Yellowjackets: The Broken Victors

Chapter 08: Haze of Memories

'I'm currently in an art class at this age. What do you think?'

Shauna shook her head, didn't bother replying to the text after that, and just finished her meal.

What was waiting for them at the book fair was somehow overwhelming for Callie. There were lots of people inside, lined up in front of different authors, holding their books, and patiently waiting for their turn to get theirs signed. And since it was the last day of the fair, people swarmed up to not let their last chance of meeting some of their favorite authors go to waste.

Shauna's station was located not too far from the middle. Her books were already assembled on a table by the staff of her publishing company, who had probably been taking care of her station since morning. Callie raised her eyebrow upon seeing a line form just in front of her mother's table-people looking at them with excitement visible on their faces. She never pictured her mother having readers, let alone having them wait for Shauna just to see her in person.

They sat down in the seats prepared for them. Shauna started apologizing to the people for being late and waiting for them, then offered her gratitude for everyone who made an effort to go to the book fair just to meet her, which made Callie roll her eyes. As Shauna began signing the books and having small conversations with them, Callie assisted her mother and tried to maintain the fake smile on her face as they also talked to her.

After a draining few hours of pretending to give a damn about everyone, Callie decided she couldn't take it anymore.

"Mom, can I leave?" she asked Shauna.

"Sure, but say goodbye to your demands," replied Shauna.

Callie groaned in frustration but didn't back down. "C'mon, please?" she asked one more time. "Only for a few minutes? I'm just gonna take a walk around."

Shauna stared at her daughter, hesitant to let her go.

"Fine. But you better be back in thirty, 'cause we're gonna wrap this up." Shauna responded to her daughter, finally letting Callie take a break considering there's no more than a dozen people in line, unlike earlier.

"Jeez, finally," Callie whispered to herself. She then took her bag and left her mother in her vending space booth, who immediately went back to entertain people.

Callie explored the large space, roaming around and trying to entertain herself. Surely it was a huge event for certain people, and she can tell that whoever organized it was successful in what they did. She visits every booth she finds interesting and takes all the freebies she can get as she leaves without buying anything, just being a swindler for fun. In all fairness, she enjoyed wandering around and talking to some people, and she started thinking that maybe it was being stuck with her mother that she didn't like about the event because, honestly speaking, Shauna was insufferable.

She took some pictures and posted them on social media, which looks productive but also fun enough for some people to reply and ask her about the event. Of course, she replied to everyone in an exaggerated manner, telling them it was so fun and they should have seen it for themselves. Callie smiled when she received a message from someone who also replied to her post, responding immediately as soon as she opened their conversation.

'Having fun?' says the message.

She typed on her keyboard quickly to reply. 'sitting beside mom for hours? nah uh. but checking the other booths by myself isn't that bad.'

Callie noticed the three dots popping on their chats, which indicates that the other person was typing again. She was waiting patiently for the reply when she suddenly heard a voice spoken on her left face, which startled her a little and even made her take a few steps backwards.