User blog:Corbierr/Classified~ Chapter 6

Chapter 6-



When Alfie finally arrived, everyone was just sitting there having a picnic lunch.



“You guys started eating without me? No fair!” He complained, scrambling over to join the others. He took a seat next to KT and Patricia on the blanket and grabbed a sandwich, already made. “Trudy make this stuff?” He jumped right into eating. He didn’t have breakfast that morning, and after driving all day, he was tired and starved.



KT smiled and nodded. “I managed to talk her into it. She was just glad to do it, actually! I think she misses everyone.”



Eddie shrugged and said, while moving over to give him a space, “Now that you’re here, we can start the meeting.”



<span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“We already talked about some stuff,” Patricia told him, while eating a cookie. She glanced at him and smirked when he looked back at her.

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Like what?”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Oh, not much. Stealing Corbierre, bringing Sophia back to life, kicking you out of the group…”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Alfie tensed. “What?”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Fabian rolled his eyes and gave Patricia a sharp glance. “She’s kidding, Alfie.”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">He sighed and relaxed a little. “Right, right, should have realized that...sorry.”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“You okay?” KT frowned, after taking a sip of her soda. “You seem a little...out of it.”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">With an awkward laugh, he said, “What makes you think that?”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Just tell us.” Eddie said. “You’re worrying us,”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“I’ve only been here for five minutes!”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Come on, Alfie.” Patricia sounded less worried and more annoyed, as usual with her. She looked away from her food and stared at him. Nervous under her gaze, he glanced away from her. “What’s wrong? You haven’t even started eating yet. If that’s not weird, I don’t think you’re the right Alfie.”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">He looked down at the sandwich that was still in his hands. He had just been playing with it the entire time, not even taking the plastic wrapper off. “Oh, yeah. Well, last night when I tried to tell my dad I was going, he got mad at me. He told me I wasn’t allowed to leave yet because I was supposed to be, uh, learning from him this summer? Working for him? Something like that.” Alfie continued toying with the sandwich and stared at it the entire time, rather than his friends. “So this morning I snuck out and stole the car. Then I had to leave it where he could get it, and catch a cab, and figure out how to get here...and he tried to call me, like, seven times…” He paused and checked his phone. “ <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Nine <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">times...He’s really driving me crazy. I think he’s still upset that I’m not Jerome.”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Yeah, well, fathers are idiots.” Eddie said, sounding bitter, as he rooted through the basket for more food. He smirked and held up a tuna sandwich to his girlfriend, who looked disgusted and slapped it out of his hand. “You did a good job getting here, anyways.”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“But where do I go now?” Alfie asked. “I used all my money on the cab…”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Eh, stay with me. Dad probably won’t protest as long as you live in the spare room and don’t make too much noise.” The ex-Osirian told him, retrieving the tuna sandwich in the process. “Fabian, do you need a place to live, too?”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Well...my house <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">is <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">about an hour away...alright.”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Dude,” He grinned and playfully slapped his friend on the arm. “Does this mean we’re roomies?”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Fabian looked at him and shrugged. “Looks like it. Just don’t...watch your weird zombie movies all night. Okay?”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“We’ll see.” Alfie was feeling a bit better about things, but was still worried about his dad…how long before they chased him down and dragged him home? Or before he was cut out of his father’s life altogether? Maybe he was just being melodramatic, but his father scared him sometimes, especially recently.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">KT finished her drink and said, “Now, can we get on with our meeting? Eddie, you had a plan, right?”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The group turned their attention to their leader, and Alfie finally started to eat his sandwich.

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Oh, yeah. Well...all I really know right now is that my dad must know...something. I think. I mean, he must at least know briefcase guy’s name, right? Then we can track him down…”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Patricia smiled and held up her soda bottle teasingly. “I can help with that.”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“No dumping drinks on my dad yet.” Eddie told her. Looking disappointed, she put the bottle down and her smile faded. “I don’t want him to know we’re onto anything yet, okay?”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Are you still scared of him?” She asked, afterwards.

