Mixing It Up
Luke woke up late the next day. The clock on the wall read noon. Courtney and Alex were still asleep. Tracy and Sam were trading notes in the adjoining room. The room they were in was fairly empty and they were sitting on an old rug.
“Mornin’ sunshine!” Tracy was far too chipper for his liking. It was far too early in his opinion too.
He remembered what had happened last night and was about to speak up to tell the others when Alex rolled right out of the chair he slept in the night before. There was a thud then a soft grunt. Alex groaned untangling himself from his blanket. Sam had moved to help him up but Alex was barely awake enough to notice.
“Hmm,” Alex had just noticed Sam's hand outstretched to help him up. He grabbed it, grateful that no one had started laughing.
“Good morning,” Sam smiled as Alex actually accepted his help.
“What time is it?” Courtney mumbled rubbing her eyes as she sat up.
“It’s noon CC,” Tracy answered, bringing them two plates piled high with fresh croissants and cinnamon rolls.
“Why didn’t you wake us sooner?” Alex sat down next to Sam as they all gathered in the side room.
“Well we tried with Luke and Courtney but they wouldn't budge and neither one of us had the heart to wake you. You looked tired so we let you be,” Sam explained, grabbing a croissant and taking a bite.
“Oh,” Alex went quiet, tearing a cinnamon roll apart gently with his fingers.
Lunch, or breakfast, for today's three late sleepers passed by silently. Courtney didn't even talk much and usually she was a chatterbox. He'd grown used to Alex's silence after all he'd spent the last two days hanging out with him. Luke was oddly quiet too and he just didn't get it. What changed in the past twenty-four hours to make them act so odd?
“We filled each other in on the separate investigation this morning. If you want CC we can do more research today and I'll tell you and Luke what Sam told me Alex and him found out yesterday,” Tracy was the only one besides himself to keep the conversation going this morning.
It was rather boring, sure but at least soon they'd split up and they'd all get to go do their own thing so long as they stayed in their groups. He figured Alex and him could go try to find out if there was anything else in Vivian's office that would give them any more clues. He hated that office mainly because the huge portrait’s eyes seemed to follow him wherever he went. He got that feeling just about everywhere he went in this house.
“Actually I was hoping we could mix it up a bit. I take Luke and Alex and you can go with Sam,” Courtney finally spoke up seeming less distracted.
Sam's eyes widened when she suggested they change their normal routine. There was no way Alex would want to go with them. Not because they were rude but because he didn't seem to do well with new people. The only reason he even hung around Sam was because Sam had never pushed him out of his comfort zone. He'd tried to make him feel at ease.
“Alex, are you okay with that?” He wanted to be certain that Alex wasn't being strongarmed into doing something that would make him feel uncomfortable.
“Uh yeah,” Alex nodded shortly, heading out to the hall.