Page 32 of Dream House
I shift on my feet. Clear my throat.
“Um… is there still a room available, because if not, I need to—”
“There’s still one available. It has a great view of the cemetery.”
“Uh… That’s…” I close my mouth because I have zero response. This Pen woman may be attractive—even beautiful—but she is fucking weird. “Do you live here?”
She nods briskly, finally bringing her gaze back to mine. “In the attic.”
“Right.”
Silence.
“Does anyone else live here?”
She bursts out laughing. “Of course. There’s Tyler who’s on the other side of the kitchen.” She gestures over her shoulder with her thumb. “Don’t be offended if he doesn’t say much. It’s the head trauma—”
“Wha—”
“And Nina moved in Tuesday.” She points upstairs, and her expression sobers. “I’m a little worried about her. Well, nother,but whoever gave her that black eye. She won’t talk about it, but I think she’s afraid he’ll come looking for her.”
“That’s—”
“Livy moves in this weekend.” At this her amber eyes soften, but then she whips out a scowl. “But hands off. I called dibs on her already. Besides, she’ll probably yell at you because you’re white.”
“I—”
“Maisy’s an angel—most of the time.” She looks down her nose to give me a pointed look. “Unless she’s being a little hellion and using your Tarot cards to play Go Fish.”
“Tarot cards?”
Pen narrows her eyes at me. “Have you ever had a reading? Because I’m getting a distinct Eight of Cups vibe.”
“I think I should go,” I say, backing toward the door.
Pen frowns. “But you haven’t even seen the room yet.”
“Yeah… you know...” I reach back and grip the door knob. Maybe Maggie has gotten over the haircut fiasco. I should at least check on her. Bring her some flowers. “That’s—”
An electric whir vibrates through the air. Pen gasps with excitement.
“That’s Stella. She’s home. C’mon.” She grabs me by the wrist and tugs. When I don’t budge, she looks at me like I’m crazy. “Don’t you want to meet her? Her grandma left her this fabulous house, which is the universe’s way of maintaining equilibrium because Stella’s life has been pretty shitty up to now.”
“I think I’ll pa—”
“She’s my best friend in the world, and luckily, she’s nothing like me.”
This is the first thing she’s said that’s not mildly terrifying.
“Oh?”
She nods. “Like I said, equilibrium.”
I need to figure out what I’m doing tonight. Would it be financially irresponsible to stay in a hotel? Bear suggested driving to New Iberia and crashing at Mom and Dad’s, but there’d be no peace.
Since Bear and I moved out, Fawn claimed our old room, arguing that since she’s in college now too, she needs a quiet place to study. That left Kit and Starling rooming together and Pony and Drake still sharing a room and pissed about it. The way they see it, if two boys moved out, the empty room should’ve been passed to a boy.
So, if I go home, which would be insane, I’d still be sleeping on the couch. Except Mom would be there. I’ve managed to keep the breakup news from her, so I’d be sleeping on the couch in between interrogation sessions. Interrogation that would more closely resemble the Spanish Inquisition.
