𝑊𝐻𝐴𝑇 𝐴 𝐹𝐴𝑇𝐸

*𝐴𝑇 ZOEY'S ROOM* Zoey lay on her bed, her head buried in her pillow as she cried herself to sleep. Suddenly, a knock at the door broke the silence. *MIRABEL:* (Knocking gently) Zoey, are you there? (There was no response.) Zoey, you can't keep shutting yourself away like this. You need to come out and take your mind off things. Let's catch up and have some fun. *ZOEY:* (From inside, her voice muffled by tears) Mom, I don't want to hear it. Just leave me alone. I want to be alone, okay? *MIRA POV:* After several attempts to coax her out, Zoey refused to open the door. I left, feeling helpless. I had come to get her for breakfast, but her refusal to even hear me out broke my heart. Seeing her like this, all because of some scoundrel who toyed with her emotions, was tearing me apart. She's killing herself slowly, emotionally and mentally, and I feel powerless to help. The only one she listens to is Amira, and I'll have to get her to come home from school. She's the only one Zoey trusts. *Downstairs* *CHRIS:* Where's Zoey? *MIRABEL:* She's refused to come down again. *ALEXANDER:* What do we do now? *CHRIS:* We need to get Amira and Inaya home as soon as possible. They're the only ones who can help Zoey right now. *MIRABEL:* Yes, that's the only way. But they're in school... *ALEXANDER:* If it means helping Zoey get better, I'll do what it takes. *MIRABEL:* Then you know what to do. *CHRIS:* (Standing up) I'll call Amira and let her know what's going on. We won't tell her anything until she's home, deal? *ALEXANDER:𝐷𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑀𝐼𝑅𝐴𝐵𝐸𝐿: 𝑌𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑. 𝐶𝐻𝑅𝐼𝑆: 𝑍𝑜𝑒𝑦 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 (𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑡𝑠). _𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠'𝑠 𝑃𝑂𝑉:_ 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑦 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐴𝑚𝑖𝑟𝑎 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛, 𝑠𝑜 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝐼𝑛𝑎𝑦𝑎 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑑. 𝐼𝑛𝑎𝑦𝑎 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑠 𝐴𝑚𝑖𝑟𝑎 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑔𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑦 𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑤. _𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝐼𝑛𝑎𝑦𝑎'𝑠 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟._ 𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒, 𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙... _𝐼𝑛𝑎𝑦𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐴𝑚𝑖𝑟𝑎 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼𝑛𝑎𝑦𝑎'𝑠 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠._ 𝐼𝑁𝐴𝑌𝐴: (𝑆𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠) 𝐴ℎ𝑚, 𝑠𝑖𝑠, 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒. 𝐴𝑀𝐼𝑅𝐴: 𝑂𝑘𝑎𝑦 (𝐼𝑛𝑎𝑦𝑎 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑡𝑠). (𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒) 𝐼𝑁𝐴𝑌𝐴: (𝐴𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒) 𝐻𝑒𝑦, 𝑏𝑖𝑔 𝑏𝑟𝑜. 𝐶𝐻𝑅𝐼𝑆: 𝐻𝑖! 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑢𝑝? 𝐼𝑁𝐴𝑌𝐴: 𝐼'𝑚 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢? 𝐶𝐻𝑅𝐼𝑆: 𝐼'𝑚 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑀𝑖𝑟𝑎? 𝐼𝑁𝐴𝑌𝐴: 𝑆ℎ𝑒'𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑡𝑜𝑜. 𝐶𝐻𝑅𝐼𝑆: 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑, 𝑠ℎ𝑒'𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑛𝑜𝑤? 𝐼𝑁𝐴𝑌𝐴: 𝑁𝑜, 𝑠ℎ𝑒'𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡. 𝐴ℎ𝑚, 𝑏𝑖𝑔 𝑠𝑖𝑠, ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔? 𝐶𝐻𝑅𝐼𝑆: (𝑆𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑠) 𝐼 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑠ℎ𝑒'𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑒. 𝐼𝑁𝐴𝑌𝐴: (𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑙𝑦) 𝑊ℎ𝑦? 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑? 𝐼𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑘? 𝑂𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑎 𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠-𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑚? 𝐶𝐻𝑅𝐼𝑆: 𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑠ℎ. 𝐼𝑁𝐴𝑌𝐴: 𝐵𝑟𝑜, 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑎𝑙𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦? 𝑌𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑. 𝐶𝐻𝑅𝐼𝑆: 𝑂𝑘𝑎𝑦, 𝐸𝑑𝑤𝑖𝑛 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑘𝑒 𝑢𝑝 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘, 𝑠ℎ𝑒'𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘, 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑢𝑡 – 𝑠ℎ𝑒'𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚, 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑖𝑥 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑤. 𝐼𝑁𝐴𝑌𝐴: (𝑆𝑎𝑑𝑙𝑦) 𝑇𝑜𝑜 𝑏𝑎𝑑, 𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑍𝑜𝑒𝑦. 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑛𝑜𝑤. 𝐶𝐻𝑅𝐼𝑆: 𝑆𝑜 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑦 𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑤. 𝐼𝑁𝐴𝑌𝐴: 𝑂𝑘𝑎𝑦, 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑖𝑡. 𝐶𝐻𝑅𝐼𝑆: 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑟. 