right. If you believed him that’s good enough for me,” said Patty as she looked over at Sarah lying on the bed. “Still, I’m not sure about Anthony.”

“Yeah, me either, but I want Sarah to be happy.”

“I want what’s best for her.”

“And you think you know best?”

“I think I know better, at least a little about this.” Patty let out a deep sigh. “Do you know how many times I just wish someone had told me not to do this or stay away from that person? More than I care to remember. I don’t want to see you or Sarah making the same mistakes I did even if it means… Jesus, I sound just like my father.”

“Is that bad?” asked Clem.

“Probably, I never listened to him when he said stuff like that.”

“We’ll listen to you, because we know you care about us,” assured Clem. “You’re a really good friend and… I love you.”

“Whoa, what?”

“I… I love you,” repeated Clem, feeling awkward. “Is it… is it weird to say that?”

“A little,” admitted Patty. “I mean, you’re not in love with me right, you just mean—”

“Yeah,” finished Clem. “Sarah and I were talking once, and I realized there were a lot of people I cared about that I never told them I love them, and I just realized I never told you I love you.”

“Okay,” said Patty, sounding relieved. “Sorry, it’s just last time someone suddenly told me they loved me, it ended badly.”

“I remember. Your friend who said he was in love with you, and got really mad when you said you weren’t.”

“Yeah,” said Patty with a sigh.

“I don’t love you like that, but I do love you,” assured Clem as she wrapped her arms around Patty.

“I… I really appreciate that,” said Patty as she hugged Clem back. “I can’t remember the last time someone told me they loved me before that ugliness with my former friend. Probably my dad… ages ago.”

“I love you right now,” assured Clem as she squeezed Patty.

“I love you too.” Clem couldn’t stop herself from smiling when she heard that. “You and Sarah are like the sisters I never had.”

“And you’re the best… well, you’re one of best… I mean—”

“It’s fine Clem,” chuckled Patty as she let go. “I know everyone else is second place in your heart after Omid and Sarah.”

The pair were distracted by a loud thud, and turned around just in time to watch Sarah kick off her other shoe hard enough to hit the ceiling.

“Speaking of which, the sooner you get to her the better.”

“I’m going,” said Clem. “Thanks again, for everything.”

“My pleasure.”

Patty headed back outside and Clem closed the door. As she approached the bed, she watched as Sarah sat up suddenly. The note Clem had left on the pillow was stuck to her face now.

“Wuh… what’s this?” she mumbled as she grabbed hold of the paper.

“Oh, um, well it’s kind of like a birthday…” Sarah had already unfolded the note before Clem finished speaking. She looked at it, squinted, then moved it closer to her face.

“Here,” said Clem as she handed Sarah her glasses.

“Oh, right,” said Sarah as she fumbled with her own glasses. It took a few tries, but eventually she got them on and examined the paper.

“I didn’t think I’d be here when you read it. I can leave if—”

“Dear… dear Sarah,” she read, a bit of clarity returning to her voice. “I… I’m really sorry for what I said last night. You were right, I was jealous. You’re so wonderful that I don’t want to share you just because it means I get to spend less time with you, and that caused me to say a really horrible thing that hurt you. I’m really sorry and I wished I had never said it.

“I know you’re mad at me, and I understand if you don’t want to be around me right now. I really miss you and want to be with you, but the most important thing to me is… that you’re happy.

“You’re a really good person, and the nicest I’ve ever met, and you deserve to be happy, and I’d do anything to make you happy, even if it means staying away, because even though I miss you, it bothers me a lot more when you’re not happy.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get you a better present for your birthday than this. I should have gotten you a great one after the one you gave me last year, but I forgot, so I’m sorry for that too. I wrote this note to tell you that, but I also wrote it because I wanted to tell you how much I love you.

“I love you Sarah, and if I ever do anything that hurts you, you just have to tell me and I’ll do whatever you want to make it better, because I love you and would do anything for you.”

“For the best friend anyone could ever ask for, Clementine.”

Sarah set the note down and looked at Clem with a sober intensity that made Clem nervous.

“It’s… it’s stupid,” confessed Clem as she looked down at the floor. “I—”

Clem found herself nearly being yanked off the floor as Sarah hugged her.

