“I crossed my heart!” she said, sounding every bit like one of the kids who had just run off. “You don't cross your heart unless it's serious business, true facts real!” she added, beaming wide now. “You should know by now that if it exists out there, Bea will find it and bring it back. Between her and that Piers guy, I don't think we'll ever need anymore looters.” She smirked. “Nah, you know that when I want to show you what's on the whiteboard, I just leave it there until the end of the day and keep adding to it. I'm surprised you haven't taken it away from us yet.”
Rae paused, making a face at the thought of kissing Brandon. “Hm... you have pointed out a fatal flaw in my plan, good sir,” she pointed out with a faux-serious expression on her face. “Maybe I shouldn't offer kisses. But... praise. And kisses, as long as you aren't Brandon Stone.” She added, as though it was a loophole. “Although I probably shouldn't be offering to kiss Evan either, since Leah would massacre me... and I probably shouldn't kiss Mike either, since Kori would have my head... this plan is more and more flawed. The only person I'd actually be able to kiss, in the end, was...” him. She trailed off before she said that, cleared her throat and continued. “So, yes. Praise. And first dibs on the meal.” Awkward. A little. “Holidays were always big in my family. Mama was a decorating freak and daddy was a cooking freak. I managed the best of both worlds somehow.”
With a chuckle, Rae nodded. “That she did,” she played along. “Oh god, Leah's the only person in this compound who could beat me in a flexibility contest. Well, maybe George if she stretched right, too,” she added. “I am liking this plan more and more as we go,” she said with a wry smirk. “Any way we can mess with Brandon is A+ in my books. And Leah will always prank her brother. This will be fun.” She nodded. He complimented her again her sheepish smile got more so. Dangerous territory. But it felt like it had been far longer than it actually had been since she'd flirted. “I'm glad you think so. I try to be.” The tone of the conversation was different now, but she didn't mind. “Lots of people don't like what some people find likeable, but that's okay.” She suspected she and Maddie would never get along.
Rae's expression was non-judgmental, just attentive, when he told her that he never finished high school. “I did, but it didn't do me a whole hell of a lot of good, given what the world is now,” she joked, though she was half-serious. “Ha. How about I ask her the next time we're both together and we see her? So you can hear the answer straight from her in all her confusing sciencey wording...” she paused, “because if I tried to relay it, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't come out right.”
Complicated and shady. Rae chuckled bitterly at that. “Yeah,” she said sadly. “But like... if it's not? If she's genuine? I pretty much missed her every day she was gone, even though she hurt me more than she could imagine when she left. And the fact that she wants my friendship back...” It wouldn't be easy to say no. “She and Brandon were special to each other, whether they believed it or not. I think they had this... connection, you know? One of those ones that spans whether or not it makes sense for people to be together. They just... got each other. And as much as Brandon and I don't get along, I'd hate to see that exploited.” It pained her to say this about Lexi, but there was undoubtedly reason to worry.
Oh. Rae nodded her head and listened when he told her about himself. Again, non-judgmental, just attentive. “Because of the gang stuff?” she asked him. “But you're different now, right? And it takes a lot of strength to overcome stuff like that,” she told him with a sweet expression on her face. “And even if you weren't... the apocalypse is a hell of an equalizer. It doesn't matter who you were anymore. Or it does, but only as much as you want it to matter.” Her smile was supportive.
“I wouldn't know,” she joked. “They're so rare nowadays.”