The Intuitives(26)

“I’ll be staying in this suite if you need anything,” Miss Williams said. “Don’t bother knocking on that first door. Just walk right in. My room is the middle one. The other rooms are empty, so you needn’t worry about disturbing anyone else. You’ll see what I mean in a minute.”

They continued down the hall until they reached another door, also on the right. This time Miss Williams opened it, and she ushered everyone into a kind of living room.

It had a flat-screen television on the wall next to the door, with a console table underneath it and a couch and coffee table across from it. To the left was a small kitchen—differentiated from the living room by a countertop and a pricey tile floor. To the right was a laundry area with sheets, towels, and blankets stacked neatly on the shelves. Three bedrooms opened off the common space: one from the kitchen, one from the laundry, and one from the living room.

“This suite is just like mine. Each of you will have his or her own bedroom, and you’ll share these common spaces. Each bedroom has its own bath. Meals will be downstairs in the main hall, but there are plenty of drinks and snacks here in the suite kitchens. Help yourselves to anything. It’s all free as part of the program. This suite is for the girls. Feel free to settle in while I show the boys to theirs, which is the next one down the hall.”

Miss Williams and the boys all filed out, leaving the girls to unpack.

Kaitlyn immediately started rummaging through the suite, opening all the cabinet doors and looking into every nook and cubbyhole she could find.

“Look! Blu-rays!” she said, opening one of the console table doors. “Hey, there are some good ones in here… mostly rom-coms. They must have known this would be the girls’ suite, right? Oh! And a Blu-ray player! That’s convenient…” She closed the console and headed for the kitchen.

Sam raised an eyebrow and looked at Mackenzie as though to say, “Is this girl for real?” Mackenzie shrugged, holding back an uncharacteristic giggle.

“Oh, sweet! Cereal! Lots of kinds, too. I totally love cereal. Like, you have no idea. I’m a cereal nut. Well, not cereal with nuts, though. I’m not a big fan of nuts. Oh! And instant oatmeal! And coffee? Blech, who likes coffee?”

“I like coffee,” Sam and Mackenzie both volunteered at the same time, each turning to the other in surprise.

“Ugh! You guys can have it,” Kaitlyn said, not breaking stride. “Wait, tell me there’s milk for the cereal… yes! Milk. Good.” She continued listing the contents of the fridge and the cabinets in an unbroken litany.

“It’s like she’s a kitchen announcer,” Sam said to Mackenzie. “You know, like a sports announcer, but for kitchens.”

“Yeah,” Mackenzie agreed. “She should sell groceries on one of those shopping channels.”

“OMG, totally,” Sam replied. “Look at this beautiful cereal, people! I wish you could taste this at home, and smell the cinnamon, and run it through your fingers, just to get the full sensory experience! You simply must have a box for yourself! You haven’t lived until you’ve tried this cereal!”

Mackenzie and Sam both broke down laughing.

“I can hear you, you know,” Kaitlyn said, but it only made them laugh harder because she didn’t otherwise pause at all in her ongoing inventory. After listing all of her food finds, she moved into the bedroom off the kitchen, and they could hear her voice drifting back to them through the open door.

“Hey, there are books in here!” she called out. “Like, some paperbacks. We can trade back and forth, OK? I mean, assuming we have different ones. And notebooks and pens. And a computer desk. No television in the bedroom, but this window is gigantic! Oh, sweet! The bathroom has little soaps and shampoos and stuff! Like a hotel!” Her voice was even more muffled in the bathroom, but suddenly she came running back out into the suite again.

“Hey!” she said, making sure she had the attention of both girls, as if there were any chance she might not. “I call dibs on the bedroom off the kitchen!”

“Why?” Sam wanted to know. “What’s so special in there?”

“’Cause it’s closest to the kitchen?” she replied, looking confused. “I thought that was obvious.”

Sam and Mackenzie burst into another fit of laughter.

“It’s yours,” Sam assured her.

“Sweet!” Kaitlyn exclaimed, and she went running back into her bedroom again.

“You want center or laundry?” Mackenzie asked, turning toward Sam.

“You don’t care?”

“Nah,” Mackenzie said, waving the question away. “I sleep like a log. You could blast a movie in here or do laundry in there at 3:00 a.m. It won’t wake me up.”

“Um, middle, I guess?” Sam said. “If you’re sure you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind,” Mackenzie assured her, smiling. Huh. Maybe we can be friends, after all, she thought. And she picked up her bags, carrying them through the laundry room and into the bedroom that would be hers for the rest of the summer.

? ? ?

Settling the boys into their suite was a much quieter affair, the two older boys letting Roman have the middle room by unspoken agreement, Rush ferreting himself away into the laundry-side bedroom and Daniel taking the kitchen.