“Thank you!” exclaimed Sarah in a jovial voice as she squeezed Clem for dear life.

“Really?” asked Clem as Sarah set her down. “You actually like it?”

“Of course, it’s so sweet,” professed Sarah.

“I got the idea from you.”

“Me?”

“Remember, after we first met, you made me that get well card?”

“Oh yeah, I remember that. I was so excited just to learn your name that I wanted to write you a letter, then I thought since you looked sad I should make you a card instead.”

“I wish I still had it.”

“What did we do with it?”

“You burned it, because you didn’t want to burn my drawings instead.”

“Oh, that’s right…” recalled Sarah as she rubbed her head. “Well, I’m definitely not burning this. It’s the best birthday gift I’ve ever gotten.”

“Really?” asked a pleasantly surprised Clem as she watched Sarah carefully fold the letter and place it on the dresser with care. “Even better than that necklace Anthony got you?”

“Oh, that?” giggled Sarah as she looked down at the ornate gems hanging from her neck. “I only wore it because I didn’t want to hurt Anthony’s, feelings,” she explained as she removed the necklace. “Don’t tell him I said this, but I actually thought it was kind of tacky.” Clem felt herself smirking a little as she watched Sarah drop the necklace on the dresser. “And it’s really heavy.”

“That’s why I don’t mind wearing the bracelet you gave me,” said Clem as she tugged on the elastic band around her wrist. “It weights practically nothing.”

“I can’t believe you’re still wearing that,” said Sarah as she came in close. Clem held out her hand while Sarah studied the rainbow-colored beads and little jewel heart all strung together. “Do you ever take that off?”

“Only when I take a bath or go to sleep,” said Clem with a smile.

“Like your hat,” noted Sarah.

“Actually it didn’t match my skirt, so I left it in the Brave with my hair tie.”

“Oh that’s right, you didn’t have it on at the party either.” Sarah yawned as she took off her glasses to rub her eyes. “Ugh, I’m so sleepy,” she said as she placed the glasses on the dresser.

“I’ll let you go to bed then,” said Clem as she headed for the door.

“You’re not tired?”

“I am, but I figured I’d just sleep in the Brave tonight.”

“What? Why?”

“Because… I thought you wouldn’t want me around,” admitted Clem. “It felt like you were avoiding me earlier.”

“I… I was…” admitted Sarah with a sigh. “But I don’t want to do that anymore, and… I really missed you at the party.”

“Really?” asked a surprised Clem.

“Of course I did,” professed Sarah. “I may have been mad but… I still wanted you to be there.”

“I just didn’t want to bother you.”

“It bothers me when I don’t know where you are.”

“Sorry. I just figured you’d have more fun without me. Even before we fought I felt like you were, I don’t know, tired of being around me.”

“What?” asked Sarah, sounding hurt. “Why would you ever think that?”

“When you canned all that stuff yesterday, you asked Anthony and Jet to help you, but not me.”

“I did that because I knew Sin would need Devlin’s help for the rainwater thing, so that left Anthony to carry in the jars and I knew you and Patty didn't like him so I asked Jet to help me instead.”

“Oh…” Clem stood there for a second, feeling foolish.

“Anthony’s a friend, but you’re my best friend.”

“Does… does that mean I can sleep in here with you tonight?”

“Of course.”

Clem felt a great weight being lifted off her shoulders. She locked the door and quickly got undressed as she headed over to the bed where Sarah was clumsily fumbling with her dress.

“Wow,” said Clem as Sarah tossed the dress aside. “They’re getting big.”

“Huh?” asked Sarah.

“Your arms,” said Clem as she placed a hand on Sarah’s bicep. “They look so… strong.”

“Do they?” questioned Sarah as she pivoted in place before she realized she could just move her arms into view. “I guess it’s all that carrying stuff. Dirt, water, pots, dirt… water.”

“I bet you could carry me up if you—” Clem felt her stomach drop as she was swept her off her feet. She wrapped around her arms around Sarah’s neck to keep from falling only to realize it was Sarah who had scooped her off the floor.

“I guess I can,” said Sarah with a goofy smile as she looked down at Clem.

