Chapter Fifteen: Assurance And Comics

(The Sauna Test)

***

Cami twisted her hair up into its protective cap, sighing as she looked at the mirror. Behind her, Max was looking through the comics she had to show to El, while the girl was in the bathroom, also finishing getting ready for bed. All three girls prepared for sleep after the day they had.

But even as she looked at the mirror, even as she'd seen Heather with her own eyes, Cami couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong. But it shouldn't be, because Heather was fine! She was fine and Billy wasn't a budding sexual offender or serial killer! Cami should feel relief her feeling was wrong.

And yet, her gut was still twisted up in the feeling of something still being wrong, dissonant of what she, Max and El had seen.

Sighing again, Cami gave her reflection a look before joining Max in her bed, wriggling in under the covers. The cap swayed, and Cami lightly touched it to keep it in place, praying her hair would dry while she slept—she'd towelled it and blow dried it the minute they arrived at Max's house, but it had still been slightly damp. Probably unlikely, but one could hope, right?

But even her usual hopes with her hair and water mixing didn't quell the feeling twisting up in her gut.

Listen to your gut, la nieta, the voice of Cami's abuela whispered in her mind. Your gut's always right. Sólo confía en él.

But how could Cami trust her gut when apparently nothing was wrong?

"Hey, Cami," Max said and Cami turned to her as the redhead held up a Green Lantern comic and a Wonder Woman comic. "Which one do you think El would like?"

"I dunno. Maybe Wonder Woman?" Cami answered, but her heart wasn't in it.

Max immediately noticed, frowning. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Cami didn't answer, biting her lip, as Max guessed what she was thinking and asked, "Are you thinking about Heather?"

"I... I just have this feeling, Max. In my gut. Something's not right," Cami admitted as she looked at her friend. "But that's wrong, right? We saw her. She's fine. Completely fine. And yet... I don't know."

Cami shrugged as Max frowned again, before saying, "Well, at least Heather's okay. That's the important thing, right? So... maybe your gut's wrong."

"Maybe," Cami murmured. She wasn't entirely sure she believed it.

That was the moment El walked back out. Like Cami, she was still fixated on what they'd seen, how it jarred against what she'd thought she'd seen when she had mind-walked. Still, she crawled into bed after Cami made some space, as Max held up the comics and asked, "Which one?"

El shrugged, mumbling, "I don't know."

Max looked at El, sensing her true feelings like she'd sensed Cami's. She smiled at El and assured, "Hey, there's nothing to worry about anymore, okay?"

"It doesn't make sense," El murmured.

"What doesn't make sense?" Max asked.

"Heather," El answered, looking at Max and Cami, letting Cami see her own feelings reflected back in El's face. "The blood. The ice."

"Heather had a fever, so she took a cold bath, but she's better now. That has to be it," Max reasoned. "I don't know where that blood came from, but... we saw her. We all saw her. She's totally fine."

"What about Billy?" El pressed.

"What about him?" Max asked, seeming genuinely concerned.

"He seemed... wrong," El answered, and that had a shiver run along Cami's bones as she remembered Billy, how something about how he acted and how he stared at El pricked against her feeling.

"Wrong is kind of like his default," Max answered, and Cami found herself nodding and agreeing, "It really is. I don't think he has any other mode."

"But it's nice to know he's not a murderer, because that would've totally sucked," Max went on.

"Or something worse," Cami mumbled, before she straightened and said in a louder voice, "Max's right. Heather's fine. She's completely okay, so there isn't really anything to worry about. I mean, I kinda have my own funny feeling, but it's probably wrong. And we should be glad. With the blood and what you saw... it could have been a lot worse."

"Yeah, exactly. Everything's fine. She's fine," Max assured, smiling at El.

El looked at them, as if she was trying to look convinced, before her gaze shifted to the comics.

"Who... is that?" El asked, pointing to the Wonder Woman comic.

Max grinned. "See, this is why you can't just hang out with Mike all the time."

Picking up the comic, Max opened it, revealing, "This is Wonder Woman, AKA Princess Diana. She's from Paradise Island, which is, like, this hidden island where there are only women Amazon warriors."

Cami smiled. While she wasn't a big comic book reader, she couldn't deny that she loved Wonder Woman as she said, "She's pretty awesome, El. Like one of the most badass heroes—and that's saying something, from me."

El looked at the comic, her interest raised, as she questioned, "Is she like Jean Grey?"

Cami and Max looked at each other. Cami had heard Alistair calling El that, but she never really thought of the nickname meaning something more. But apparently Max did as she asked El, "How do you know about Jean Grey?"

"Al told me. Said my powers were like hers," El revealed. She smiled as she added, "He gave me her comics. I like them. She's as awesome as he said."

At hearing that, Max smiled a gleeful smile.

"As he should. Jean Grey is awesome," Max agreed, as Cami nodded in support. "But yeah. Wonder Woman's not exactly like Jean Grey, but she's a badass just like her."

El smiled, obviously thrilled to hear that as she reached for the comic, reading it with wide eyes as Max kept telling her the lore of Wonder Woman, Cami interjecting with what she remembered about Wonder Woman from the occasional comic she read and osmosis from the comic book nerd that was her person. After El had read the Wonder Woman comic, she moved on to the Green Lantern comic, as the night passed with them reading Max's comics.

And as it did, Cami felt her wrong feeling ease away, at how they were having a fun sleepover together.

Because they were. Because it was part of a summer. Because Heather was fine. Everything was fine.

Everything's fine.

***

Are you sure about that, Cami?

Yeah, the girls are having a sleepover and it's very fun! But yeah, Cami had some lingering doubts, especially with her feeling something off, before convincing herself there isn't. Oh, how she'll be proven right soon...

Also, I loved this scene with Max introducing El to the awesomeness that is Wonder Woman, so I had to include her mentioning Alistair introducing her to Jean Grey. Still, this was a scene and chapter I loved writing, especially since it's more or less the last "calm" chapter before things go crazy for the Party...

Spanish translation:

La nieta: Granddaughter

Abuela: Grandmother

Sólo confía en él: Just trust it

Next chapter will be soon!

Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!