“And you think I do?” Eva leaned back in her chair, tapping a pen against her thigh as she observed Lily hovering at the front of her room.
“I’ve seen you with her. She listens to you, and you seem to understand her. If there’s something I could be doing better, some way I can bring out the best in her I’d like to know.”
Eva looked delighted to have Lily come to her for advice, and Lily tried her best to ignore the gleeful expression on her face. “What’s the problem?”
“She’s struggling. Barely pays attention in class, does the bare minimum on her homework. On the latest exam she wroteI don’t knowfor most of the questions. She’s one bad grade away from being kicked out of the class.”
Eva frowned. “That can’t be right. She was my brightest last year.”
“See for yourself.” Lily placed the exam on Eva’s desk, watching her frown deepen as she flicked through the pages.
“This isn’t like her. Does she ask for help?”
“No, and she doesn’t want it when I offer it, either. It’s like she doesn’t care. I don’t know how to change that.”
“Leave it with me,” Eva said, thoughtful look on her face. “I’ll have a word with her and see if I can help.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
Had they just managed to be civil for an entire conversation?
* * *
Eva’s phone buzzed two times in quick succession in her lap.
It earned her a curious look from her mother, sitting beside her on the couch, a bowl of popcorn nestled between them, and Franklin curled up on her knee.
“Someone’s popular tonight,” Eva’s mother said, turning her attention away from the TV screen. “You’ve been on that phone a lot lately.”
A lot seemed like an exaggeration. Sure, Eva had been using it more often than usual, thanks to a certain app. Not that Eva was using it as intended. She didn’t scroll through any profiles, only ever using it to message Molly. And it wasn’t that frequent—a message here and there every couple of days—so she didn’t know how her mother had noticed.
“It’s Kate,” Eva said, because if her mother ever found out about the app, Eva would never hear the end of it. She want to know every single detail about the mysterious MollyCule13.
Thankfully, Eva’s mother accepted the lie without question, turning her attention back to the screen as Eva turned hers to the phone in her hand.
The first message was a picture of a black cat curled into a tight ball in a bathroom sink, one green eye staring at the camera.
I spent an hour looking for her. Thought she’d managed to escape. Want to swap pets?
Not really,Eva replied, snapping a quick picture of a sleeping Franklin and sending it in the message thread.He’s keeping me warm.
He’s adorable. Mine is a little shit. I just had to wash my hands in the shower because she refused to move.
That’s what you get for having a cat.
I can’t get a dog with the hours I work.
Eva refrained from asking the obvious question, because it risked breaking their golden rule. She liked thinking of Molly as a puzzle that needed to be solved, liked trying to work out little things about her from the snippets she revealed each day, sharpening the fuzzy impression Eva had of her in her mind.
Like the photo of the cat. A cursory glance didn’t reveal much, but a second look showed Molly favored bright decoration—the tiles behind the sink were light blue, the collar on the cat yellow, and the toothbrush sitting beside the tap bright pink. She also seemed to be messy. A sliver of the bathtub was visible, the side of it covered with products—a stark contrast to Eva’s bathroom, where everything was tucked neatly away.
Eva glanced at the photo she’d sent of Franklin and wondered what conclusions Molly might draw about her. That she was a neat-freak, the couch covered in a gray throw to protect it from dust, scratches and spills. The scant few inches of the floor on the photo were clear of any obstacles, the edge of the coffee table containing only a coaster and one of her mom’s knitting patterns.
It showed her legs, half-hidden by Franklin’s furry body, and clad in the blue sweats she wore to lounge around the house in. Sweats Eva wouldn’t be caught dead in outside—sweats anyone who knew Eva would be shocked to find out she owned—so perhaps the photos were misleading, as well as informative.
Not everything was always as it seemed, Eva reminded herself. Molly could be anyone. And Eva shouldn’t become too attached to a ghost, no matter how fun talking to her might be.
What are you doing?
