White Space Season 1

happen to people we love and we’re left picking up the pieces. Just like Alex is right now. I’m not sure what else to say, Milo. I just think you should come.”
    Milo said nothing.
    “Please?” Her eyes were wide and wet. “Just say that you’ll think about it?”
    “I’ll think about it.”
    “Promise and mean it?”
    Milo thought about it, then nodded. “I promise and mean it. But I want to hang up now.”
    Katie smiled. “Thanks, Milo. Really. And I’m sorry about all of this. Things will settle down, get back to normal. I’m sure of it.”
    Milo said, “I’m sure we’ll all be friends someday, Katie. But I don’t think there’s such thing as ‘normal’ after this. See ya’ when I see ya’.” He severed the line, then slowly turned the phone in his hand, waiting.
    Milo could have easily traded miseries with Katie for another hour, but he didn’t want to be on the other line if Cody called. The call that wouldn’t come, even though Milo had been waiting for it since Jordy’s booked their unexpected remodel.
    From the second Cody informed him that Manny was dead, Milo had developed an itch in his brain that hadn’t gone anywhere near fading. How could Cody have known about Manny as fast as he had? And who in the hell were his sources ?
    Milo wasn’t sure what bothered him more, the mystery behind Cody’s sources, or the way he said, “They got him.” Though even that might have been better than, “They have their ways.”
    Cody had warned Milo to get out of town, and that he’d be in touch later that night. Of course, Milo had boarded Bea’s train to CrazyTown, so he never had the opportunity to ignore Cody’s advice.
    He hadn’t heard from Cody since.
    Milo was starting to think that Cody — or whatever his name really was — was full of shit. Just some asshole messing with him simply because he could. Milo didn’t think it was Jesus, couldn’t even imagine that Manny’s brother would do something like that. It could have been any one of Jesus’s asshole friends. There were certainly plenty. And while Milo couldn’t see anyone thinking that sort of prank was even remotely funny, Milo had been surprised by Jesus’s asshole friends before.
    It didn’t have to be one of Jesus’s asshole friends, though. People were mean, and the Internet practically granted super powers to assholes through the radioactive spider of anonymity. Maybe Milo had run into an especially well-sourced cyber asshole.
    Weirder things had happened.
    Milo shifted his position on the foldout couch, pulled the blanket up under his chin, then pointed the remote back at the TV, so he could hear what the alternative archeologists had to say about the pyramids.
    A dull ache persisted in his head, so he went to the kitchen to take one of the pain pills prescribed to him. He wished the doc had given him something for the itching, though, which was now in his other arm.
    He scratched the itch as he returned to the TV, enjoying the moments alone until Dani arrived. Even though she was in her early 20’s, blonde, and one of the hotter girls he’d known, he wasn’t in the mood to be around anyone.
    As Milo watched the show, he flashed back to Bea in her trance, watching snow on the TV.
    A chill ran through Milo and he clicked the TV off.

    * * * *

CHAPTER 5 — Cassidy Hughes

    Wednesday morning…

    “Really?” Cassidy said. “You had no idea that I had a crush on you? You’re not half as smart as you pretend to be in interviews.” Cassidy moved her sandals, switching them from her sweaty right hand to the crook of her arm.
    She and Jon were walking the beach on a morning stroll, trading honest exchange with the sound and scent of the salted Pacific to their right. Cassidy was carrying her $4.99 sandals. She had no idea how much Jon had spent on the shoes he left sitting at the foot of the stairs winding down to the boardwalk.
    He smiled, then shrugged. “Really,” he said, “I had no idea. I don’t ever remember a time when you weren’t punching me, by fist or by mouth.”
    Cassidy laughed. “It was huge, until it wasn’t. But I was crushing on you way before Sarah. Which is why I guess I was so jealous of you both back in the day. Like many things with Sarah, your relationship was a giant neon sign glowing over all the stupid relationships I had.”
    Cassidy didn’t think she sounded bitter, but hoped Jon didn’t think so either.
    “I was totally clueless,” he said. “Not just about