Page 56 of Oracles Always Win

“Whatdo you mean?You’veseen something like that before?”Iasked.

Gagegrimaced. “Yes.Whenwe found the person who was trying to sell your stolen artifacts, we discovered she had a warehouse full of imprisoned supes.Wefreed them, but we suspected her warehouse was part of a larger trafficking ring.”Hemotioned toward the painting. “Itlooks like we were right.”

Noone spoke for several long minutes, then they moved on to the next.Istaggered to my bed and sat on it.Iwrapped my arms around my stomach and hunched down as they discussed each painting.IfI’dtalked to someone, like my grandfather when he was still alive, or evenSallyorAlice,Iwould have known about this long before now.

“Hey.”Gagesat on the bed beside me. “It’sgoing to be okay.”

Howcould he be so relaxed and understanding about this?Howmuch harm hadIdone by trying to pretend my black-and-white loving alter-ego didn’t exist?

Myphone pinged, announcingIhad a message.Theonly messagesIever received were fromAliceasking about her shifts.Ijust didn’t have friends who texted… or any friends at all, really.Itwas probably spam.

Isighed asIpulled my phone out and unlocked the screen.Itwas from someone calledSuperAmazingWordWizard.Whoon earth was in my contact list under that name?Unlessthat’s whatJeremycalled himself when he put his details in my phone.

SuperAmazingWordWizard:Jakeis part of theSupeCrewnow. *clapping emoji*

FireFingers:Damnit. *frowny face*We’remissing everything.Areyou on your way?Andwho else have you included?Idon’t recognize the number.

Me:Uh… this isJake.WhoisFireFingers?

SuperAmazingWordWizard: *laughing emoji*That’sAsh.

FireFingers:Really,Jeremy?FireFingers?

SuperAmazingWordWizard:It’sbetter than half-pint, isn’t it?Orlil’ bit?

SuperAmazingWordWizard:And, yes, we’re almost at your place, butIwanted to ask you a question beforeIforget.SoIthoughtI’dbetter text.Whatdo you think aboutLeifas a possible name for my nakedVikingwerewolf?Isit too close to leaf or leaves?Imean, he’s a werewolf, right?Sohe’s not a vegetarian.Andhis parents weren’t hippies.Hedoesn’t have any siblings calledStreamorPebble.Oris theScandinavianpronunciation ofLeifnothing like leaf?

FireFingers:Didyou askJakeif he wanted to answer all your crazy questions?

SuperAmazingWordWizard:Rude.Webonded the other night over slinging drinks.Thereis no escape now.

Me:It’sokay.

SuperAmazingWordWizard:Hey, speaking of my inner circle…Doesanyone haveSimon’scontact info?Ithink we should invite him into this loop too.

FireFingers:Simon?Theguy who always runs away and hides?Imean, he seems nice enough, but don’t you think you should get to know him before you throw him into a group chat?

SuperAmazingWordWizard:We’reawesome.He’dbe happy to be included.

FireFingers:Idon’t have his info.

Me:Idon’t either.

SuperAmazingWordWizard:I’llfind out.

Andthen the messages just stopped.NeitherAshnorIhad answered his question aboutLeifas a name for his werewolf character.Iwasn’t sure if he even wanted our opinion, or if he just liked dumping out all the thoughts in his head.

Iread the messages again.

Mymother hadn’t allowed me to have a phone whenIwas growing up, and as an adult,Ipretty much kept to myself, soI’dnever had friends who texted before.Wasthis normal?Idoubted it.Igot the senseJeremyhad suddenly decided to make it his mission to adopt all the strays inWillowLake.Ashwasn’t a stray, but he hadn’t really fit in with the other locals either, not untilDillonshowed up.

ShouldIrespond again?LetJeremyknowIcould askSimon’smother for his contact info.Daphnewas in my painting group, soIhad her number.ExceptifIasked her for her son’s number, she’d probably thinkIwas going to ask him on a date.So, nope.Thatdidn’t sound like a good idea.Jeremycould getSimon’snumber on his own.They’dprobably be here for the potluck later anyway.Daphneloved to bring fish casserole experiments.Theywere inevitably always beige and lumpy and rather unappetizing.

“Iseverything okay?”Gageasked.

ThenIremembered everything that’d been happening before the texts came in.WithGageat my side and after receiving those weird messages fromJeremy, things didn’t seem as bleak as they had a few minutes ago.

Iwasn’t losing my mind.Vanand the others would use my paintings to help people.Imight be on my way to having friends.Anda sexy man had kissed me.Thingswere looking up.