Free What Love Has Lost by Mindy McCalester

the stove, cooking whatever she is serving for breakfast. Thus, I hear the rest of the gang's feet rushing towards the kitchen.
    "Morning, Mrs. E!" Grady hollers, surprising me by his voice. I thought he was going back to sleep! Turning around to see Grady form a smile across his face, my eyes widen.
    "I thought you were sleeping!" I murmur. Grady just shrugs and ignores my comment.
    How rude of him!
    "So, are the others awake, yet?" Mrs. Evers asks, while turning off the stove.
    We suddenly hear footsteps rushing down the stairs. I think we spoke too soon.
    "Oh my god, is that pancakes I smell?" one of the people from upstairs calls.
    "Get out of my way, I want the first batch of pancakes." Another person calls. That voice sounds so familiar. It sounds like Rhiannon's voice. Even though I know Rhiannon and her love of breakfast, pancakes and syrup with butter on top is her favorite breakfast of the day. She will also add a cup of coffee and jam, covered in toast with those stacks of pancakes.
    Being a small, petite person, she sure knows how to scarf all those pancakes down her throat.
     
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    After we all finish eating breakfast together, Mr. Evers considers that he wants to spend quality time with the boys. He wants to create a fellowship with Nathan and Grady. Since Grady is getting married to his daughter, he might as well get to know more about him. Mrs. Evers, Rhiannon and I all agreed. I do love to know more about Mrs. Evers.
    "Actually, I want Inna to tag along with us." Mr. Evers invites. Uh-oh, this is bad!
    I shake my head. "No, it's not necessary. Besides, I think I shall hang out with the girls."
    "Nonsense, I insist that you should join us!" Mr. Evers obliges.
    My eyes avert towards Grady, Mr. Evers, the brothers, and then Nathan. Nathan winks at me. I give him a glare, wishing that he didn't plan on stringing me along with them, especially my worst enemy of my past! He probably plans this all along. He probably suggests that he with the boys and me shall spend a day together. But whatever he was doing, he's doing a solid job.
    "Um," I hesitate as I watch numerous eyes gluing onto me. "Sure, why not?"
    The boys all cheer as I see Mrs. Evers wink at me. Oh, I know what she's doing.
     
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    Finishing getting ready, all the boys and I hop into the car of Mr. Evers. He gives us some ground rules, first. "Okay, no food or drinks because I don't want anyone to ruin the leather."
    We all shake our heads. "And as for the lady, she sits in front with me."
    He motions his head to face me, giving me those glares from his eyes. I stiffly nod. He lets out a deep chuckle as everyone else in the car chimes with their laughter. I will never understand the concept of boys. Most people say that men and women diverse from each other. Oh, science is definitely correct on that statement. Men are from Mars and women are from Venus. How funny that Mars and Venus surrounds Earth and they are different planets; yet, they meet in the middle?
    "So, what do you guys think we should do today?" one of the boys asks.
    "Oh, I want to play laser tag, ever since I was a little boy!" Grady cheers in excitement. Nathan, Reed, Royce, and Grady all murmurs in an agreement, but Mr. Evers interrupts them with a whistle.
    "Hey, why don't we let the lady choose?" Mr. Evers insists. Why is he always putting me on the spot? I wish I'm hanging out with the girls, instead of hearing boys cheering for some laser tag game. I honestly don't like playing video games, because I think it's a waste of time. I love watching video games, but I prefer not to become a video gamer. Besides, I'm not good with chasing and hiding. I suck at playing hide and go seek!
    "Um, I'm thinking of bowling." I offer. Everyone stares at me for a good minute before saying anything else.
    "Bowling sounds good." Nathan chimes. Suddenly, everyone agrees as we head to the bowling alley. Maybe a fun time with the guys will take my mind out of things, or maybe Mrs.