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“What? That is- I was <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">never <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"> afraid of him!” Eddie snapped at her, then paused and relaxed a little. “I just don’t trust him anymore, okay?”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Alfie had now moved onto a second sandwich, and after taking his first bite, said, “Took you long enough!” Patricia glared at him. “What? He was always a member of Team Evil…with their weird ceremonies and creepy dog masks…” He shuddered, with bad memories coming back. He took his soda bottle and splashed himself, to get out of it. Everyone was looking at him. “ <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">What? <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">You guys don’t know where I was just now…”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“An-y-ways,” KT said, awkwardly stretching out the word. “When are you planning to ask Mr. Sweet about the guy?”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The Sibuna leader sighed. “When I get back home today.”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Do you want any of us there?” Alfie asked him, while wiping the soda from his face with his sleeve.

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“No thanks, man.” Eddie said. “It’s something I’d kind of like to do alone.”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“What if he turns out like Vera or Denby?” Patricia asked, rooting through the basket for more food. When she found nothing of interest, she stopped and looked disappointed.

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">With a laugh, Alfie asked her, “You mean an evil she-devil who may or may not have the hots for Victor?”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“I mean a liar.” She corrected him. “But yes, your version would be bad, too.”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Well,” When Fabian spoke up, everyone turned to him. “The way I see it, even if he’s lying, it’ll still give us a clue on who he might be. If his story doesn’t check out, we’ll just have to be sure to tell Mr. Sweet. Find out what he really knows...if he knows anything at all.”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The ex-Osirian rolled his eyes and said, “My Dad isn’t exactly a shining example of honesty, either.”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Alfie looked at him and patted his shoulder. “Well, to be completely fair...neither are we.”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Besides, if anyone will have answers, it’s him.” Patricia said. “If it comes to it, Eddie, we’ll have to trust his word. At least until we know what’s going on.”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Yeah, yeah...can we stop talking about my dad now?” He asked.

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Are you sure you’re okay?” KT touched his shoulder, speaking with a tone of voice that edged dangerously close to being romantic in nature. When Patricia cleared her throat, she awkwardly backed off. “Sorry.”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Eddie ignored the tiny love-triangle scene and replied, “I’m fine, alright? I’m just not happy with him right now, and I don’t want to have to think about dealing with him later. Can we just get off of it, please?”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">The rest of the group complied, but things grew a bit tense and awkward after that conversation. While finishing up the last of the picnic, they all discussed random things like how their summers were going so far and how crazy the current mystery could end up being. The only thing that really stuck with Alfie by the time it was over was the conversation he had with Patricia.

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“You know, Piper’s coming home at some point this summer.” She told him.

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“She is?” Alfie hadn’t meant to sound so excited. “That’s...that’s cool.” He had a girlfriend now, so he wasn’t really sure how to deal with this information.

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“Yeah, it’s a blast.” Patricia said, flatly.

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">He frowned. “You aren’t excited?”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">She shrugged. “It’s a complicated situation, and I’m not interested in explaining it right now. Point is, you’ll all probably end up seeing her at some point.”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“You don’t know when, though? Just that it’ll happen? Couldn’t that interfere with Sibuna if she’s just showing up out of nowhere?”

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">“It’ll definitely interfere with Sibuna.” Patricia answered, and the conversation ended at that.

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">It’ll interfere with a lot of things, he realized afterwards. Not only would it complicate Patricia’s ability to get away for Sibuna business, but there was also the pesky fact that he had nearly dated her at one point...and away from his girlfriend, if she were around long enough, would he be able to stay faithful? Not to mention, Patricia seemed a little unhappy about it, enough to be noticeable to him at least. If she was already getting upset about it, how would she act when Piper is actually around?

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"> <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Alfie sighed, and packed up the post-picnic trash with the rest of his friends. The weirdest part of everything was, the more complicated and confusing things were getting, the more normal they were starting to feel. <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">In retrospect, I should have seen all this coming from the minute I talked to Fabian, <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">He thought to himself. <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">But I’d rather be a Sibuna than be trapped at home.

<p style="text-align:center;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Because maybe, things weren’t supposed to make sense, and that was how he knew the world the best.