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“Marie. How would I even bring this up?”

“Well you could star-” she says before I hear my little brother call for him.

“Daddddddd.”

The voices stop and I hear footsteps walking away.

What could they of possibly been talking about?

My phone dings in my hand, making me focus back in on what I was supposed to be doing. Leaving.

“I’m almost there. Are you here?”

Shit.

I type back that I had a hiccup but I wasn’t that far away anyways.

Walking downstairs, I think about if I want to confront them about what I heard. I mean, it is their house, so maybe I shouldn’t. But also, it must be important if Marie thinks it was imperative to tell me.

“Oh my, don’t you just look beautiful.” I hear when I hit the final step.

Glancing up, I see Marie standing there with a smile on her face.

“Thank you.” I say as I walk in front of her.

She just stands there with her hands wringing in front of her. A flash of something I couldn’t quite name crosses her face.

“You all ready to go?” she asks me.

I stand there, wanting to just ask her what is going on, but I didn’t want her to suspect I was eavesdropping on their “private” conversation.

“Yes.”

She nods before opening her mouth to say something.

“Oh honey, you look wonderful.” my dad says as he walks up to us.

Marie closes her mouth as she looks at my dad.

“Thanks.” I say to him before turning back to Marie.

“What were you going to say?”

Her eyes flit to my dad before she raises an eyebrow up as if saying “are you going to say something”.

My dad looks back at her before he sighs a little.

“Listen Raven.” he says as he puts his hands on his hips. “Be careful tonight. Make sure you stay in your group of friends, okay?”

Memory of my mom talking about the rumors of the carnival pass me, and I knew that this was what it was about.

“Why? Isn’t it just a carnival?”

My dad pushes a hand through his hair. “I have never been to it. But, it just has a history of stuff there.”

I feel like he had more to say.

“So, just rumors?”I ask him.