She followed him, glancing around. "You're in high spirits." * * * The grin that he gave her was warm and bright. "Callie, you're amazing," he said, shaking his head as he opened the door wider. "Could you set them on the back table?"
"I mean, considering we're walking blindly into a warehouse where we may die." *** The kids all peered at her when she entered and the kids who had come to the back table waved. "Hi, Callie!"
"We could, though. We might." *** Arlo spoke up. "Ms. Meiz is going to call back some kids, and they're going to talk for a bit. Does that work, Cal?"
"We won't." *** She nodded cheerfully. "Totally. I need Becca, Michael, Eleanor, Bryce, Regina, and Burt."
"Hmph. I may have to hold you to that." *** The six kids looked at each other before standing up and coming to the back of the room.
He nodded. "That's fine." *** She put the sweaters out, each the requested color along with the name stitched into the back of the collars with care.
"You know what that means, right? If we die, I'll kill you." * * * They took their sweaters with care, holding it in front of them as they looked up at her with awe. "Thank you so much, Callie," Bryce said eventually, holding the coat to his chest. Becca sniffed slightly, a few tears running down her cheeks. She scrubbed them away hastily with the sleeve of her t-shirt, careful not to get any of the water on her new sweater.
She laughed. "Landon, you sound almost scared." * * * Eleanor slipped on her coat with wide eyes. "It's... It's so warm!"
"But I'm not scared!" *** "Oh, definitely," she said with a smile. "It's got your name on the back too."
"Oh, really?" she teased. "I don't scare you at all?" * * * Michael's eyes widened, and he tried to turn to look. "How did you spell it?"
She crossed her arms and her frown reappeared on her face. "You sure?" *** "That's perfect! That's how you spell it!"
"We'll see about that." *** "They're really wonderful," Regina said quietly. "You don't understand..."
He frowned, but said nothing more. *** "No, I understand," she said softly before brightening again. "I put my best effort in them."
