234

 "Who wants to play Scrabble?" says Melissa.

Carl looks at me. "Do you want to read me some more of your friend's journal tonight?"

I am not sure at first.  I am a bit tired, but for some reason I can feel a second wave of energy sweeping over me.

"I think I'm going to pass on Scrabble", I say.  "I was going to share more of my friend's journal with Carl, and that feels kind of important right now.

"You're no fun", says Melissa, deadpan.  "How about you guys?" she directs towards Aaron and Jesús.

"I'm not sure how fair that would be to Jesús, since English is his second language", says Aaron.

"I can do the words in Spanish", he says.

"No fair", Melissa protests.  "I don't speak Spanish."

"But you speak Dutch", says Aaron.  "You can play in Dutch."

"But what if I cheat?"

"Then we are just going to have to trust you."

"But that means I also have to trust you guys in Spanish."

"Yeah.  Neat, eh?" says Aaron.

"Okay.  Let's play", she says...