Page 111 of Fall into Place

“Fern’s gonna figure out pretty quick you were involved in the escape,” Tess said. “We need a place that isn’t tied to any of us. Someplace they won’t expect.”

“Can that place also serve food?” Joni asked. “I haven’t eaten since yesterday.”

“Good, fine. Food!” Flora threw her hands up, and an icy blue circle swooped over them—without warning, they were standing in a parking lot of a diner off a suburban highway.

“Where the fuck are we?” Joni asked.

“New Jersey.” Flora pointed at the diner’s sign, which read Six Brothers Diner! Best fries in Jersey! “I used to come here in high school.”

Tess and Joni both gaped at Flora, who shrugged. “You think witches don’t go to high school? Have you not seen The Craft?”

“She makes a point,” Joni agreed. “Okay, let’s get some fries.”

Twenty minutes later, they were jammed into a vinyl-covered booth, Joni inhaling a burger, Tess picking at a tuna melt, and Flora moaning elaborately as she ate a plate of thick-cut fries smothered in gravy and mozzarella cheese.

“Disco fries.” Flora caressed the plate. “I missed these so much.”

Tess took a bite of one of her own fries, but making herself chew and swallow was a real effort. Her whole body felt tight. Everything was too bright in this diner, the pastel neon lighting and the rotating pastry case with little plastic slices of pie beamed in hot spotlights. Last night, she was in bed with Callum on an island that never saw the sun, and now she was just…here? With a witch, and her ex–best friend, eating fries, and possibly running for her life?

“What are we gonna do?” she murmured to no one in particular, but Flora and Joni both stopped eating and looked at her.

“Maybe Callum and Octavia were right?” Flora suggested. “Joni, if you just lie low for a few days, this could blow over? And there’s no reason to think he has it out for you, Tess. You might both be safe.”

“You don’t really believe that, though, right?” Tess said quietly.

Flora waited a long beat, then sighed. “No. I guess I don’t.”

“So that’s it, then,” Tess said. “We have to go.”

“What, leave New York?” Joni was incredulous. “Uproot our whole lives without even waiting to see if this turns into a problem?”

“Joni, you just spent a day tied up in an attic!” Tess protested. “If that doesn’t meet your definition of a problem, what does? Maybe you’re okay risking that happening again, but I’m not.”

“Yeah, well, I guess it’s no surprise you think that.” Joni stabbed a fry with her fork. “Kinda tracks with your whole vibe.”

“That’s not fair,” Tess shot back.

“Isn’t it?” Joni’s voice was too loud, and a few people turned to look. It was ten o’clock on a Friday night, and the diner was crowded with teenagers gossiping and laughing, people stumbling in from nearby bars looking for a snack or to sober up, even a couple of parents out with their insomniac babies. Tess knew this crowd—it was her crowd. Nighttime people. The only people she’d seen in years. How could she make Joni understand that none of this was something she chose?

“Oh shit, Fern’s calling.” Flora cut through the silence. “She’ll know something’s up if I don’t answer. Be right back.”

Flora rushed out to the parking lot, leaving Joni and Tess alone in the booth. It was the first time Tess had been alone with Joni in three years—unless you counted that awful moment on the street outside her birthday party. Tess thought of Joni’s text from while she was on the Isle, the text she’d first seen just an hour ago.

Please don’t be dead. I still want to yell at you about my birthday.

“You can yell at me if you want,” Tess said, and Joni looked understandably confused. “About your birthday? That’s what you said in your text.”

“Oh.” Joni looked down at her fries. “Yeah, I was pretty pissed. Like, what was the point of you showing up just to ruin the night?”

“I didn’t mean to.” Tess closed her eyes. She could still feel Rick’s hand on her arm, the nausea that took hold when he smiled at her. “I was really excited to see you.”

“So why did you leave?” Joni asked. “Did I—I mean, whatever I did to make you move out, did I do that again?”

“Joni, no.” Tess looked at her friend in shock. “How could you think that? I didn’t move out because of you.”

“I don’t know why you’re saying that like it’s so obvious.” Joni shoved a fry into a glob of ketchup on her plate. She didn’t pick it up, though, just kind of smushed it around. “When your best friend moves out of your shared home, stops speaking to you, and refuses to return your calls for literal years, you kind of assume you had something to do with it.”

Tess took a deep breath. Count five things you can see right now. The insomniac baby lolling off to sleep in his mother’s arms. The teen girl in a Weezer shirt drinking a strawberry shake. The green tables. The pink booths. The bored waitress pretending to listen to the ramblings of the older manager. Was there ever a time when Tess slept through the night? Was there ever a time when she was happy?