She chuckled

"She was without grace and compensated for it with a great deal of sarcasm. Quick witted, yes, but it was not always a pleasant combination nor an appealing one.

She was also without a boyfriend. "




Ann grabbed the open notebook and marched into the kitchen. She tossed it onto the table and began pulling open cupboard doors in search of breakfast.

"Top left" Sarah muffled through the toast in her mouth. She sat at the far side of the table and had to stretch her neck to look at the open notebook page. Ann paused with her hand on a cupboard she had already checked and nodded toward the handwriting.

"Is that about me?" She continued through more cupboard doors.

"Top left" Sarah repeated. Ann blinked at her, slowly, and opened the top left cupboard to reveal the cereal.

"Thank you" She pulled down one box, found it empty, and threw it on the floor near the garbage can. She pulled a second down, shook it briefly, set it on the counter and turned back to Sarah. "Is that about me?" She said it as if it is the first time.

"Yes." Sarah took another bite of her toast and held Ann's eyes with her own. Challenging. Pacifying. It was silent while Ann found a bowl, and then a spoon, and finally the milk. She set each item down on the table next to the notebook before sitting herself.

"Ok." Ann's eyes remained on her cereal, concentrating on scooping the small figures onto the utensil.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Sarah had both hands wrapped around a brilliant blue coffee mug. It was one Ann had given her as a gift one year earlier to distract from the pain of a freshly mortifying haircut. She had claimed the blue complimented the strawberry streaks in her blonde hair and it was the one Sarah used every morning. She shifted and waited, watching Ann's methodical spoon to mouth play.

"I suppose not," Ann considered, her spoon halted on its descent into the bowl, "No." She stood then, surprising Sarah, and began pouring coffee into the thermos atop the counter. She fastened on the top and leaned over it, picking at the edge of a worn sticker along the side of the plastic. She gave up, sighed, and looked back at Sarah and the blue mug. "I need a new one."

Sarah nodded absently, "We really aren't going to talk about it?"

"Don't test me." Ann said shortly and busied herself with her jacket. " I'm not good with this, so don't test me"

"Good at --"

"Not talking. I'm not good at not talking." Ann pulled her jacket shut, buttoning up the front quickly before pulling her bag over her shoulder and fluffing her hair out from beneath the collar. Her words spilled out into the entryway, "Some things do not need to be talked about and I always think I need to talk about them and you do not and so -- " She opened the front door, "we are not talking about it." The door shut behind her.

Sarah chuckled.