First
It had been an odd Thanksgiving. Maybe it was that no matter the case, Rachel was incredibly glad that it was over. It had been intensely mortifying when she and her brother Elim had argued so intensely that a couple of people were staring. It was extremely out of character for them to argue like this (in public, at least) being that the both of them were sensitive to awkward tension. Her elderly great-grandmother Mae had forgotten the name's of her cousins, and had insulted them, without even meaning to; they had borne it well, being that they were used to it. She had been this way for years. Rachel was even more self-conscious at family gatherings, not wanting to be written off as a stereotypical sheltered homeschooler in front of these cousins who operated in a totally different and terrifying world. Throughout the day she had thought many less-than-complimentary thoughts regarding her extended family's conduct, at times wishing that she could dig a ho...