Page 64 of Off Script

Offended at her implication that Tristan had snooped the morning of the shower incident, he nearly missed the sound of a woman’s soft laughter floating their way.

“Well, aren’t you two cute.” Glancing over, Tristan noticed the woman eavesdropping on them was a fortune-teller, eyeing them from her post. He wasn’t sure when she’d started listening in, but she seemed amused by their playfulness.

“Would you two lovebirds like a reading?”

“No thanks,” Tristan said. That voodoo stuff wigged him out.

“I wouldn’t mind one, honey,” Jada countered.

Relenting, he sat down with Jada across from the woman. She deftly shuffled her decorative tarot deck, then laid out three cards before them: the Fool, the Lovers, and the Tower.

“Yes, you two are indeed a great couple,” the fortune-teller began. “The early stages of your love are blossoming, with the Fool representing that you should open up your hearts to your newfound experience.”

Then she tapped the Tower, frowning.

“This, however, is a bit troubling. While you two are right for each other, there’s trouble on the horizon. Things you may not expect are coming your way, secrets yet to be revealed that will test everything. They will either bring you closer together or break your bond forever.”

Unsure of what to say to such a foreboding message, Tristan turned to Jada. Seeing the troubled look on her face, Tristan cleared his throat. “Thanks a lot, but we’re done here.”

He left the woman a tip before steering Jada away from the table.

“Don’t freak out. She’s an old bat who’s trying to stir things up.”

“I guess,” Jada said, but her weak response revealed the woman’s predictions had rattled her. To be honest, they had freaked Tristan out too. He hated mystical shit like that. Today simply backed up his opinion.

The glimmering lights coming off the Ferris wheel caught his eye. It was exactly what they needed to take their mind off the heebie-jeebie mess they’d experienced.

“We haven’t done any rides yet.” He motioned to the Ferris wheel, and Jada nodded reluctantly. As they reached the front of the line, Tristan gasped in surprise. His mentee, Sam, stood at the ticket booth, another skinny teen next to him.

“Sam! Working hard or hardly working?” Tristan took in the sight of Sam casually hanging out, and low-key flirting, with his friend. Sure enough, Sam blushed and punched Tristan in the arm.

“Definitely working hard. This is Eric.” Sam’s underlying don’t you dare fucking embarrass me went unsaid.

“Nice to meet you, Eric. This is my girlfriend, Jada.” Tristan followed up with the introductions.

“Duh! The undisputed queen ofFallen Creatures!” Eric gushed.

As Jada and Eric engaged in fandom chitchat, Tristan strived to nod along casually instead of doing an impression of Chris Hemsworth lifting a mighty hammer. On the inside though, all he wanted to do was pull Sam aside and help the kid plot out his next move. Unfortunately, the line behind them kept growing, so they had to gather their tickets from Sam and take their seats. Once their car began to move, Tristan noticed Jada had reverted to rigid silence.

“Jada, are you still upset about those tarot cards? I mean, there’s no way she can predict the future. All that doom and gloom stuff—”

“Will youpleaseshut up? I don’t care about some melodramatic psychic!” Jada demanded.

“Whoa. Is that necessary?”

“I’m scared of heights,” Jada shouted, nearing hysterics the higher up the ride took them.

“What the hell! Why didn’t you say anything before we got on?”

“I was trying not to be difficult!”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we’d finally made up, and you’ve been so nice tonight. And it’s ourfirstnight seeing each other after so long, I didn’t want to ruin it by complaining.” Jada kept her eyes closed the whole time she spoke.

“You can’t be serious.” Tristan groaned.

“Screw you! I have been nice.” Jada opened her eyes long enough to snap at him.

---