𝐼𝑁𝐴𝑌𝐴: 𝐼 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙. 𝐶𝐻𝑅𝐼𝑆: 𝑆𝑒𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑤. 𝐼𝑁𝐴𝑌𝐴: 𝑂𝑘𝑎𝑦, 𝑏𝑦𝑒 (ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑢𝑝). _𝐼𝑛𝑎𝑦𝑎'𝑠 𝑃𝑂𝑉:_ 𝐴𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠, 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑎𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑢𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑍𝑜𝑒𝑦 𝑔𝑎𝑣𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑜; 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑡𝑜𝑜 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑢𝑛ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑦, 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑏 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠. 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝐼'𝑑 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝐴𝑚𝑖𝑟𝑎. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝐸𝑑𝑤𝑖𝑛 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑑, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑛𝑜 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟... 𝑁𝑜𝑤, 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝐴𝑚𝑖𝑟𝑎, 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝐼 𝑠𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛, 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘, 𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑎𝑔, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑒'𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦. 𝑊𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑔𝑜 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔. _𝐴𝑚𝑖𝑟𝑎'𝑠 𝑃𝑂𝑉:_ 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼𝑛𝑎𝑦𝑎 𝑔𝑜𝑡 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙, 𝐼 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑢𝑝 𝑎𝑠 𝑢𝑠𝑢𝑎𝑙, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟, 𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑤𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑔𝑜 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒. 𝐼 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑, 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑦 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑠𝑢𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑛. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑒'𝑑 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒, 𝑠𝑜 𝐼 𝑔𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒. (𝑂𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑦 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒) 𝐴𝑀𝐼𝑅𝐴: 𝑆𝑖𝑠, ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦? 𝐼𝑁𝐴𝑌𝐴: (𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡) 𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠? 𝐴𝑀𝐼𝑅𝐴: (𝑆𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔) 𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑤𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒! 𝑂𝑢𝑟 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑎 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑧 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑦𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑖𝑟𝑙𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑟𝑙𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑦, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑜𝑛. 𝐼𝑁𝐴𝑌𝐴: (𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑) 𝑌𝑎𝑦, 𝐼'𝑚 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑖𝑠. 𝐴𝑀𝐼𝑅𝐴: (𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑙𝑦) 𝑆𝑖𝑠, 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑚? 𝑌𝑜𝑢'𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙. 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑? 𝐼𝑁𝐴𝑌𝐴: 𝐼 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔; 𝐼'𝑚 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑒. 𝐴𝑀𝐼𝑅𝐴: 𝑂𝑘𝑎𝑦, 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝐼'𝑚 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔'𝑠 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔. 𝑆ℎ𝑒'𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑚? 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑜 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙. 𝑊ℎ𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡? 𝐴𝑀𝐼𝑅𝐴: 𝐶𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑, 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡? 𝐼'𝑚 𝑑𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑜 𝑜𝑛𝑒'𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒. 𝐼 𝑔𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒'𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑜. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑑𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒. _𝐼𝑛𝑎𝑦𝑎'𝑠 𝑃𝑂𝑉:_ 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑑, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝐼 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑀𝑖𝑟𝑎. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑠ℎ𝑒'𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑚. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦 𝑔𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟. *𝐴𝑡 𝐻𝑜𝑚𝑒* 𝐴𝑀𝐼𝑅𝐴: 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑔𝑜 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑢𝑝 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑚 𝑜𝑘𝑎𝑦, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑣𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡. 