At 6:30 sharp my phone rang. "I'm here!" Marnie's voice did not have volumed control. I held the phone away from my ear a few inches. "Can I come up? I have to go to the bathroom SO. BAD." I did a quick look over my apartment. I was not planning on her seeing it. Although I was pretty used to unplanned visitors these days. I buzzed her up.

"I like your place!" I blushed a little. She for sure had a trust fund that allowed for a penthouse suite, decorated by an interior designer. Her succulents were all thriving, I was sure. "Do you live alone?" I nodded. "Ugh. I'm jealous. I like my roommate, but sometimes I just need some downtime, you know?"

"Seriously? You need downtime?"

She giggled, "Oh yeah. To decompress. Read. Just be quiet. Do you think I'm this energetic all the time? Ugh. That would be exhausting!" She flopped on my couch, in the same spot Shadow #1 and Simon had sat. She paused for a moment and looked around like she heard a noise and was trying to figure out where it came from. "Um. Nora?"

"Yeah?" Now I was listening for something too. Her expression was not one of fear, exactly, but definitely alarm.

"I'm getting a very weird vibe. Like. There is some funky juju here." Now that she mentioned it, I was getting the same weird vibe. I looked around my apartment and set eyes on a large black shadow of a man sitting at my kitchen table. He raised an arm slowly and gave me a wave. My nervous laugh was so loud, it made Marnie jump.

"What? That's not a thing! Silly. Okay, let's go!" She stood up very slowly and spun in a circle. She slowed when her eyes passed the kitchen, but ultimately fixed her eyes back on me.

"Okaaaay. Sure. Let's go. Sarah Montgomery won't wait for us, I guess." Her words were heavier than the normal, flitting sentences that usually flew weightlessly from her mouth. Still, she smiled and moved toward the door. I practically shoved her out, then stuck my head back in. The man at the table waved again. "I'll wait here," he informed me in a polite baritone. With a tight smile, I shut the door behind me. It was going to be very hard to concentrate for the rest of the night.

Or so I thought. Once we left, Marnie was her old self again, chatty and vivacious. She asked me lots of questions, but thankfully none that forced me to face my painful past. The closest she came was asking what my plans were for Thanksgiving. "I guess I'm going to be with my brother and sister." I didn't mention anybody else or the complicated dynamics surrounding my family. Marnie picked up on my apprehensive tone.

"Family events. Always such a treat, right?" There was some hurt underscoring her words and I looked at her, surprised.

"Your family seems great, though. You guys are like the golden family."

"Ha! That's cute. My mom and dad and Ryan are amazing, but our sister is a psycho. And don't even get me started on my mom's side of the family." Her voice was angry enough that I really didn't want to get her started on it, curious as I was. If I knew anything, it was the importance of avoiding painful family memories. "Let's sit here!" The bounce was back in her voice, and I was relieved at its familiarity. While we waited for the author to come out, Marnie took a strand of my hair and flipped it behind my shoulder. "Have you ever thought about going a couple shades lighter?" I laughed at her attempt at tactfulness. I gave her a quick nod, but Sarah Montgomery was at the podium, ready to begin.

She was as good a speaker as she was a writer. After, we met her, and I purchased a signed copy of Beyond Borders. "You're going to love it!" Marnie sang, hopping up and down. Her squealing had reached an all-time high after meeting her favorite author. "What to go get coffee?!"

"Are you kidding? You cannot drink coffee right now!" I laughed. I may have been a little high on fangirl adrenaline myself.

"Okay. Let's go back to your place and hang out."

"Um, no." I couldn't think of a good excuse, but obviously had to shut down that idea in a hurry, thanks to the shadow waiting for me.

"Well, I'm pretty sure my roommate has her boyfriend over, so trust me, we do not want to go there. How about we go say 'hi' to Ryan?"

I fiddled with my hair and skirt. "Oh, I don't know. He's my boss, you know."

