"What's for lunch?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Lunch?" I put my hand over my mouth and then took it away. "Oh no! I told you to meet me for lunch and I didn't bring anything." I groaned and my cheeks heated. "I'm so sorry. How rude."
Calder laughed. "I'm teasing you, Morning Glory. We already ate." He nodded his head toward the black-haired boy now wading through the water toward us. He wasn't as tall as Calder, but the water still didn't come close to his shoulders like it did to my own.
The boy made it to the rock and pulled himself up on it with effort. Calder and I both moved over as he lay back, catching his breath again and massaging his side as if he had a stitch.
Calder chuckled. "Eden, this here sorry, out-of-shape person is Xander Garen."
"Out of shape? Who's out of shape? I walk miles every single day. I just don't jog straight downhill with heavy water containers on my shoulders. Ridiculous." Xander turned to me. "Lovely to make your personal acquaintance, Eden. I played Kick the Can with you once years ago. You probably remember me. I was the star of the game. Not that I particularly remember that game itself, but I was always the star, so it can safely be deduced I was that day as well."
I laughed. "I do remember that game, Xander, because it's the only game I ever played, and yes, you played very well, and so did Calder." I blushed when I looked over at Calder because, well, he was so handsome and I wanted to stare at him, and the way he was looking at me made me feel like he could read my mind. Xander narrowed his eyes, looking between us and then looked away.
"Right. Well, thanks for allowing us to share your oasis today. I had no idea this was here. When Calder told me about the spring, I assumed it was just a little water hole with a few rocks around it. You've been holding out on me, Calder." He winked and I smiled, looking back at Calder to find him staring at me with a strange expression on his face. He seemed to come out of a trance and his face broke into a smile, too, as he nudged Xander.
"Nah, I'd never hold out on you. You just never seemed interested."
Xander huffed out a breath. "Well you know I have so much excitement as it is, what with walking around the perimeter of Acadia a thousand times a day."
"It's an important job, just like every job here," Calder said, but there wasn't any emotion in his voice. We sat there for a minute silently until Calder cleared his throat and went on, "Anyway, I know I sleep better at night knowing a big, strong manly man such as yourself is in charge of my safety." Calder grinned at Xander and Xander chuckled.
"Who doesn't, Pretty Boy?"
I giggled, taking delight in their banter. It had been so long since I laughed and felt the lightheartedness of friendship. I wondered if I'd ever experienced it . . . before.
"So, Eden, what is it that you do everyday?"
I blushed and looked down. "I'm not allowed to do much, really. I practice my music and I study the Holy Book." I shrugged. "That's the extent of it." I let out a small, uncomfortable laugh. "Makes walking around the perimeter of Acadia a thousand times a day sound better, huh? You must think I'm the most pathetic person on earth."
There was silence for a minute and when I looked up, both Xander and Calder had matching surprised looks on their faces.
"You can't be," Calder finally said. "Xander already holds that title."
"So funny," Xander said as I giggled again. He elbowed Calder. "We'd never think that about you, Eden. You're the blessed one."
I felt my face heat slightly at the reminder I was different than them, and I cleared my throat, not knowing what to say.
"Seriously, you don't go to school?" Xander asked after an awkward moment.
I shook my head. "No. Hector says as the blessed one, the only thing expected of me is to be well-versed in his Holy Book."
"Well, that's true I suppose," Xander said slowly, spacing his words as if several could have been inserted between them.
Calder looked down and began tracing something on the rock, almost as if he was unconsciously drawing.
"Oh, I've wanted to ask you this forever," I said. "That day you and Xander were talking about the butterscotch candy beneath my window, what was it you were drawing in the dirt? It was only half done. I looked down on it for days, trying to figure out if it was a girl, or a horse, or . . . I thought maybe it might be a river for a few days, but then I was sure it was a—"
I stopped talking when Calder burst out laughing.
"What?" I demanded, looking over at Xander who was smiling, too.
"Nothing. You," Calder said, smiling in a way that made me feel warm. "You gave that dirt drawing a lot of thought."
I let out a small laugh on a breath. "I told you, my days are pretty boring."
"Oh, no, Eden, I was just teasing you. Uh, let's see . . . I'm sorry, I can't remember what I might have been sketching."
"Calder's constantly sketching," Xander inserted. "It's the bane of our teacher's existence. Anytime he's allowed near a writing instrument, it's like the gods possess him to sketch."
I tilted my head. "And yet he's not allowed to?" I asked.
They both shook their heads. "Workers aren't allowed to partake in the arts. That's only for the council members and their families."
"Why?" I blurted out, thinking of all the instruments, paints, charcoal, and paper kept at the main lodge. Hector was big on the arts. He was constantly insisting we practice, practice, practice and that the arts pleased the gods. I wasn't aware of the many rules the workers lived by, as our lives had always been kept so separate. I had seen for myself the fact that they didn't have electricity like we did at the main lodge, but I thought, other than our living conditions and that they tended to the work in our community, we participated in pretty much the same things. Of course, not counting the Holy Book, I wasn't educated in anything other than the arts, but that was only me. The council members' children were schooled in the usual subjects, just like the workers. It suddenly all seemed so confusing.