Sadie
The Bubble Bursts
The sound of rain tinking off the roof makes it hard to sleep. For most people, that would be calming, and it would lull them to sleep as if they were counting sheep, one drop after the next. But for me, it’s incessant—an unwelcome chorus to the rhyme already playing in my head on repeat.
The key is going to unlock a future. Not mine specifically, just a future that I won’t be able to escape. What does that even mean? I’ve asked myself a thousand times since we left the house, a thousand times in the past thirty-six hours.
This whole thing started as a way to find my fate, supposedly. And now the first real development, the first time I feel like this has moved beyond just another item on my to-do list… it’s noteven my riddle to unravel. I’m practical, I play it safe, and this—it’s infuriating.
I reach for a glass of water on my nightstand, and the alarm clock reads 5:46 am. It’s too early to mosey to the kitchen to make coffee. But it’s too late to fall back asleep and not waste the day away, so I lay here. Staring at the ceiling, hoping something other than Max starts to make sense.
But when did that happen?
When did my new friend start to be the only thing in my hectic life that made any sense? On paper, he doesn’t—we are both leaving in a couple of weeks. The adventures (some planned and others not), the fun, the laughter we’ve shared… it will all be a distant memory soon. A time I look back on with reverence.
So why, when everything else has always taken top priority in my life, is it so easy to get lost in him? It’s too easy to forget everything else exists when he’s in the room. Max takes up space. Maybe too much space.
My phone vibrates on the bed beside me, the glow of the screen illuminating the room with a message.
Alex
Hey Sadie, just wanted to check in. Hope things are going well.
A scoff sneaks between my lips. Alex is kind, caring in a way that’s not fake, but we aren’t really friends. And she has to know after months of working closely together when her son was the spotlight player, that being away like this isn’t easy for me.
Hey. Things are fine. What’s wrong?
Alex
Nothing. Just making sure you’re okay.
Alex… it’s not even six in the morning.
My phone rings.
"Hello?"
"Okay, so I didn’t want to alert anyone and start a shitstorm for Levi. But… I heard something." Her voice is hushed, and the faint sound of water running trickles in the background.
Sitting up in bed, I pop my earbuds in, grab my laptop, and power it on.
"I’m listening. What’s going on?"
"Hold on." The phone goes silent except for a door clicking open, then closed. "Okay, sorry. I had to sneak out of the house so I wouldn't wake anyone up."
"Yeah?"
"Well, it could be nothing. It’s probably a rumor, and..."
I push the earbuds in further because she’s either beating around the bush or I’m not fully awake. "And?"
"And there’s an expose. I heard one of the moms at Coop's practice gossiping about how they aren’t sure it’s a good idea for any of the boys to support an organization that’s not keeping a full accounting of where the Gala money is going. She said there’s an article coming out."
Laughter rips through my body. The notion is hilarious. It’s so untrue it’s not even believable.
"Sadie!" Alex huffs. "I’m serious."
I bite my cheek to contain myself. "Oh, I know. But it’s not true. I file hundreds of documents every year with the IRS, not to mention the ones that are needed to keep the charitable arm designated as a 501(c)(3). Which mom was it?"
