Page 35 of Autumn Secrets
“That’s okay. Do you need a hand?”
“No, it’s all done. Have a seat.” She gestured towards the dining table, before serving up some bowls of pasta for us both.
“Where are your parents?” I asked and took a bite of the pasta. It wasn’t bad at all. “This is good, Lex.”
“Thanks. Well, I actually don’t know where they are, if I’m perfectly honest.”
I looked at her. “What do you mean you don’t know?”
“I mean I know they’re away, and I think they’ll be back soon…”
“Youthinkthey’ll be back soon? Lexi, has something happened?” I asked, trying not to sound too worried.
Lexi glanced at me, and I noticed how tired she looked.
“Lex, are you all right? Did something happen? What’s going on?”
The way she was acting made me worry. She looked like she hadn’t slept in days. Why hadn’t I noticed this earlier? I’d been so caught up Luca that I hadn’t paid close enough attention to Lexi.
“This is what I was trying to tell you. It’s like something has happened, but I don’t know what. Like I don’t remember, but the feeling is still there…” she whispered. “I don’t know what’s real and what’s not. I get glimpses of different events, and they’re so real, except it doesn’t add up with reality.”
“Okay…”
She shook her head. “I know it doesn’t make any sense, but I promise you, Aurora, I’m not crazy.”
“You don’t have to tell me that. I know you’re not crazy, Lex,” I said and put my arm around her shoulder.
“I’m not even sure my parents are actually away. I don’t know when I last spoke to them. Maybe I’m losing my mind…”
“Lexi, listen to me, you are definitely NOT losing your mind, do you hear me? If you are, I’m going crazy too. I know exactly what you’re saying; this has happened to me too.”
Lexi looked at me. “Really? Please tell me.”
I decided to tell hereverything.The only thing I left out were my mixed feelings about Luca. I didn’t want to upset her any more right now. When I was finished, she didn’t say anything at first, just stared at me. Then she finally spoke. “Aurora, what do you think is going on?”
“I honestly don’t know Lex.”
“I mean, it doesn’t sound—”
“Real? Yeah, I know. Nothing adds up.” I sighed.
“Exactly. So, what should we do?” Lexi asked.
“First of all, I think you should call your parents while I’m here. That way, at least we can rely on each other for any information that might otherwise get lost.”
Lexi nodded and picked up her phone to dial their number. After a few seconds, she shook her head. “I’m just getting their voicemail.”
“Well, we’ll try again a bit later. When do you know you last saw them for sure?”
“The night of the party. We were having an early dinner before I came to your house. And I’m sure they didn’t mention anything about going away…”
“Then why do you think they are away?”
“I don’t know. It’s like there’s a picture in my head where they told me they were going away for a few nights on a business trip. Except, I feel like it’s not real… Then I have images of me talking to them, but I don’tfeellike I have.” She sighed. “Sorry, it’s hard to explain.”
“Don’t be sorry. We will sort this out. At least we have each other, okay? I can’t explain anything that has happened to me either in the last couple of days.”
“You don’t think Adrian has anything to do with all of this?”