The smell of bacon was better to wake up to than needing to go to the bathroom; the headache I had took something away from it though; why was I opening my eyes? Why was my body hot when the last thing I remembered was a breeze making my lighter’s flame danced as it lit Ernest’s cigar?

I snapped up to a sitting position, out of a blanket, looked around, saw no one; another whiff of frying meat and I followed the sizzles and pops into the kitchen. Pam, in front of the stove, looked over her shoulder at me then towards the table; I slid onto the already pulled out seat, let my head fall into hands. “What the fuck actually happened last night?”

Pam shook her head. “Dunno, all felt like a dream to me.”

I worked my fingers against temples in hopes of pressure relief, “James is in the bathroom, right? Tell me he has something rolled.”

“He said he went to get more.”

I groaned; my fingers hadn’t helped. “Why are you cooking?”

She turned from the stove, looked at me with heat vision, “What, are you mad or something? If I didn’t you wouldn’t have eaten at all.”

I felt like arguing more but my stomach growled loud enough for the both of us to hear; luckily for me, being right left her close to laughing. I smirked. “I guess I have been neglecting myself a bit.”

Pam went back to the bacon. “FUCK get plates!” I ran to the cabinet, clattered around, set two ceramics within her reach; smoke filled the kitchen, it was tasty though, I didn’t mind coughing.

She opened the windows, I took the plates to the table but not before sliding the majority of the blackened meat into the garbage; there were three edible strips to a plate. “Hope you like it crispy.” I said to Pam when she sat across from me.

“Actually, I was going for charred so this is a complete success.” She smiled at me, took a bite and gagged, nearly puked for her effort; she pushed her plate towards me. “You’re probably hungrier than I am.”

She was right, I ate it all so fast I hardly noticed its crunch; I had to consciously stop myself from licking the grease. I patted my hands against the table, a bird’s chirp broke my rhythm. “Doesn’t seem like James put much thought into what all of this means but you…aren’t things different now? What’re you gonna do after all this is done? Are you still gonna try and live life like before?”

Pam scrunched her lips, put her feet on the table to push her chair onto its back two legs, “Before Fate, Destiny, whatever made itself known I think all I was doing was living. Seems like there’s more to it than that though, doesn’t it?

My plan before was my parent’s, go to school, job, this that the third…I don’t really have the opportunity to change that but I guess yeah, now I’m looking for one.” She took her feet off the table,  eased all four legs of the chair back to the ground.

“What would you do if you found it?” She didn’t have an answer for me. I took the plates to the sink, washed them off, shook the remaining water and suds from my hands. “We’re gonna be really bored if all we do is wait for him to get back; maybe if I read my shit aloud you can help me fix it?”

“Sounds more fun than nothing.” Pam shrugged, followed me to my room, collapsed on my bed; she looked as wiped as I felt.

I turned on my computer, clicked on the book file-

‘This document can only be accessed by an administrator.’

End

Episode 9: The Reveal