Chapter 15: Chapter 15

“Hello?” I called out.

I heard footsteps thudding down the hallway, and then Eloise appeared before me. Her long blond hair was pinned back in a messy bun. She was wearing an oversized sweatshirt and leggings. In her hands she held a steaming mug of tea. Her wide blue eyes stared at me in surprise. She glanced nervously over at the microwave.

“Oh, um, you said seven,” she said and averted her eyes from me. “Or did I get that wrong?”

“No. I said seven. I just…” I shrugged my backpack off my shoulders and set it down on the ground. She watched me curiously. “I don’t know how to explain this.”

“Explain what?”

“I guess you could say that today I had this sort of…epiphany.”

“An epiphany? You’re religious now?”

“No. Not that kind of epiphany. Like I said, it’s hard to explain.”

She shook her head and wandered over to the kitchen counter so that she could set down her mug. I followed her.

“I thought you wanted to pick up your stuff.”