IncuBUST

Popcorn

There was only one person in the garden when I got there. It was the daughter of Octavia's former landlady, Jessica. She was sitting beneath the large pine tree that grew in the middle, thumbing through an alarmingly thick book.

The bench I usually sat on rested beneath the bows of that same tree. I wondered if I should pick somewhere else. All the other benches were in the sun and I didn't feel like sweating so I took a deep breath and walked over. Perhaps if I ignored her, she would ignore me.

I sat down on the bench several feet away from her and cracked open my book. Thirty minutes passed and all I heard from her was the occasional turning of a page. Suddenly she asked, "If I were to smoke a bowl right now, would you rat me out to my mom?"

I glanced back at her. She had a purple and blue glass pipe and small bag full of weed on her lap.

"Aren't you like fourteen?" I asked and she raised an eyebrow at me.

"Yeah, I'm a fourteen year old telepath with an eidetic memory who occasionally smokes weed to help quiet the voices in my head," she replied in a drilling monotone. I raised my hands and said, "We all medicate in our own way, how you choose to do so is no business of mine."

"Cool," she muttered before packing the bowl and lighting a match. The smell of marijuana filled the air. I watched her out of the corner of my eye for several seconds before finishing my tea and closing The Hobbit. I stood up and was about to leave when Jesse asked, "How do you?"

I turned to look at her and replied, "How do I what?" She glanced up at me and said, "Medicate?" I shrugged awkwardly and replied, "You know, lots of tea, binge watching Netflix...sucking the life out of people...normal stuff." Her eyes widened and I smirked before leaving the courtyard.

***

"Chaaaaase!" Sissy cried as I entered the apartment tackling me with a hug.

"Hey, Sis," I said trying to hug her with a mug and a book in my hands. I heard her sniff at my hair and she asked, "Were you smoking?" I pulled away from her and replied, "No, but there was someone smoking in the courtyard. I was reading down there. How was the screening? Where's Taylor?"

"Oh the screening was marvelous," she said twirling around and prancing into the kitchen. I followed her setting my book on the end table by the couch. Sissy snatched something up from the kitchen counter and showed it to me. It was a DVD with a title penned on the top of the disc in red marker.

"I got this for you. Had to sweet talk the producer for nearly twenty minutes."

"What is it?" I asked setting my mug aside and taking the disc from her. She sighed dramatically and replied, "The movie. Gold Coast? Mermaids. Shipwrecks. Buried treasure. Sexy blond free diver played by world renowned actor Taylor Golan. Ringing a bell?"

"Mermaids?" I murmured looking down at the disc, "Does it take place in Australia?"

"No, Florida. Why?" Sissy replied opening the fridge and grabbing the jug of orange juice Octavia had left.

"It's called Gold Coast. I just figured it took place there."

"Nooo, brother. It's called Gold Coast because they find gold off the coast of Florida. Apparently there are a bunch of sunk piratey type ships around there." I nodded slowly and set the disc aside watching Sissy pour herself a glass of orange juice.

"So where's Taylor?" I asked and she sat down at the bar taking a sip of juice before replying, "Sleeping probably. Despite all the wonderfully adoring fans he met last night, the after party kind of left him wiped...among other things." She smiled salaciously.

I tapped my fingers idly against the counter for several minutes before picking the DVD back up and asking, "You feel like watching it again?" Sissy grinned and said, "Well, seeing as I didn't exactly pay much attention to it the first time, being seated next to such a delicious hunk of golden blond arm candy and seeing as we didn't do much sibling bonding at the ice rink--" she gave me a pointed squint and then smiled, "I'd love to. You get it ready and I'll make some popcorn."