𝐼𝑁𝐴𝑌𝐴: 𝐴ℎ𝑚, 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑, 𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦. 𝐼'𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑡 ℎ𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑟𝑦. 𝐴𝑀𝐼𝑅𝐴: (𝑆𝑢𝑟𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑑) 𝑆𝑖𝑠, 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 2 𝑝𝑚, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 4 𝑝𝑚. 𝑌𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 ℎ𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑟𝑦? 𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑔𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑠𝑛𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑎𝑡. 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑢𝑝? 𝑌𝑜𝑢'𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝐼'𝑚 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔. _𝐴𝑚𝑖𝑟𝑎'𝑠 𝑃𝑂𝑉:_ 𝐴𝑠 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑡𝑢𝑏, 𝐼 𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑎 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦. 𝐹𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡, 𝐼 𝑐𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑘𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑛, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 ℎ𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑙𝑒𝑔 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑎 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑎 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 – 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒. 𝑁𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝐼𝑛𝑎𝑦𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑟. 𝐼 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑚 𝑤𝑎𝑠. *𝐼𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑒𝑑𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚* _𝐼𝑛𝑎𝑦𝑎'𝑠 𝑃𝑂𝑉:_ 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑀𝑖𝑟𝑎 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙; 𝑠ℎ𝑒'𝑙𝑙 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑. 𝑆ℎ𝑒'𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑔𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑢𝑑𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒. _𝐴𝑚𝑖𝑟𝑎'𝑠 𝑃𝑂𝑉:_ 𝐴𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑎𝑡ℎ, 𝐼 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑏𝑢𝑚𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑠. 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑗𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑒. 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙 – 𝐼'𝑚 𝑖𝑛 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑄𝑢𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑠 𝐻𝑖𝑔ℎ, 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑣𝑒. 𝑂𝑢𝑟 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑡𝑤𝑜-𝑏𝑒𝑑𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚 𝑑𝑢𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑥. 𝐴𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝐼 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝐼𝑛𝑎𝑦𝑎 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑑𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑟. 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑠𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔; 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒. 𝐴𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝐼 𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝐼 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑒'𝑑 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑚𝑒, ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑒'𝑑 𝑒𝑎𝑡. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ. *𝐵𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐾𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑛* 𝐴𝑀𝐼𝑅𝐴: (𝑆𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔) 𝑆𝑜, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔? 𝐼𝑁𝐴𝑌𝐴: 𝐴ℎ𝑚, 𝑠𝑖𝑠, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑟𝑦. 𝐴𝑀𝐼𝑅𝐴: 𝐼 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑒. 𝐼𝑁𝐴𝑌𝐴: 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝐴𝑀𝐼𝑅𝐴: 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑦ℎ𝑜𝑤. 𝐼𝑁𝐴𝑌𝐴: 𝑂𝑘𝑎𝑦, 𝑠𝑜 𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑤𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑟𝑦. 𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑖𝑔 𝑏𝑟𝑜 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑢𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑤. 𝐴𝑀𝐼𝑅𝐴: 𝑊𝑒𝑙𝑙, 𝐼 𝑔𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑢𝑝. 𝐴𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑟 𝑛𝑜𝑡? _𝐼𝑛𝑎𝑦𝑎'𝑠 𝑃𝑂𝑉:_ 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑡'𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠. 𝐼 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑒𝑟. 𝐴𝑀𝐼𝑅𝐴: 𝐴𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑟 𝑛𝑜𝑡? 𝐼𝑁𝐴𝑌𝐴: 𝑂𝑘𝑎𝑦, 𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘. 𝐴𝑀𝐼𝑅𝐴: 𝐼'𝑚 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠. 𝐼𝑁𝐴𝑌𝐴: 𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑏𝑖𝑔 𝑠𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐸𝑑𝑤𝑖𝑛.