348 Chapter 348

Lucy was still grumbling, but she came inside. I could hear Elliott in his bedroom, which is in the back of the apartment. He'd bought a big screen TV and a new recliner a few weeks ago and put them back there. He said he hadn't realized his house would be the place all the cool kids hung out, and he didn't want to cramp our style. We did spend a lot of time here, and I felt a little bad that he couldn't even sit in his own living room alone anymore. He had lived here by himself for a long time. Before he died.

"Is that my favorite blonde-haired teenager?" he called as he came down the hallway. "What's the matter, Lucy Goosey? You not enjoyin' our glamorous lifestyle?"

She was already giggling before he got close enough to tweak her chin. I was slightly jealous, even though I knew that was stupid. He was my Elliottnot hers. "It's great," Lucy said, smiling up at him. "It's justCass's parents are a lot stricter than mine are. Were. Whatever."