“Yeah,” spoke a surprised Clem as she felt her heart beating faster. “Could… could you carry me over to the bed?”

“Sure.” Clem felt a giddy sensation being carried across the room in Sarah’s arms and couldn’t stop herself from erupting into giggles as she was playfully dropped onto the bed. Rolling over, she caught a glimpse of Sarah beside the bed, standing tall with the light from the lantern giving her brown skin a heavenly glow while locks of black hair danced in front of her face. Watching Sarah slide into bed next to her made Clem’s heart race, and she felt her chest tightening as Sarah inched in closer

“I missed you,” professed Clem suddenly in a quiet voice.

“I missed you too,” answered Sarah in a whisper. “Thanks for everything. The present, the food, doing all my work.”

“I don’t know how you do that every morning,” admitted Clem. “Oh, that reminds me actually, I found a caterpillar in the greenhouse.”

“Oh no,” mumbled Sarah. “Did you kill it?”

“I was going to, but it was already in a cocoon, so I left it,” reported Clem. “Should we kill it?”

“I don’t know. Butterflies are good pollinators or… something. I’ll look it up in my notes tomorrow.” Sarah sighed deeply. “It never ends. We still got so much stuff we need to preserve, and there’s more coming, and we need to keep that growing, and we’ll have to figure out how to harvest enough seeds for next year, and start a compost so we can make our own fertilizer and—”

“I’m sorry,” said Clem. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“Sin was saying something a few days ago about how he wasn’t sure what kind of septic system we have in this house, and if it was a septic tank, we might have to dig it up and empty it out if it ever gets full.”

“Ugh, gross,” said Clem with a wince. “That reminds me of when we stayed in Spokeston, and there was no rain for two weeks, so we had no water we could use to flush the toilet, so we had that bucket—”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” insisted Sarah. “I don’t know whose yard we were emptying it into, but they’re never going to want to live there again after what we did to it.”

Clem laughed which caused Sarah to laugh too.

“Did… did you have a happy birthday?” asked Clem as she inched in closer.

“Oh yeah,” professed Sarah. “This has been… like… the best day of my life.”

“You mean, since the walkers came?”

“No.”

“No?”

“I can’t remember ever feeling this good before or after things changed,” realized Sarah. “Everyone was so nice to me, and the food was incredible, and it was such a beautiful night and…” Clem noticed Sarah was tearing up while still looking overjoyed. “It… it’s actually going to work.”

“What is?”

“This—the farm. I… I didn’t know if it would, but… it looks like it’s going to, and… we can live here, and eat… and Omid can grow up, and… and… we’re gonna have more parties. Anthony’s birthday is in a week, Patty’s in June, I think Jet’s is in July, and then it’ll be your birthday again, and you’ll be eleven years old. ”

Clem curled up to Sarah and put her arm around her friend. “All thanks to you, because you’re a genius,” said Clem with a smile.

“No. I… we couldn’t have done all this without everyone’s help.”

“Yeah, that’s true… but you’re still a genius.”

“Maybe,” said Sarah with a smile. “But it’s only because you believed in me.”

“I… I love you Sarah,” Clem found herself speaking without thinking.

“I love you too Clementine.”

Clem felt her heart race as Sarah reached an arm over her and leaned in closer, prompting Clem to lean in herself. She could smell the whiskey on Sarah’s breath as their faces nearly touched, then there was a click and the room went dark. Sarah pulled her arm back and rolled over into a comfortable position, and Clem suddenly realized she had been leaning over to turn off the lantern on the dresser.

Clem lay there in the dark until her eyes adjusted to the moonlight beaming in through the windows. She found herself staring at a sleeping Sarah, breathing softly just below the covers. Clem couldn’t explain it, but she couldn’t stop looking at her, and eventually she found herself inching closer. Clem gently brushed Sarah’s hair aside to get a better look at her face, then without thinking, leaned in.

“What… what am I doing?” a panicked Clem asked herself as she stopped just short of kissing Sarah. She inched backwards but found her gaze affixed on Sarah as she did. Clem couldn’t stop staring at her, couldn’t stop thinking about her, until it finally dawned on her why. “Oh no…” Clementine was in love with Sarah.

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