11:30

Seven -- Chris

I couldn't find the shoes I wanted and Ollie was no help. He kept insisting the ones in his hands were just fine but I wanted the ones I'd been wearing, whichever ones those were. I would know when I saw them.

Ollie glanced at his watch and then huffed, holding the shoes out towards me again "Sir Greg said five minutes which leaves you about 30 seconds to put these on and get upstairs."

"But I--"

"He is being SO nice but we shouldn't push it. Come on. Unless you want a punishment, that is."

What? No! I grabbed the shoes and pouted while I slipped them on. "Fine, I'm ready. Up?" This hallway was confusing and there were too many stairs and doors.

"Come on, follow me" Ollie said, pushing a box on the way with his foot and heading upstairs and towards the front door.

Greg was waiting for us and handed me a bottle of water. "Do you want one, Ollie?"

"Oh no, thank you, I'm fine."

We walked in silence and I sipped at my water bottle, mostly for something to do but then gulped the rest down because I was unbelievably thirsty.

"Shh" Greg whispered, herding us towards the street.

"What?" I managed to not trip over Ollie but instead of him thanking me, he poked me in the side and did that pursed lips thing. What? I hadn't said anything except 'what'. No one answered me and about three seconds later I asked again. "What!?"

"Stop whining" Greg answered. There was a skunk in that yard and I didn't want to startle it.

Ollie sucked in a breath and made a rather displeased noise, speeding up. "Wait, you're fast. I have to pee" I mumbled.

Greg stopped dead in his tracks and spun me around to face him. He cocked his head to the side in obvious disappointment. "I told you to use the bathroom before we left the house."

"But I had to find my shoes" I whined. I'd forgotten, it was my fault. But shoes...

"You need to wait three minutes, Kevin's house isn't far."

"Shouldn't have given me water" I mumbled under my breath, squishing the bottle in my hand and making it crunch.

He took it from me. "You're drunk so I will forgive your behavior."

My behavior? Oh, yeah but was so hard to be good sometimes. I tried to stay quiet until Ollie opened up his front door. "Now can I use the potty?"

Kevin was waiting for us and gave our raggedy bunch a halfhearted wave. "Hello."

Thankfully Greg answered me first. "Potty? Very well. But maybe you should sit down."

Sit down? No, I needed to use the bathroom. But he'd said I could. Oh, he meant on the toilet. "Ha ha" I scoffed. I wasn't nearly that drunk, especially after the walk. "I'll be right back."

When I got back, Ollie was talking to Kevin about the name Christopher and Greg's joke. "He'd have to be straight though" Kevin said. Huh? At least I wasn't the only one confused because after no one responded, Kevin filled us in. "Chris-top-her. Her. A woman?"

Ah, I hadn't thought of that. Ollie was laughing and Greg just looked really confused and then he nodded. I got it but I didn't laugh. Although to be fair, none of it was really as funny anymore. The original conversation was a bit of a blur. I needed another drink; I was too near sober.

"We will go" Greg announced.

I didn't argue, just followed along and once we were down the path and onto the sidewalk, Greg
took my hand. "This is nice of you. Walking me. Holding my hand."