Staying Behind the Scenes

Who: Leija
When: after school
Where: the Lockwoods' porch

So there was precious little Leija felt like she could do for Caleb that was any kind of direct, but without actual contact. She had plans to hang out with Rose later, which might help things there, if they got to talking about anything, but who knew. So she went with the one real idea she'd had so far. After school, she'd gone grocery shopping. Along with the stuff she'd bought for her and her dad, she filled a few bags -- but not more than she could carry on foot -- full of things for the Lockwood brothers. During the vampire bullshit, their fridge had been woefully understocked, and she had a feeling it probably wasn't any different now.

It was mostly frozen stuff, and nonperishables, but she'd put in some lunchmeat and bread and the kind of thing that was simple to make in there too. Hopefully they'd get some use out of it, and Caleb would actually say, remember to eat. It was like a reminder. She gave a real sigh of relief as she set it all down on the front porch, and glanced through the bags in a quick inventory of what was in there, and called it good. Even if they didn't find it right away, the weather would keep the stuff cold enough that it wouldn't spoil.

She left it all right in front of the door, but didn't knock or announce her presence in any way, nor did she leave any note. She took the receipt out and pocketed it, kissed the palm of her hand, and pressed it to the door for a second. Then she turned and headed off, carrying the one bag of stuff she'd bought for her own household, and feeling a little bit better about life.