I felt her gaze brush over me like a painter adding color to a chalked in drawing. "That's right. Your boss." She was speaking very slowly again, as she had in my apartment with the shadow. "That would be weird, I guess." We walked a few steps in silence. "Here! Let's pop in here." She yanked me into a coffee shop, promising she'd only get tea.

We sat at a cozy table by a fireplace and suddenly I was practically drunk with the coziness of the situation. Warm tea by a fire with... a friend. I smiled at Marnie and she smiled back. We sipped our drinks quietly for a few moments. "Did you know I'm psychic?" she finally said. She was just full of surprises, this one.

"You are! Madame Marnie? It has a nice ring to it." I didn't believe in psychics even a little bit. Otherwordly shadows? Yes. Psychics? No.

She laughed, "I left my crystal ball at home, but give me your palm and I'll tell you what's in store for you."

"Oh yes, please do. I'm especially interested in knowing when I'm going to come into my millions." I blushed, remembering she'd already come into her millions, but she only smiled and took my hand. She held it comically close to her face, then pushed it away, then held it close again. Finally she lay it on the table and inspected it further. One peach nail traced the lines. I shivered at the tickle. "Be still!" She ordered.

"A bossy psychic!"

She ignored me and continued staring. I sipped tea with my other hand. "Nora," her voice was sad. Maybe this had been a bad idea. I pulled my arm back and held my mug with two hands and stared into my drink.

"What did you see? Fame? Fortune? A tall, dark stranger?" I tried to keep my voice light, but it fell like a brick between us.

At least I didn't see pity when I finally looked up. Definite sadness, but no pity. That was a small mercy. She watched me drink my tea for a while. Then, "My brother is into you." My tea felt hotter clogging my esophagus when I choked. She laughed and handed me napkins to help with the dribble on my face.

When I had my bearings again I said (a little too loud for a quaint coffee shop) "Marnie! That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard! You are a crazy person if you think that! I mean... WHAT?!"

She was tipping over in her chair laughing at me and the couple at the table beside us gave us dirty looks. We were definitely not contributing to their romantic atmosphere. "I don't know! I just get that feeling! Like when he says your name? I can practically see little hearts in his eyes like that emoji! And he showed you his nerdy tattoo. Trust me. He hasn't shown a single other person that tattoo."

"Ohmygosh. You're nuts. No. We were just talking about tattoos and I gave him a recommendation, so he followed up... No. You're nuts," I repeated.

"Uh-huh. Okay." Her tone could not be more patronizing.

"Nuts." I insisted.

She giggled at me. I was thankful she didn't press the issue with whatever she thought she saw in my palm. Which was probably wrong because palm reading is not a thing, I told myself. I swirled the last swallow of tea in my cup. "Well, unless you want to read my tea leaves, I better get going. Work, tomorrow, you know?"

"Boooo!" Marnie gave me double thumbs down, but glanced at her watch. "But yeah, I have an early morning class. Public speaking. It's required and it makes me want to barf."

"I can't imagine you being scared of speaking," I said as we gathered our things.

"Oh gosh, yes. In front of people? It's the absolute worst." She was quiet for a moment. "Plus I have to study for French. I'm not doing great in that class. But if I bring in a "croque madame" whatever that is, I get extra credit. So I need to work on that too."

Maybe I was delirious with excitement from actually doing something that day. Or from making a new friend. I don't know what happened, but he words were out before I could stop them, "I make the best croque madame! I can totally help you with that."

Marnie lit up like a jack-o-lantern, beaming from every crevice of her head. "You can?!" She threw her arms around me, screaming, bouncing. "Thank yoooouuuuu! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! You are the BEST IN THE WORLD! My professor will be so impressed she'll probably just give me a 4 point for the rest of the year and call it good. You're saving my liiiiiiife!"

Pulling away from her vice grip was futile.Instead I let her hug me and jump around and squeal, while inwardly I knewexactly how this was going to play out. I was going to love it. It was going tomake me miss cooking and want to start doing it all the time again. And that?Was not what I wanted to happen.