Mona stiffened and shrunk into herself a little when Issac put his arm around her, but didn't pull away because that would seem rude. But she did not want some strange man touching her like he was and was relieved when he drew away, her body relaxing to the smallest degree. (But not entirely, because Mona didn't feel like she could really relax in this place. Not yet, at least.)
Looking at the way Issac was with Maddy, Mona wondered if they were involved. They seemed awfully... snuggly. She found herself slightly distracted by his comment about 'seventeen years' because it was making her realise that her plans to come join the circus hadn't gone any further past getting here. She had only imagined a first week, a first month, a first year at the very most - but, of course, it wouldn't be like that.
If they let her stay, this would be her life. She wasn't sure how she felt about that, but she had also known - from the moment she'd passed the ticketbox - that she didn't want to leave, and that she wanted to learn everything there was to learn about this place. That was going to take at least seventeen years.