“Why
not?” Neil asked, "I want to show you this one trick I can do."
“You always get really wrapped up in
it,” Asta said, “You go all pale and faint and it’s weird and uncomfortable for
me.”
“Pale and faint?”
“I’m sorry,” Asta said, “I meant,
like… I don’t know how to say it.”
“Oh,” Neil said, “The psychic thing.
I gotcha.”
Asta laughed a little bit.
“What?”
“I like that you don’t really care
or question the fact that I might be psychic,” she said, “You’re the only
person who doesn’t try to come up with an… a reason why it might be happening.”
“Oh,” Neil said, “Cool.”
“Yeah,” she said, “Hey, did I ever
show you that one video?”
“You haven’t ever shown me any video,” Neil said, smirking.
“Oh,” she said, “It’s the one with
the guy.” She stopped herself. “The one with the guy who is chasing his dog
around the house and then… Well… I don’t want to spoil it.”
“Awesome,” he said, trying to muster
up enthusiasm to break him out of how shy and awkward he felt, “Let’s go watch
it!”
“Haha, yeah,” Asta said. She got up
and turned off the game and then walked upstairs. Neil followed. He was
grinning stupidly. He had somehow been thinking he wouldn’t have much fun at
all, and now he was thinking that things might go alright after all.
When they entered Asta’s room, Neil
saw the marks on the carpet by the front door, where a bookcase had recently
been moved away from, “Uhm,” Neil said, pointing at the marks on the floor.
“Oh,” Asta said, “Sometimes my dad
traps me in my room with the bookcase over there.” She pointed down the hall
towards what Neil assumed was the parents’ master bedroom.
Neil didn’t see the bookcase but
assumed it was somewhere in that room. “That’s… I mean, it’s awful,” Neil said.
“It’s sort of funny too,” Asta said,
having read what he was about to say, “It’s ok. It made me laugh the second
time he did it.”
“How many times has he done it?”
Neil asked.
“Twice,” Asta said, “Three times
actually. No wait, four.” She stifled a giggle.
“Wow,” Neil said, “I guess you’re
pretty used to it by now, then, huh?”
“A bit,” Asta said, “You could
definitely say that. Come on in.”
Neil did as he was told.
Her bedroom had the same white and blue
aesthetic that the rest of the house had, but there was a single painting on one
of the walls that was of an autumn road. The reds, oranges, and yellows brought
some life to her room. Compared to the sterile atmosphere, the painting almost
seemed to be glowing. Asta’s computer was on her desk. It was a light blue
laptop. Neil wasn’t at all surprised. But this was because he’d seen it before,
not because it fit in so well with the rest of Asta’s house.
When she typed in her password at a
pace too fast for Neil to discern individual key presses, and hit enter, he
caught a glimpse of her wallpaper before she opened up her webbrowser. It was
undoubtedly of a crown made from candlewax. “What was that?” Neil asked.
“What was what?” Asta asked.
“Nothing,” Neil said, “Nevermind.”
She turned around, “No, really. What
was what?”
“I’m seeing things that aren’t
there,” Neil said, “When I should be
seeing a guy chasing his dog around the house.”
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