Chapter 688
Mavis was probably getting ready to come out. Things had gone quiet on her end.
Calliope chatted with Portia for a while, and they made plans for Portia to come over and hang out after dinner.
As they talked, Calliope noticed that Archie Yoder had gone completely silent in the group chat.
She decided to tag him directly.
Calliope: “Hey Archie, what’s up? You’ve been awfully quiet p>
Calliope couldn’t help but worry about Archie. He’d always had a tough time with the Yoder family. His stepmother was a nightmare, and his dad wasn’t exactly a warm presence either. In fact, he always said Archie wasn’t “good enough” and he much preferred Archie’s younger half-brother.
Archie’s pretty much been the family’s underdog for as long as Calliope could remember. Sure, he worked at the family business now, but he was always getting the short end of the stick. His dad never seemed to take him seriously.
But Archie also wasn’t the type to stand up and fight back, so he just ended up stuck, constantly under his family’s thumb.
Every holiday season, Archie would be in a funk. But because of his dad, he couldn’t just bail and do his own thing.
Calliope could basically picture exactly what was going on over there.
His stepmom was the queen of fake niceness-she’d say all the right things, make a show of being the perfect loving mother, but secretly she was always plotting against Archie. Every Christmas, she’d go out of her way to push his buttons.
It usually ended with Archie losing it at Christmas dinner, and Gavin Yoder-the ever-clueless dad would just blame Archie for “making a scene,” never realizing his wife was the real problem. It was the same tired story every single year.
Sometimes Calliope thought Archie should just skip Christmas at home altogether. But she knew there wasn’t much she could do to help, or to convince him.
Now, with Archie staying silent, Calliope’s concern only grew.
Portia seemed to pick up on it too.
Portia: “Do you think the wicked stepmom is at it again? Seriously, why can’t she let anyone enjoy the holidays p>
Calliope frowned, thinking it over. Finally, she just called Archie’s phone.
He picked up almost immediately.
“Hey, Callie. What’s up p>
Calliope didn’t hear anything odd in his voice, and she relaxed a little. “Archie, are you alright? Are you at home with your dad and everyone p>
“Everything’s fine. I’m just watching some TV. Archie laughed, trying to sound casual. “Don’t worry about” me, after dinner I’ll come over and hang out. Really, I’m good!
“Are you sure?” Calliope hesitated. She was still worried about him. She knew that even if something was wrong, Archie would never admit it. He always tried to protect them from worrying about him.
“There’s nothing going on. It’s Christmas! What could possibly be wrong?” Archie chuckled. “Anyway, we’re about to have dinner, so I gotta go. Talk to you later p>
With that, Archie hurriedly hung up.
Calliope frowned, uneasy. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but something just felt off about Archie’s situation.
Was his family giving him a hard time again?
But in the end, it was his family, and she couldn’t really get involved.
She took a deep breath. She still worried about Archie, but since he said he’d come over after dinner, she managed to relax a bit. If he was coming over, things couldn’t be too É“ad.