Free Sink: The Lost World by Perrin Briar

eating.”
    “But we’re not eating yet,” Cassie said.
    “We’re about to,” Bryan said.
    “So?” Cassie said.
    “So, hang up now,” Bryan said.
    “All right, all right,” Cassie said. Then, into her phone: “Hello? Yeah, really sorry but I’ve got to go. No, I’m out now with some… friends. Yeah. I’ll chat to you as soon as it’s over. See you. Bye.”
    Cassie could see the annoyance on Zoe’s face, which had become hard and expressionless. She sipped at her glass of water in a tight grip. Mealtimes were family time. Ha!
    The waiter came with their meals and placed them each in front of the guests. Cassie’s meals sat around her in a wide arch.
    “I don’t know where you’re going to put it all,” Zoe said. “You’re so thin.”
    “I take after my mother,” Cassie said. “A fast metabolism.”
    “What subjects do you like at school, Cassie?” Zoe said.
    “I’m not really a very good student,” Cassie said.
    “Your father told me you’re exceptional at art,” Zoe said.
    Cassie shrugged.
    “I can see if work will let me bring you one of these days, if you like,” Zoe said. “You’ll love our graphic design department.”
    Cassie heaped more chicken onto her fork.
    “What do you say, Cassie?” Bryan said.
    “About what?” Cassie said.
    “Zoe’s kind offer,” Bryan said.
    “Oh,” Cassie said, blowing onto her meat. “Thanks.”
    Zoe pushed a vegetarian meatball around on her plate.
    “Can I ask you a question?” Cassie said. “Why did you order vegetarian Bolognese? You should either eat meat or not eat meat, not eat something that looks like meat.”
    “Bolognese without the meatballs isn’t really Bolognese,” Zoe said. “Just because I don’t like the taste of meat doesn’t mean I should miss out on the experience.”
    Cassie pursed her lips and drank some of her cherryade. She looked at Zoe over the edge of her glass.
    “So, how did you two meet?” she said.
    “Well,” Zoe said, flapping her napkin as if preparing to tell an exquisite story. “We met when your father asked for an appraisal on a piece of land he was thinking about acquisitioning. You see, there’s this process of digging for minerals called fracking. How you do it is to aim a high-power hose at the land and blast through it with high-pressure water…”
    Cassie ate her meal, keeping her eyes on her food and never once looked up.
    “Cass,” Bryan said. “You should pay attention to someone if you ask them a question and they’re polite enough to answer.”
    “It’s all right,” Zoe said. “I’m sure fracking isn’t exactly what a teenager would like to talk about.”
    “No, go on,” Cassie said. “I’m listening. I’ll give you my undivided attention.”
    “Okay…” Zoe said. “Well, it’s been in all the newspapers lately that fracking is dangerous to the environment and that it can cause sinkholes and earthquakes and all kinds of things.”
    Cassie kept her eyes on Zoe, nodding, and cut at her food, never letting her eyes drop to her plate. She stabbed at a slice of chicken with her fork, making a screeching sound. Then she raised it up in front of her face and aimed it at her mouth, but missed, and touched her cheek. She tried again, and missed, this time dabbing some of the gravy on her nose. Still, she kept her eyes firmly on Zoe, who by now had noticed what was happening.
    “Uh, you have something on your face,” Zoe said.
    “On my face?” Cassie said. “Where?”
    “On your cheek,” Zoe said.
    “On my cheek?” Cassie said, reaching over with the fork, and poking herself on the wrong cheek.
    “Now you have it on both cheeks,” Zoe said.
    “Really?” Cassie said. “It’s hard to see without being able to move my eyes.”
    “Cassie,” Bryan said. “How old are you? Four?”
    Cassie smiled and wiped the sauce off her face.
    “I’m just playing,” she said.
    “You’re too old to be playing with your food,” Bryan said. “Sorry, Zoe. Why don’t