Ever ran their hand through their hair but paused when a thought occurred to them. This girl had no idea what an accountant was, meaning that Ever could tell her anything and she was more than likely to believe them. For Christ’s sake, they could say that an accountant was some sort of secret agent and as long as they sounded convincing she might just believe that load of bull crap. Ever rubbed their chin in thought as they tried to devise a way to make what they did sound interesting. 

Accounting was boring. Ever would be the first person to admit that. As the ex-accountant thought deeply about how exactly to go about this when Tesla spoke up saying, “So, what is an ‘accountant’?” Ever looked up at the girl who was still smiling down at them, completely oblivious to the plan forming in their mind.

Ever shook their head and said, a condescending tone lacing their words. “Oh, I don’t know if I should explain it to you. It’s really complicated and you’re well…” Ever looked Tesla up and down before gesturing to her, saying in barely contained disgust, “You.”

The smile quickly fell from Tesla's face, and she placed her hands on her knees, leaning forward as she yelled, “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean!? What’s wrong with me?”

Ever leaned back and said, “Well, it’s just you’re not exactly the brightest crayon in the box.”

Ever watched in silent satisfaction as Tesla’s face collapsed into a picture of furious anger as she accused. “Are you callin’ me stupid!?”

Ever snorted. “Well, yeah. I mean, you don’t even know what an accountant is, and I’ve never heard of anyone not knowing what an accountant is.” That wasn’t a total lie. They'd really never heard of someone not knowing what an accountant was. It was such a well-known profession. Something that if you didn’t know about, you had to have been living under a rock or just plain stupid. Ever often leaned toward the latter more often than not, and this situation was no different.

Ever watched as Tesla clenched her jaw and glared at them in fury before she eventually growled. “Well, I’m not stupid. I’m a pilot, and you can’t be a stupid pilot!”

Ever watched as Tesla crossed her arms over her chest indignantly and puffed her cheeks out. Ever turned to look at the wall and reached up to scratch their face, and they let out a pained groan. “I guess you’re not as stupid as I first thought. Less of a sentient rock and more of a dog who can read and do simple mathematics.”

Ever looked out of the corner of their eye to see Tesla looking at her with spoke confusion tinting her words. “What’s mathematics?”

Ever let their hand fall from their face and turned to look at Tesla in utter disbelief. “You’re kidding me, right? How can you not know what mathematics is? Did you not attend school?”

Tesla looked offended as she leaned back, pulling her arms away from her chest. “Of course I did! I learned all the things that everyone does; Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic.” Tesla corrected, counting off the three things on her fingers. Ever looked on as Tesla puffed her chest out in pride, wondering yet again if this girl was for real. Ever looked at Tesla skeptically and thought that maybe they had ended up in some backwater town with a horrible school system and such a lack in education was the reason why this girl had never heard of things like accountants and called mathematics arithmetic.

Ever found themselves needing to explain what mathematics was to Tesla, so they leaned forward. “You know that mathematics is the same thing as arithmetic, right?” That wasn’t entirely true.

There was a difference between mathematics and arithmetic. Mathematics dealt more with theory, while arithmetic dealt more with the relationship between and manipulation of numbers. But they could be used as interchanged terms most of the time.

Tesla once again furrowed her brows in confusion as she said. “No, they aren’t. In fact, mathematics isn’t even a thing.”

Ever pinched the bridge of their nose and let out a sigh as they closed their eyes and muttered. “I feel a headache setting in.” They opened their eyes and sighed. “Alright, why don’t you explain to me what arithmetic is?”

Tesla smirked and looked down at Ever as she said cockily. “It’s where you add and take away numbers from each other. Like two plus two and all that junk.” 

Ever sighed, pulling their hand over their face before gesturing to Tesla as they said. “That’s essentially what mathematics is. They’re pretty much the same thing.”

Tesla looked uncertain as she spoke slowly. “They are?”

Ever leaned forward and nodded, letting a hint of superiority leak into their tone. “Yeah, they are.” 

Tesla furrowed her brows and pressed her lips. “Then how come I’ve never heard of this ‘mathematics’ of yours?” 

Tesla put air quotes around the word mathematics and Ever looked at her and deadpanned. “Maybe because you’re a complete moron who doesn’t know even the simplest of facts.”

Tesla’s brows furrowed in anger as she slammed her hand against her chest yelling, “I told you I’m not–” The sound of knocking cut Tesla off, and Ever watched as she turned to the door with an irritated look and called out, “It’s open!” 

The doorknob turned and was pushed open to reveal a woman who looked to be in her early fifties. Her brown hair was graying and was held loosely in a bun placed low on her head. She shuffled into the room, leaning against a wooden cane with each step. She had wrinkles that pulled at the edges of her eyes and lips, whether from frowning or smiling, Ever couldn’t tell. 

