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“I don’t know. I’d have to check my calendar.”
Layana tried out constantly for reality TV shows. I hoped one would work out for her, I really did.
Epiphany, North Carolina was the new city of opportunity, the fastest growing entertainment capital in the states. Over the past decade, the Resplendent Theatre had surpassed even Broadway’s popularity, and it was only a stone’s throw from a number of leading television network headquarters.
Since moving to Epiphany, we were both desperate for a break. Layana was more likely to find her big break through getting cast on a show than I was to get hired by the Resplendent Theatre, even though she hadn’t been cast for anything yet.
I said, “Once you find the right show, and I’m sure you will, the world will see how amazing you are, and they’ll absolutely adore you.”
“Then I can bankroll the both of us into our own apartment.”
“Wouldn’t that be the dream.” Sharing an itty bitty apartment, about the size of my old closet, with two other women, wasn’t exactly what we’d imagined when we left college for the big city. “And I’ll hear back from Resplendent.”
“Yes! It’s totally going to happen for you. If not this hiring cycle, the next one.”
“Just like you and the reality shows.”
She nodded, then held out her fist. “We’re going to win so hard.”
I gave her a bump.
Then she reached back into her bag and pulled her hand out, Bugle-less. “When did the holes on these finger hats get so small? I swear they were bigger when we were kids.”
“Or you had smaller fingers then because you were a kid.”
“I guess that’s true, too. But I stand by my point. I have small hands, and they should fit.”
She did have small hands.
“Write the company a letter,” I said.
“Nah, too much work.” Layana stilled. Something was wrong. Her eyes slowly went wide. “Did you feel that?”
“Feel what?”
She jumped off the bed and pointed at the mattress. “The bed just touched my butt.”
“You were sitting on it. Of course it was touching your butt.”
“No. It moved. It’s possessed.”
“Possessed by what?” I chuckled. “Butt-grabbing ghosts?”
“Hilarious.” She frowned. “I’m serious. Something’s in there. Maybe we have rats. Stella keeps leaving crumbs in the kitchen. It was only a matter of time before this happened.”
The humor left the situation as realization struck. A big part of me hoped it was rats, because if not…the secret surprise I had stashed under the bed was no longer safely in its box.
A wriggling something touched my butt. I jumped off the mattress.
“You felt it, too,” Layana said. “Now you have to believe me.”
“I felt it,” I said. “But it’s probably not rats.”
She narrowed her eyes. “This was the lie from before. Did you stash your hottie under my bed? You did, didn’t you?”
“Why would I….” I pinched my nose. “No, okay. I didn’t hide a man under there.”
“Pity.” She bent down and checked under the bed, shuffling shoes, and stopped when she noticed the box I’d brought home with me.
