“Not a very good time for joking, I guess.” Especially about something she worried might eventually come true. “Not your fault. Orrysay.” Maddie didn’t often revert to Pig Latin around people she was comfortable with, but the apology felt necessary.
Harry Potter jokes. She’d heard a lot of those. Maddie snorted a laugh and raised a finger to make a point. “Not all of them were smart, though. Depends on which House we’re in.” It had been a long time since Gordy had read those books to her, so she was rusty on the details. “But I am totally not passing up the opportunity to make fun of you.”
“Grand Central. But I guess it’s possible they travel between the safehouses.” Micah had said they were still at Grand Central, though, and Maddie was inclined to believe her friend. And just when she thought she’d been on the right track to cheering Caitie up, some other negative possibility cropped up. “He probably just knew you’d be safe here, so he left you with people you trust while he went off to find your sister.”
This whole situation sucked, and for purely selfish reasons, Maddie wished it wasn’t happening. She felt bad for her friend, but that was the thing… She’d never dealt with a depressed Caitie before and had no idea how to handle it. “Okay. Orrysay. Defensive little sister syndrome,” she said by way of explanation.
“You — we — do the same thing we’ve been doing since we got here: make pests of ourselves. It’s the best coping method I can think of, and it’s worked for us so far.” She shrugged and offered a faint smile. “And you can figure out how you want to feel in the process.”
Maddie laughed once. “Screaming contest. I like that plan. Might even let you win this time.” Even though Caitie always won. Her scream had a more piercing pitch.
She got up from the bed to put their pets back in their box, then turned to her bed to grab her coat. Pretending things were normal was a lot easier. She could do normal. She preferred normal. It kept her from dwelling too long on the sight of Caitie crying.