It was understandable how people could get overwhelmed by Holly. There was so much energy in her, that it really did seem impossible for the girl to control herself. For the most part, Holly didn't seem bothered by it. She had probably spent her entire life with such a flighty mind, that it was just what she was used to. Even when she seemed to ignore common social norms, as she was doing now, Cara didn't mind it. Holly was harmless, and usually amusing. Nothing she did was done with malicious intentions, and when Cara just wanted someone to distract herself with, Holly always made herself readily available. She extended her arm further down the table to make it easier to Holly to fiddle with the bracelet that was on her arm, but she made a mental note that she probably shouldn't have worn it, or the other pieces of jewelry she was wearing. Again, she hadn't woken up this morning and gotten dressed with the intentions of returning to the basement, but coming back wearing a designer bracelet didn't help her case. Holly was enthralled by it, or else Cara would have subtly slipped it off then and put it into her bag. She didn't want to seem showy, and though she guessed it was inevitable, she didn't want any attention on her just because she was returning.
As Holly seemed to focus in on her excuse for disappearing, Cara wondered if it was wrong to lie. It was just a white lie and it wasn't going to hurt anyone. She didn't want to have to explain to everyone that yes, she did have a suitable home that she could live in, and yes, her last three months were wonderfully normal while they were still stuck here. Maybe no one besides Holly would buy it, and even if they did, the fact that she'd be able to come up with money to fly to Florida to visit her grandmother on a whim didn't make the story that much more helpful, but it seemed like the best alternative. "I do remember you said that," Cara confirmed with a smile. She watched Holly's expression light up as she went on about what Florida was like, before questioning why her grandmother lived there, and not in New York. "She doesn't like the cold winters up here. She's scared that she's going to slip on the ice and break her hip," Cara explained, a small smile tugging at her lips. That was true, at least. Her grandmother had lived in New York for her whole life, but after her husband died seven years prior, she moved into the beach house they had in the sunshine state.
Only a moment after Holly insisted that Lateefah would be fine with her coming shopping that evening, the brunette appeared, and Cara could only offer her a meek smile. Holly would accept her back unconditionally, that much was already apparent. With Brooklyn, it wasn't that big of a deal either, since Cara had seen her multiple times since leaving. With everyone else though, and especially Lateefah, who she was actually friends with, Cara didn't know what she was supposed to say or do. She'd use the "visiting sick grandma" lie with her too, but she felt like she owed her some sort of genuine apology for just disappearing. Now didn't seem like the time, though. Lateefah made a sarcastic remark about it, and then Holly jumped in with her lie, so Cara just smiled. "It's not like that, Tee," she insisted in a light tone, almost playful, as her smile remained. She didn't press it any further, mostly because Holly continued talking. She listened as Lateefah told Holly to eat, and Holly ignored her, only to start eating moments later, and then tell Lateefah to eat too. The back and forth exchanges between the sisters was something that Cara had missed, but what caught her attention more was when Holly claimed that Colton said Lateefah loved him. It made her laugh audibly, and in an attempt to not have to focus on her bracelet, that Holly turned the conversation back to, she tried to push that one. "Don't tell me that you and Colton are a thing now!" she said, eyeing Lateefah playfully. Cara had slept with Colton a few times when she had first gotten to the basement. It was just for fun, an attempt for her to prove to herself that she could be "bad", and she had no feelings for Colton then or now. She wasn't pressing it out of jealousy, but more so out of amusement, because she was sure Colton was just being the same, overconfident jackass that she knew him to be.