Fiona didn't like that look on Ezra's face. "Maybe I shouldn't have invited you over."
Still, she knew she owed him, and she'd made fisherman's stew, and no way did she want to have leftovers. Matty was there, of course. When wasn't he here? But he was being casual as if he didn't have a problem in the world.
"I've gotten quite chummy with Dakota," Matty said at the stove as he was dishing out soup while Fiona was getting the cornbread out of the waffle maker. Matty's idea, but she liked it.
"So," it sounded like a sour note from Ezra who looked to Matty as if he might be too smart for his own good.
"Just saying, she's busy, you know."
Matty talked about Frankie's Friendsgiving and how it was such a success in the party room on the first floor. They all chipped in, and if anyone needed a Thanksgiving meal, they made sure everyone got a plate. Of course, Nav was by Dakota's side. Not Ezra.
"I just don't understand it," Ezra looked down and out about it as he sat at the little dining table. He had to take public transportation to work these days. Fiona knew he didn't like it, but it was best to keep his electric bike from going bad this cold winter.
It was a gray, snowy day outside, and so cold.
"Well, at least we aren't at the trailer park." Fiona shivered as she dipped a corner of the cornbread waffle in her stew.
"Eat," Matty said to Ezra before she could. Suddenly, it felt to Fiona that she and Matty were hovering over their little brother, but Ezra looked numb.
Yes, he said it again. It was like a daily mantra for Ezra. "She said we were just friends."
"Well, be her friend, then. Give her space. Give her time."
Fiona was shocked that Matty could sound like an adult. She remembered him whining just a few weeks ago how he couldn't live alone. After all, he was just across the hall. But he'd made a difference lately. He was frightened of her dad and was so quiet at Thanksgiving.
And he had his art activites going. Someone from the building had helped him learn about STEM and he was now helping out at a daycare nearby with art activities with preschoolers. Fiona wasn't sure she knew this Matty. But then again, maybe he didn't know her like he thought he did.
