After dropping off Kenzie, I give Nick a small jar of healing ointment Matt bought for me in Santa Barbara. Thanks to his healing factor, Casper is able to move around a lot, but I made him promise me to take aspirin in case he has a headache.

In the meantime, we decide to celebrate by buying a fistful of car fresheners at the gas station, wash the blood off with Casper's mom's garden hose, and return to the boarding house, where we see Lea washing all the popcorn bowls in the sink. The living room is spotless; no crumb or popcorn lies on the floor.

Lea stretches her arms and approaches the ivory staircase. Her white, oversized Queen of Hearts shirt dances over her black shorts.

Once she looks at us, Lea nearly drops the bowl she's scrubbing and asks, "What the fuck happened to you guys?"

"We killed a Rougarou," Nick summarizes, trudging upstairs. "It was wrecking the town, so we killed it and saved Kenzie from her shitty boyfriend."

"Great," Lea huffs, shielding her nose with her left hand. "Anyway, Teddy, I gave your cat a bath and a lot of food. Just get rid of your shoes and take a long, hot shower. The same goes for you bozos."

"Gee, thanks," Casper remarks sarcastically.

As soon as the boys force themselves to march upstairs, I turn to Lea and ask if she's alright.

"I'm fine," she tells me. "Just a little tired, you know?"

"Yeah, me too," I laughed tiredly.

Running her fingers through her messy hair, Lea follows me upstairs, where we see Ichabod sleeping on top of my pillows.

Kicking off my shoes, I shuffle over to the bled and grab my underwear and clean clothes from my beaded handbag, only for my cat to sniff in my direction.

"Ugh," Ichabod comments. "Did you walk into a pile of elephant shit or something?"

I flash him a sarcastic smile. "No, but I did step on something pretty foul. Do you want to see it? I think I kept it in my pocket."

"What? No!" Ichabod yells, opening his yellowish-green eyes. "Why would you-"

He cuts himself off when he sees me pulling my hand from my blood-soaked pocket and giving him the middle finger in front of his face.

"Oh, haha," he replies snarkily. "Where the hell were you, anyway? What did you do?"

"Yeah, sorry," I answer with a sigh. "I went to Mexico, Canada, and that fancy country called 'Shut the fuck up, Ichabod.'"

"Guys!" Lea exclaims, clapping her hands together. "I love being the third wheel and all, but will you two stop fucking bickering? You're giving me a migraine."

I raise my hand meekly. "Sorry, I'll keep my voice down next time."

Lea bobs her head and snuggles under her bedsheets.

Holding my tiny bundle of clothes, I am about to tell Lea about Benji's notebook, but I decided to ask her tomorrow after St. George's funeral. I'm not sure how long it will last, but as long as I keep up with my time management skills, I can find a way to catch up with Lea.

*******
This morning, I show up downstairs in a black babydoll dress and a small pair of matching shorts. My curly dark brown hair hangs on my shoulders as I run my brown lipstick across my mouth.

"Hey, Teddy!" Lea exclaims, knocking on the bolted door. "Are you finished in there?"

"Yeah, sorry!" I shout, turning off the curling iron.

I awkwardly open the door to see Lea standing before me, looking surprised.

"Hey, whoa," she remarks. "What's with the dress?"

I rub my hands together. "I'm meeting Prometheus' family."

"Oh," said Lea, her smile fell short. "You mean. . . ."

"Uh, yeah."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

I shake my head no. "No, it's alright. I'm fine."

Lea frowns and takes one good look at my stubby fingernails. "When was the last time you painted them?"

A nervous laugh escapes my throat. "I guess it's been a while."

"Come on," Lea beams. "How about I'll help you with your nails after your breakfast?"

"Uh, sure."

Warm sunlight...