Ticktock Love

[13] Julia Castillo's Day Off

I did it.

I posted the second video, and the world didn't explode into the oblivion.

Well, the world didn't, but my phone certainly did – a gust of notifications flurried through the internet vacuum once the post finished uploading. I immediately logged out and turned off my iPhone, casting it as far away from my mahogany drawer bed as possible. It was an impulsive, nonsensical decision, but it somehow made me feel safer, as if a switched-off device granted me an extra layer of anonymity.

Unlike after our illegal heist, this time I fell asleep in an instant, a lulling fog encapsulating me as soon as my cheek hit the silky pillowcase. I dreamt of apple orchards in spring, a synthesis of colors and quiet birdsong, the sticky and sweet scent of pollen thickening the air like syrup. My feet were light and bare as they danced on grass blades like on a bed of nails, leading me to a small, hidden opening. A picnic rug lay in the middle, shared among two couples: Amber and Troy, Mr. Lynch and Ms. Morris.

Astonished, I stared as Mr. Lynch fed a grape to Ms. Morris before I blurted out, "But I thought you were dating your handsome divorce lawyer?"

Ms. Morris blinked at me, her eyelashes long like spider legs. "I like turtles."

The response satisfied me – I nodded and turned to Amber, who was now balancing a piece of sushi between a pair of chopsticks. Troy was nowhere in sight, suddenly replaced by Aiden.

"Open up," she ordered, "or you won't get into NYFA."

Not willing to risk it, I promptly obliged. I chewed the piece of a California roll, but instead of cucumbers, surimi, and avocado, all I could taste was that damn Texas Melt from the Waffle House. Troy-slash-Aiden got up from the checkered yellow rug and approached me, beaming at me every step of the way, until he cupped my cheeks with his big, footballer hands.

"You're so beautiful, Liz," he whispered in a heavy Southern drawl, and as I tried to fight off a blush, he licked the tip of my nose.

"Why did you do that?" I frowned, my nostrils twitching.

Instead of answering, he did it again. And again.

I opened my eyes to find a black, fluffy ball bathing my face, the two yellow orbs watching me intently.

"Berlioz," I groaned, wiping the wet trail with the back of my hand. The kitten didn't seem discouraged, instead switching to his own front paw, hitting my uncovered calf with his swishing tail.

Something rattled in the hallway, and the doorknob turned without a warning.

"Liz?"

I threw a waffle terry blanket over Berlioz right before my mom entered the room.

The kitten had been here for almost thirty-six hours, yet we still hadn't told Mom about our newest family member. Maddie refused to confess because she was genuinely afraid Mom would kick him out, but my reasoning was crueler than my sister's. I honestly wanted to see how long it would take her to notice.

Our mother wasn't exactly the most observant person in the world. When Maddie lost her first baby tooth, a central incisor in fact, it took Greta ten days to realize one of her daughters was gap-toothed. Eight months ago, Julia slept at my house for a week after a particularly nasty fight with her parents, yet her presence had gone completely undetected, an extra breakfast plate seen as children's forgetfulness. So, unlike my sister, I didn't worry about Berlioz. The litterbox and the cat bowls, safely tucked in our own bathroom, weren't going to give us away.

"Amber's downstairs," my mom informed me, already looking immaculate and polished despite it being barely six-thirty. "She said you agreed she'd pick you up this morning?"