Warped

Chapter 6

Izzy wondered what was the of "so far so good" was because she had no luck finding The Book.

To be fair, she wasn't completely focused on her mission one hundred percent, despite her best efforts.

She was distracted by all the art around her. Everything was different and new from the last time she was there. It was of mish-mosh of everything with no discernable theme. New paintings from abstract to surrealism to graffiti; paintings in watercolor and oil. New sculptors made of marble and glass.

The sculpture made of semiprecious stones wasn't anywhere to be seen. She was disappointed, but at the same, would seeing it dig up bad memories for her? She tried not to think about it too much.

Her favorite piece was an eight-foot-tall gold and faux ebony statue of an Egyptian goddess. It had the lovely facial features of Nefertiti and the long black braids and gold snake headpiece most artists give to Cleopatra. The arms were raised as if she were welcoming someone in for a hug. Attached to her arms were colorful feathered wings of blue, gold, and scarlet.

Around her neck was an amulet, the knot of Isis. Izzy remembered her mom telling her it was called a tyet.

Izzy gawked up at it, trying to determine if the gold was gold-plated or paint when ice crawled up her spine. She shuddered and looked around her.

On the other side of the room a man in a gray jumpsuit and a cap stood still as a statue instead of milling around the room like the other patrons. Izzy figured he might have been a janitor. His head was lowered so the bill of his cap covered his face, but she could see his right eye scan the room as if keeping an eye on everyone.

His right eye fixed on her for a moment and narrowed. Izzy froze under his cold glare. There was something... horribly familiar about his glower that made her skin crawl, but as soon as it happened, the man's look was directed somewhere else.

Izzy rubbed the goosebumps on her arm with her free hand.

"You cold?"

"Yah!" Izzy flinched. The ice cream sandwich jumped out of her hand.

Anna stood in front of her, laughing behind her hand. When did she get there?

"Sorry, sorry." Anna picked up the ice cream sandwich. "You should've seen your face."

Izzy rubbed the back of her head, her cheeks warm. "Anna! Hey! Have you, uh, found The Book yet?"

Anna handed her the sweating ice cream sandwich and sighed. "No, unfortunately. I checked the lost and found, the restrooms, even the men's one." As she spoke, she ticked off each place on a finger.

"Y-you went into the boys' bathroom?"

Anna waved away Izzy's concern. "Relax. It was empty. It's not like I was gonna barge in if some dude was in there."

Izzy just looked at her. Even if the restroom was empty, Izzy wouldn't risk getting odd looks from strangers or called out by someone who caught her sneaking in, but Anna didn't seem to care what strangers thought of her.

An awkward beat passed between them before Izzy cleared her throat and said, "Thanks again for the ice cream sandwich for my eye."

Anna played with the hem of her sweatshirt. Her playful smile turned embarrassed. "Well, it is kiiiiinda my fault Joe hit you in the face. I should've given The Book back to him, but I just wanted to stick it to him. He can be so... ugh! Y'know?"

"He doesn't mean to be. He, uh..." Izzy didn't know whether she should share what Joe shared with her in private. Would it help or make things worse? She already caused enough problems for them.