She leaned heavily against the cane as she spoke, “Tesla darling, why don’t you go downstairs and help Jaxson with dinner? We’ll talk about what to do with you later.” Ever watched as Tesla stood up, giving a nod to the older woman before walking out of the room with her head hanging low as if she had just committed a heinous crime. The door slammed shut and the sound of footsteps hitting the floor receded. The woman shook her head and muttered, “Seriously, sometimes, I don’t know about that girl.”

Ever laughed, “You and me both.” The woman turned to look at Ever and frowned. She took a few steps forward before sitting where Tesla had been. 

She moved her cane so that it was in between her legs and spoke, “So you’re the girl who fell from the sky.” Her voice was gravelly yet distinctly female. Ever couldn’t tell if she was posing a question or simply making a statement. 

Ever decided to take a shot in the dark, “Apparently, I am. What’s it to you?” The woman turned to look at them and her eyes took on a fire that Ever couldn’t help but envy. 

She moved her body so that she was facing Ever as she spoke, “What’s it to me? Well for one I’d like to know just who it is that has been brought into my house.” 

Ever swallowed and hesitantly stuck out their hand, “Everleigh Moore. I’m sorry for intruding.” 

The woman simply stared at their outstretched hand before taking it, “Julia. I’m the Matron of this boarding house.” Ever tried to pull their hand away, but it was in a vice-like grip. “Listen. I don’t take kindly to strangers in my home. I don’t allow strangers in my home. So, while I’m not about to kick a cripple to the curb, don’t mistake my humanity for kindness.” Ever swallowed the lump in their throat and nodded, unable to vocalize their thoughts. They had never been so scared by someone simply talking to them. Ever watched as Julia pushed herself to her feet and limped toward the door. She stopped when she reached the door and looked over her shoulder at them, “When you feel up to it, come downstairs, and we can register you as a guest.” 

Ever watched as she left the room, closing the door behind her. They stared at the door and realized that they had been abandoned. Ever leaned to the side and yelled, “Hey! How the hell am I supposed to get downstairs?” Ever leaned forward a little more, their hand slipping and causing them to fall from the bed, and their face collided with the floor with a loud thud. They pushed themselves up and watched as blood dripped from their nose onto the floor. Ever reached up to wipe their nose, forgetting that they were missing an arm, which caused them to collapse, their chin colliding with the floor this time. The taste of copper filled their mouth as they pushed themselves up again, this time rolling over onto their back before sitting up. They ran their arm over their nose, smearing blood across their face. Ever turned around, raking their eyes over the room, looking for a way to get from the floor to the door. 

Ever let out a sigh as they realized what they had to do, “Baby-butt scoots it is.” They stretched their legs out, using their left foot and their right hand to scoot forward until they had arrived at the door. 

Ever stared up at the imposing wooden structure, then to the dresser beside it, and then behind them to the foot of the bed. They let out a sigh as they turned around and pushed themselves up so that they were on their knees. They grabbed the foot of the bed and pulled themselves to their foot, spinning and then catching themselves on the bed. Taking a deep breath, Ever gripped the bed with their hand as they eyed the dresser. They exhaled through their nose before roughly pushing themselves from the bed and toward the dresser. Ever collided with the dresser, causing the jar that had been placed there to shake and fall to the ground, shattering and sending glass and water everywhere.     

"Shit." Ever muttered, leaning heavily against the dresser, looking at the mess that now coated the floor.   

Turning their attention back to the door, they licked their lips before launching themselves at it, making sure to grab the handle as they collided with the ground and watched as the door banged against the wall before flying toward the archway. They lunged forward, thrusting their hand in between the door and its frame. They winced as the door hit their hand, causing sharp pain to shoot through their fingers. 

"Fuck." 

Ever pushed the door open and pushed themselves up and turning onto their butt, they began to scoot out the door. They made their way into the hallway, which was much harder than it should have been, and looked right and then left. To the right was a dead end, while to the left the hallway extended several feet. 

"To the left it is." Ever muttered to themselves as they turned to the left and began scooting down the hall. 

Ever came to a stop at the beginning of a stairwell and looked down the stairs. They let out a sigh before turning and placing their legs over the edge. They gently slid down the stairs, their butt thumping against each step. They eventually came to a landing and took that as an incentive to take a break. They ran a hand through their hair and over their face before scooting to the edge of the landing. 

When Ever noticed that there were only about eight stairs and figured they could probably make that on foot. Ever eyed the stairs and nodded as they pushed themselves to their knees. They shuffled toward the railing, grabbing it and pulling themselves to their foot. They leaned against the railing and slowly slid down it, keeping their arm wrapped around the banister as they slid, placing their left foot down onto the next step, and then made the mistake of moving their right foot. They watched in horror as their leg grasped at air, and they moved away from the railing, losing all balance. 

They began to fall forward, and all that Ever could think as they fell was. ‘Oh, fuck me.'