The Butterfly Girl: A Star is Born

Nothing But Uncertainty

[Sophia]

We ended up talking all day. The questions were endless, but most of them weren't always directed at Apollo and I. Most if not all the questions Teri and the twins asked us were questions Apollo and I had shared for years. And most, if not all the answers we had were simply just, we don't know.

And we weren't likely to find those answers for a long time.

The sun was already starting to set by the time Teri and the twins had run out of questions to ask and we had to call it a day. But we said we'd come back tomorrow to continue our discussion.

Back at home, I was helping Apollo make dinner. (Well, more like I was keeping an eye on my chicken nuggets in the oven.)

"How long until they're done?" Apollo asked.

I was crouched in front of the oven, watching my nuggets cook through the little window with the light on.

"Uh... like... seven more minutes?"

"Okay."

There was a shared silence between the both of us. Apollo was leaning against the counter, staring at his phone. Until I heard him sigh quietly and let it drop onto the counter.

"You sure we didn't freak them out too much?" he asked. I purposefully fell back and sat on the floor, leaning up against the other side of the counter.

"Maybe... a little bit. But they deserved to know. I mean, they're technically safe. Teri lives underwater and the twins are comfy in the tree house, and they know where we live. The Shadovians don't come anywhere near that place. So, either way we don't have too much to worry about."

I finally stood up and sat in one of the dining chairs in the corner, keeping an eye on the clock on the stove.

"Yeah, but, I mean... you heard them. Teri said she wasn't allowed to go up on the surface because she thought it was dangerous."

"Yeah, and the twins said they were afraid because they thought there were monsters up here. Don't you think that sounds a little strange?"

"... What?"

"Yeah. The both of them believed that it was dangerous up here. And that was before they even met each other too. And I mean, yeah... the Shadovians are technically the monsters that make the forest dangerous. So technically... they were right. But now they have us. And we can protect them in case they get attacked."

"Okay, so... what are you saying?"

"What I'm saying is... uh... well, I don't actually know, but... uh..." I stood up and moved towards the fridge, opening the door and looking through it. "Hey, do we have the other pack of sodas in the garage? I... forgot we needed to put the new ones in here."

"Oh, yeah, hang on, lemme check."

Apollo walked into the garage for a moment and retrieved the extra pack of sodas. He opened the package for me and I started packing the cans one by one into the fridge.

"Okay, thanks. What were you going to say before, by the way?"

"Oh, right, ummm... Well, I'm just thinking that... I mean, I know they're our friends now, but are we really sure that they'll be safe?"

"Yeah, I think so." I said without looking at Apollo.

"Well, I mean... you're right about one thing. It does seem... a little strange that we found them... pretty much on the same day, and I know they're not... like us, but they're still... different, you know. And no one in the world knows about them?" Apollo continued.

"Well, more like they found us. But I think I get what you mean. It does almost kinda feel like all of this is, like... connected somehow?"

"Right! See, that's what I'm getting at. First it was us and the Shadovians, and then they turn up, and now we're going to... underwater kingdoms and exploring caves with glowing flowers? How does any of that make sense? And... I even tried looking up stuff a while ago, and..."

I closed the fridge and leaned on the other side of the counter.

"And?"

"Well... nothing. But like, we live so close to other people and all of this is just... here? How has no one else come across this? Here, check this out, I even went on Google Maps and tried looking at the area we live in, and look..."

Apollo swiped rapidly on his phone, pulling up his photos and letting me look at all the screenshots he took of the surrounding area. I recognized the neighborhood we live in and all the houses around us. The grove was there, behind the houses. I didn't spot anything out of the ordinary at first until I looked at the next couple of pictures. I zoomed out and recognized the area that should have been the large clearing with the Mutant Strawberry Field and the giant hole in the middle. But it wasn't there. None of it was. It just looked like more forest. Even the lake was gone. No water fall. It was all just one giant forest all the way to the beach.

"That... that is a little weird. But maybe it's just... filling in all the gaps. I mean people only use that to see the roads and streets so they know where they're going."

"Yeah, true. And I know you can't see everything at street level, but all of this is supposed to be like, satelite imagery, right? So why are all of those areas just... not there? Why does it look like it's all covered up?"

"I... I don't know? Maybe it's just... being weird?"

"I don't know what to tell you either dude, it's just– you can take those out of the oven now– it's just... all of this feels weird, you know?"

"No, yeah, I know. It's definitely weird. But, dude, I really don't know what to tell you. Maybe we just need to wait and see what happens later? I don't think there's much we can really do about it right now."

I opened one of the lower drawers and slipped oven mits on my hands before opening the oven door and carefully pulling out the hot tray of chicken nuggets on the counter.

"Yeah... I guess so... But... you know, I just..... I just hope we're not going to get into any more trouble."

"Yeah..... and you didn't even get to show them your-"

"Yeah, I know! We got so distracted, I forgot. I meant to show them before, but I literally just forgot! Tomorrow. Tomorrow, for sure. We'll go back and I'll show them everything."

"And your sure you're okay with that? I mean, especially after everything we talked about?"

"No, of course. If we're gonna help and protect them, then they need to know everything."

"Okay, just making sure."

I put an even amount of nuggets on two different plates and let Apollo in to handle the rest of the cooking. Afterwards, we sat in the living room, on the floor. Just up against the couch with our plates of food on the coffee table. We didn't want to make a mess on the couch. Apollo took the remote and started looking for something for us to watch as I dug into my food.

"You really sure that they'll be okay out there?" Apollo asked me.

"Yeah, of course they are. They'll be fine." I replied.

"I mean... the twins are out there on their own until morning. Teri's mom is still... missing and she's doing everything on her own. We're out here, on our own..."

"I think they'll be fine. I mean, we're doing fine. The twins can come get us whenever they need anything and Teri will come back and ask if she ever needs any help. But honestly, I think we'll be okay. It'll be fine."

"If you say so..." Apollo muttered.

Even while I was content sitting on the floor and eating crispy chicken nuggets, I could tell Apollo was uncertain. But I was completely confident. I didn't see any point in thinking about all the things we don't know. It's just not worth worrying about.

I'm sure everything will turn out fine one way or another.

But even as we sat back and watched mindless entertainment well late into the night, I had a sense I could still feel Apollo's anxiety radiating from him. I couldn't be sure myself, but he tends to worry about stuff more than me. The only thing I could do was try to convince him that everything would be fine. Because I believed it would all be fine.

One way or another...