From the expression that formed on Mila’s face, I knew she understood what I was talking about.

“Constantine,” she said to me. “You… you don’t have to worry about doing anything… bad.”

“But I kinda have to,” I said. “It’s not like I was given a handbook on how any of this worked. I’m lucky that Travis and Monroe knew what to do to help me out.”

Before I could add onto my train of thought, my ears picked up a distant buzzing from outside the room. Mila and the others seemed to have noticed it once I fell silent, and I watched as Monroe left the room to check it out.

Sure enough, he came back with Mila’s phone in his hand. “Your mom is calling,” he said, looking at me and Mila.

Well that’s lovely, I thought. I couldn’t think of how this whole thing could get worse. But I could be wrong, and that this one phone call will just be the beginning of a whole disaster that's just waiting to happen.

“Gimme that,” Mila said, rushing over to him. She swiped the phone out of his hand and froze. I watched her stare at the screen for like two long seconds before she answered the call. Her finger swiped over to the speaker button, and almost immediately the room began to echo with the sound of my mom’s voice.

“About time you answered your phone, young lady!” I could tell she was more worried than mad at Mila. It was almost impossible to make her mad.

“H-Hi Mom,” Mila said in a weak voice. “I had no idea you’ve been trying to call me. My phone only alerted me about this one.”

I could tell Mila was lying. It was like I could smell it.

Our mom sighed, clearly frustrated. “We need to fix that phone of yours. But besides that, where are you? Your father and I have been trying to look for you since we woke up! Are you okay? Are you safe?”

“Mom, mom!” Mila tried to speak as more and more questions were asked. “I’m okay! I’m safe! You don’t need to worry! I’m, uh…”

She looked at us, almost expecting us to answer for her.

“Mila? What is it?”

Mila sighed. From the look on her face, I had a feeling she was about to say something she would regret.

“I went to go see it, the crime scene.”

Already, the air was beginning to feel tense. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I looked over at Travis and Monroe, and they both seemed pretty uneasy. Really didn’t help that we just discovered that the crime scene was just wiped out of existence like nothing had happened.

“I-I see.” Our mom got quiet. Hearing her voice started to physically hurt.

I watched as Mila looked over at Travis and Monroe before she moved her gaze on her lap. “You know the two people that were on the news talking about it? Travis and Monroe? They saw me there and invited me to their place to talk. They’re very nice people. I’ve been kinda hanging out there since.”

“That’s… nice, to hear.” Mom let out a soft chuckle. “It sounds like you might’ve made some friends here.”

A smile crept onto Mila’s face. “Yeah, I think I did. And they go to that academy place that you told me about.”

The mood of the phone call had suddenly shifted, and I could hear both Mila and our mom speak in a more positive tone. I felt like I was able to relax for a moment.

“Ah, that’s lovely! This would help make things easier for you a—ah, to adjust to a public school.”

I take back what I said.

Mila sighed quietly. “Yeah.” As soon as she responded, the mood had gone bad again. 

Or at least for me it did. I was beginning to hope the conversation would just end right then and there. I felt like complete shit from that last comment.

“I-Sorry again for worrying you and Dad,” Mila said. “I’ll be home soon. I can ask them to drop me off—”

“Oh, oh no, sweetheart!” Mom seemed surprised by what Mila said. “Please, stay as long as you wish! I don’t want you to feel you need to come home right now, not after you started making some friends.”

Mila and I exchanged glances. “A-are you sure?”

“Of course! I-I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

I noticed the expression on Mila’s face had changed. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

“Actually…” She spoke up as she looked back up at Monroe and Travis, who also were as oblivious as me. “Is it okay if I maybe spent the night here? At Travis and Monroe’s place?”

I looked over at them, and saw the looks on their faces. Travis seemed shocked at first but started thinking about it and nodded at her. Monroe just looked shocked, but seeing Travis nod made him relax.

“Oh?” The tone of our mom’s voice seemed more curious rather than shocked. “Of course! Please just stay safe, and don’t go out by yourself. Who knows if that animal is still out there…”

“I will, I promise.”

They said their goodbyes not long after, and as soon as Mila hung up her phone, Monroe spoke up.

“So, let me get this straight,” he began to say, walking up to us. “You’re staying the night, why?”

“Monroe, don’t.” Travis reached for his shoulder and pulled him back. 

“I’m just asking,” Monroe told them. “A few minutes ago she was going on about taking Constantine home, but now she wants to stay over instead?”

“You know you’d say the same if it were us in their place,” Travis said. “Just let her be. We have enough space for them both, and she can stay as long as she needs.” 

I looked over at Mila, asking, “Are you sure you wanna stay over?”

Mila nodded without hesitating. “It wouldn’t feel right if I went home knowing you’re, well, here. All they’ve ever really talked about was you ever since that night. I’d feel like absolute shit if I have to listen to them grieving any more.”

It made a lot of sense why she wanted to stick around. Plus, she could only keep something a secret for so long before someone says or does something that makes her slip up. The last thing I want is for her to have to go through all of that.