I walked through the unraveled wall of Celeste’s house out to the front yard where she and Leslie waited. Leslie stood with arms crossed while Celeste sat on a log, scribbling furiously into her journal.
“See,” I told Leslie as I reraveled the wall once I’d stepped out onto the grass. “Easy.”
“And you’re sure this will work on… ” Leslie paused, casting a wary glance at Celeste. “Other walls?” Leslie finished.
I resisted the urge to sigh. I understood why they were being cautious around Celeste, but I couldn’t help being annoyed. We could trust her. “Yes, I’m sure,” I replied to Leslie’s question.
Leslie turned to Celeste. “Have you told anyone about this?” Leslie asked aggresively. “Why are you so interested? Why have you been taking notes?”
“Leslie!” I called. When they looked to me, I asked with a scoff, “What are you doing?”
“Just making sure everything here is,” they glanced at Celeste, “secure.”
I scowled at them. “It’s fine,” I said. “There’s no reason for you to act like an interrogator with my friend.”
Leslie huffed. “Look, I- Are you writing this down?!”
I turned in time to see Celeste slam her journal shut, looking back at Leslie with an innocent grin. “Hm? What?” she responded.
Leslie stepped toward her. “Do I need to burn that?” they asked angrily.
“Really?!” I shouted at them. Leslie glared at Celeste. From her log perch, Celeste looked back up at them in amusement.
I rested a hand on Leslie’s shoulder as I gently nudged them away from both Celeste and her house. Once we were far enough away that she wouldn’t hear us, I said, “Don’t remember you disliking her.”
“Iewtkedfelkrjer a few times,” they muttered.
I frowned. “I’ve been practicing reraveling with her for a long time. She hasn’t said a word to anyone.”
Leslie started to say something, but clamped their mouth shut instead. Then they sighed, rubbing their eyes. “Look,” they said, “you might trust her, but I don’t. I’m going home.”
After Leslie left, I returned to Celeste. “Did you really write down our fight?”
Celeste glanced toward the path where Leslie had gone. “They don’t seem to like me very much.”
“No,” I said with a sigh, “they don’t.”
“I get why they’re mad,” she said. She tore out a few pages from her journal. “It was a private conversation.” Celeste crumpled up the paper into a ball. “I’ll burn it.”
“Thanks,” I replied. It would have been better if she hadn’t written anything down in the first place, but I couldn’t blame her for thinking it would be fine with Leslie when I never cared what she wrote about me. “And sorry for…” I gestured toward where Leslie had disappeared, not sure what else to say.
Celeste chuckled. “So,” she began, opening her journal back up, her pen ready to write, “are you going to keep practicing today?”
“No,” I replied. “I’ve had enough today. I’m going home.”
To be continued…