“Not telling you without a warrant,” he says. He suddenly looks over my shoulder and smiles.
I sigh. This is clearly going nowhere. As I’m leaving the office, I almost crash into someone in the doorway. And ugh. It’s Taylor. I wonder if this is who the security guy was smiling at. Mia once told me Taylor has a thing for cops.
“Hi, Taylor,” I say.
She stares at me like she doesn’t know who I am. Which is ridiculous because I was almost always there when she came by to see Mia.
I’m so not in the mood for this. I roll my eyes and walk out of the security office. I wonder if she’s hooking up with the guy.
On my way back to my room, I get a text from Gracie that says Bailey isn’t answering Aster’s calls. Figures. Nothing seems to be working out for me. When I get to East House, I search around the building, looking for other exits, but I can’t find one. Just the front door, and the fire escape door in the back. And Jay couldn’t have left from it because it’s alarmed.
Defeated, I head next door for dinner. Later, in my room at eight, Jay texts saying he made plans with his cousin for lunch on Thursday,so I should wait at least until then to speak to her. I paste the draft of podcast episode one in the chat. He reads through it and suggests some changes.
After we’re done, we both cue upThe Lake Houseon our laptops and press “Play” at the same moment. We text each other while we watch.
The movie is weird, but I like it. It’s about a doctor and an architect who live in the same lake house two years apart and discover they can leave each other notes in the mailbox. It’s oddly similar to what Jay and I are going through, but also very different, because in the movie what one does in one timedoesdirectly affect what happens in the later time. Like he plants trees in the past and they magically appear in front of her eyes two years later. It’s strange and confusing. Also, the mailbox is inconvenient because they have to go all the way there and leave long letters for each other. I much prefer texting.
The house itself is beautiful, though.
Aleeza:The next time we find a time-skip, it should be in a beautiful lake house instead of this run-down old dorm room.
Jay:This room is crap, but East House is a cool building. Did you know the original architect who designed it, Ernest Tanner, built almost identical homes for each of his sons?There are two other old mansions in Toronto just like this one.
I guess that playboy who disappeared more than one hundred years ago was related to Ernest Tanner. I tell Jay about the research I did on that case before I decided to do the podcast on him.
Jay:Weird that two people have disappeared from this house.
Aleeza:That guy wasn’t living here when he disappeared though. And even if the history of this house is cool, it’s kinda falling apart.
Jay:I guess it would have been cool if we could only talk in a bar, or a fancy café instead of a dorm room. Or someplace iconic. Like the Toronto Reference Library, or the Art Gallery.
Aleeza:Even a West Hall dorm room would have been nicer than this.
Jay:Nah. You’ll soon be glad you left there. Once you’re here for a while, you’ll see that it’s not about the newness. It’s the people that make a residence.
Aleeza:Maybe. But if we’re talking hypotheticals, I wouldn’t mind finding a time-skip with Keanu Reeves. Especially nineties-era Keanu. Yum. But current Keanu is hot too. He’s from Toronto—maybe I can find a house he used to live in.
Jay:You’re breaking my heart, Roomie. Are you saying I’m not as yummy as John Wick?
I laugh. Jay is fun to tease. And he’s easily as good-looking as nineties Keanu. Better, actually. Or, rather, he was as good-looking. Sometimes I forget that my new friend isactually gone, and no one knows where he is. And when I remember, it makes this whole ...friendshipwe’ve found seem fragile. It’s barely been a week since I met him, and I already can’t imagine losing him.
Is this why Jay has a whole disgruntled fan club? He’s so easy to get attached to. Maybe it makes sense that so many people were upset that they couldn’t have more of him than he was willing to give.
Or maybe those girls were smarter than me and knew not to get too emotionally invested. It’s possible that I’m only this attached because I’m vulnerable now. Because I lost my oldest friend and I’m in a huge city all alone.
Aleeza:We’ve never really met, so I don’t know? But then again, I haven’t met Keanu either.
Jay:Well, I suspect you’re a better catch than that lady though. All those pantsuits? No thank you. She seems emotionally unavailable.
Aleeza:How is she emotionally unavailable? She freaking fell in love with a guy after only a handful of rambling letters.
Jay:He’s a fantasy. She’s escaping her real life and her real feelings too.
I don’t say anything to that. Because I’m too busy worrying if that’s what I’m doing. Escaping my real life. Jay and I aren’t real to each other. Just a fantasy. And we’ve grown emotionally attached.
Or at least I have. Jay is quiet for a while before he finally texts.
Jay:On second thought, I think her falling for someone she’s never met IRL is pretty realistic. Shall we continue our study of time travel movies featuring Canadian actors with Back to the Future, starring Michael J. Fox?
