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“I mean, I think about the worst-case scenario, too,” he muses thoughtfully. “But I want to believe it’ll all be okay.”
“I would like to believe that, but it’s hard for me.”
“Why, do you think?”
“So I can be ready for the worst, just in case.”
It’s interesting how the same event can affect two people so differently. I learned at an early age how suddenly the bottom can drop out, and all your plans can go to hell in the blink of an eye. And that changed me. I guess if I had everything in order and nothing to ever worry about, I would still wake up in the middle of the night with my heart in my throat and my pulse banging in my ears. I have to be ready.
And now, somebody’s asking me to consider what I want my life to look like? It’s irrational, the anger that rushes through me out of nowhere. I know what I owe my brother for making sure I had everything I needed—he could’ve gotten rid of me and moved ahead with his life, but he didn’t, and that’s why I’ll never desert him. But it doesn’t exclude me from getting pretty annoyed with him, the way I am now. It’s not even his fault. He just happens to be the other person in the room.
“Hey, I remembered something!” Jase suddenly shouts. “When you were younger, you wanted to write a children’s book. You came up with a story and everything.”
My eyebrows pull together as I rack my brain for the memory. “Are you sure about that?”
“Yes! I remember you wanted to call it the Dragonslayer Club or something like that. It was about a girl who accidentally joined the club, thinking it was just to learn how to sword fight.”
Like a light bulb going on in my head, the memory rushes back. “Oh my God, I do remember it now. The girl bought a sword and didn’t realize it came with a purpose.” Excitement fills my veins just thinking about that time.
“You had a whole story written down, even drew pictures.”
“Yes…” The excitement fades away quickly as I realize what happened to the story and my pictures. “All of that got left in the old house.”
“Oh.” My brother’s face falls. “Maybe we can remember it together.”
“Yeah, maybe,” I tell him because I know that’s what he wants to hear. I don’t have the heart to tell him that I would rather forget since thinking about the past reminds me of everything I’ve lost. I’d rather look toward the future.
“I’m going to head back to my place.” My place. There’s a laugh. It’s not my place, and I need to remind myself of that. I’m getting too comfortable. Mason could kick us out this very day, and then where would I be?
“You could hang out here. We’ll find a movie to watch or something.”
“Maybe later.”
He shrugs it off in his usual way before I get up and leave. “Whatever.”
“Just do me a favor and keep the place looking decent?” I ask as I open the door. “I don’t want Mason thinking we’re taking advantage.”
“You care a lot about what Mason thinks, don’t you?”
“We are not having this conversation.” I wiggle my fingers in a wave and try to ignore his knowing laughter that’s quickly cut off once I close the door. It’s incredible how these doors block out all sound. Anything could be happening behind them, and the person walking down the hall would never know.
It isn’t my suite I’m headed for, even if that’s what I told Jase. I’m going to Mason’s as usual. It just makes sense. I feel at home with him.
I’m halfway there when suddenly, the elevator comes to a stop. Not this again. I jam my finger against the button, hoping it’ll start moving again, but for some reason, the doors open instead.
I’ve never been on this floor before. It’s ominously quiet. Something about the profound silence sends goose bumps racing along my arms, and I’m a little frantic as I pound my finger against the button that’s supposed to close the doors. No luck.
Wonderful. I wonder if Mason will find a way to blame this on me, even if this time I really wasn’t trying to snoop around. I stick my head out and look both ways, but the hall is just as empty as the others I’ve seen. Except…
Something is different, and it takes me a second to figure out what it is once I step out of the elevator car and begin moving slowly away from it. Light. There are faint, tight squares of light dotting the walls. Finally, it hits me: the doors aren’t solid the way they are everywhere else. There are windows in them that let whatever light is on behind the door shine into the hallway. Now, nothing can stop me from figuring out what the heck I just discovered, and my feet carry me before I’ve had time to think. What do they do on this floor?
