For Nevermore Season 1

come around eventually, but right now he’s taking his time being a dumb boy. He’s giving too much of his attention to the wrong crowd. But he’s a nice kid, and smart. He’ll definitely come to his senses. You’d be a total idiot not to notice how wonderful Noella is. And Sam is not a total idiot.”
    “Cheers to that!” Jen raised her glass.
    “Cheers,” three voices echoed around the table, then clinked their glasses together, even though Noella was resisting a strong urge to roll her eyes.
    They finished eating and Josie agreed to an open bottle of wine. She shook her head no at first, but Jen insisted. Josie said, “Why not?” then started sipping a minute later, getting comfortable talking a mile a minute.
    Jen cleared the table and announced that she’d be putting cookies in the oven and that they were having hot cookies with ice cream on top for dessert in a half hour.
    Tori ran to her mom and loudly asked, “Can Noella and I play in the playroom until dessert?”
    Jen looked over at Noella, asking for silent permission.
    Noella said, “Sounds great to me!”
    Jen smiled. “Thanks, Noella. I didn’t mean for you to be working tonight. This dinner was supposed to say thank you, not thank you, but I’d really like some more.”
    Noella shook her head. “It’s nothing, really. I promise. I love spending time with Tori. Besides, it looks like you two will be having plenty of fun yourselves.”
    Jen and Josie clinked their glasses again, then Jen said, “See you for cookies and ice cream in a bit . . . if we don’t eat them all.”
    Tori had already disappeared toward the playroom. Noella followed.

    **

    In the playroom, Tori’s face went from bright and happy to suddenly serious.
    “Oh my God, I’ve been waiting all day to talk to you!” Tori said. “Were you on Facebook at all today?”
    “No,” Noella shook her head. “I’m on blackout until the end of the week, and Randy still has my computer. Why?”
    Tori went to the bookshelf and pulled down her iPad. “You have to see this. Some girl named Natalie posted it on your wall.”
    Tori pressed the screen, then handed Noella the iPad, with the video already rolling. She already knew what she was going to see: It was the video of her in class, after her episode just over a week ago. Noella felt a sudden flush of anger. She knew the video was making the rounds, but posting it on her Facebook wall was crossing the line. She glanced at Tori, who looked scared.
    “What was that?” Tori asked.
    “Just something that happened to me in class,” Noella said. She looked down, then added, “Sometimes I get these episodes.”
    “What are episodes?”
    Noella wasn’t sure how much to tell the girl. Tell her too much, and there was a good chance Jen wouldn’t let her anywhere near her daughter again. And while Noella would be sad enough not seeing Tori, she’d be devastated not being able to get back in her playroom, her only gateway to Dante.
    “Did your mom see this?” Noella asked.
    “No,” Tori said, eyes wide.
    “Please, please don’t show her. She won’t let me babysit you anymore if you do.”
    “Why not? Is there something wrong with you?”
    Noella sighed, “There was. Two years ago, I had what the doctors called a psychotic break in school. I hurt a girl pretty bad. She’s okay now, but it was bad. And the doctors gave me medicine which made everything better.”
    “So, you’re better now? This is an old video?”
    “Yes, I’m better now. But no, that video is from last week. I don’t know what happened, but I swear, I didn’t hurt anyone. And it was over pretty quickly. These girls decided it would be funny to put a video online and laugh at me, though.”
    “Girls can be pretty mean in high school, eh?”
    “Sometimes,” Noella said.
    “I’d have a psychotic break every day if I had to deal with them,” Tori said, smiling.
    Noella burst out laughing, then hugged Tori.
    “Thanks for not thinking I’m some kinda scary weirdo,” Noella said.
    “So, what happens during one of these ‘episodes’?”
    “I dunno,” Noella shrugged. “It’s sorta hard to explain. It’s like the world around me turns into somewhere else. I see things, and sometimes I can hear things, too. The doctors called it hallucinations, but it seems more real than that to me, though what do I know. For the most part, the pills have helped. The doctor is seeing me twice a week for a while, just to make sure I’m okay. That way