Page 4 of Fall

“Yep. It’s always been one of my favorite places as a kid. My parents gifted it to me on my eighteenth birthday. So it just seemed logical.”

“Where are your parents?”

She grins at me, one eyebrow raised, as we get back to the kitchen. “And I’m the interrogator?”

“Sorry, Cele. I don’t mean to pry.”

“Don’t be dense. It’s fine. Truthfully, I don’t know. Since I enrolled at Stratham, they’ve been traveling the world. They probably even have my allowance on auto deposit so they don’t actually have to ‘think’ about me. They might be somewhere in Asia now or New Zealand… who knows?” She says it all so casually that it’s almost concerning.

“And you’re okay with that?”

She looks at me like I’ve lost the plot. “Yes.”

She grabs her phone from the counter to order our dinner, effectively ending my inquisition and leaving me confused about how families actually work.

If my parents were still alive, no way would I be okay with not knowing where they were or never knowing when I would see them again. But they’re not so… who knows?

After she’s ordered our dinner, we head to the movie room to lounge on massive leather recliners and scroll through streaming apps for something to watch.

“JokerorThe Notebook?”

I laugh out loud, and the poor girl looks almost offended.

She scrunches her eyebrows. “What?”

“Oh, come on, Cele. You can’t tell me that’s not funny. Those two movies couldn’t be more different if you tried.”

She snorts. “True.”

I wave my hand in her direction. “I’ll watch whatever you want.”

She looks contemplative for a minute and makes the decision. “Joker,” she says with confidence.

“Why notThe Notebook?” I ask, genuinely wanting to know.

“Because the world is a shitty place. Why pretend otherwise?”

“Um… to escape reality?”

She rolls her eyes, and I can’t hide the shock in mine. I’m almost positive the Celeste I met about a year ago would have chosenThe Notebook. I don’t want to watchThe Notebook, but it makes me sad to see how much she’s changed.

“Fine. How aboutZombieland?”

I give her a genuine smile. “Zombielandis perfect. And, Cele… thanks.”

“Don’t thank me too hard, bitch. I’m giving you the night off, but in the morning, game over. You owe me answers.”

There’s the Celeste I know.

* * *

Iwake to a screaming Celeste and instinctively reach for my knife before I realize that we’re still on the recliners in Celeste’s movie room and not back at Stratham. I reach over to wake her out of whatever dream she’s stuck in.

“Cele… Celeste, open your eyes. It’s just a dream.” I do my best to coach her awake without scaring her.

I can feel the vibration through the leather as she trembles. She grabs my hand like I’m her lifeline, keeping her on earth. Her brown eyes snap open, fear and confusion evident in her gaze. She shivers again as she gains full consciousness of her surroundings.

“Just breathe, Cele. Breathe in reality and breathe out wherever you just were. It’s okay. It was just a dream.”

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