FINGERS CROSSED - Kevin Day.

𝘪𝘪𝘪. 𝘷𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴

Cherry Taylor

___________________________

Palmetto State University looked different in person than on the website.

Cherry guessed they were using stock photos.

She stopped out of Betsy's car and almost immediately tripped over a pothole in the parking lot.

Betsy thought that Cherry should get out of the indoors and interact with people that weren't legal people- to deal with the wills- or the police or Betsy. Even if said people she'd meet were Betsy's own friends.

A woman named Abby and a man named David.

From what Cherry heard about them she wondered if there was something there, and she vowed to figure it out. She had nothing else to do anyway.

Cherry and Betsy first went to Reddin where Betsy's work was. Her therapist's office and where she talked to people.

Betsy unlocked her office door and let Cherry go first where she immediately stopped and stepped back, she almost bumped into Betsy had the woman not gently grabbed her arm to stop her.

Sitting on what Cherry imagined was the patient's couch was a man, who had shockingly white-blond blond hair and a blank expression, Cherry noticed he also wore black armbands that stretched from the juncture of his elbow to his wrist. Cherry thought they were a strange accessory but she didn't mind them so much.

Betsy stopped past Cherry who hadn't moved from the doorway and walked to her desk to set down her keys, a coffee thermos, and a couple of papers. Then she turned back to the man who was now staring intently at her in what Cherry perceived as vaguely threatening and wondered if she should be calling the police for a breaking and entering.

But Betsy only folded her hands in front of her and leaned against the front of her desk.

"Hello, Andrew, how are you today?" Betsy asked him in what Cherry called her 'therapist voice' she'd been able to differentiate between that one and her normal voice.

The man- Andrew- didn't answer her. But he stood and stepped closer to Betsy before turning to stare at Cherry in that vaguely threatening way except this one wasn't vague at all and Cherry suddenly felt very unsafe.

Her left hand traveled to where her phone was in her pocket and rested there. Andrew followed the movement with his eyes. Cherry froze.

Betsy seemed to be waiting for something and when whatever it was didn't happen she opened her mouth. "Andrew, this is Cherry. She's my niece."

Andrew's tense shoulders dropped slightly, not all the way, and the hand that Cherry had only just now noticed resting at the wrist of one of his armbands, moved and he crossed his arms.

Cherry waited for any kind of response from him.

It came in a low, raspier voice than Cherry expected, "Your niece."

It wasn't a question.

"Yes," Betsy smiled and Cherry wondered what kind of mad woman smiled when in a room with the shortest most menacing person she had ever seen. And she watched crime shows. Also, Andrew is really short. No more than five feet even. "Cherry this is Andrew."

Cherry raised a hand in silent greeting, she had a feeling that if she tried to shake his hand she wouldn't get it back. Andrew followed the movement and seemed weirdly pleased that that was all she did. Maybe most people tried to shake his hand.

She cleared her throat, "Hello."

Andrew's squinted eyes relaxed open slightly and Cherry figured that was the best she'd get.

Then Andrew started walking toward her and the only thing Cherry could think to do was step slightly toward the side of the doorway and not bump into the filing cabinet there. To her surprise, Andrew kept going and walked out of the room. A minute later Cherry heard the door she and Betsy had come in from open and close.

Had Andrew been there because he somehow knew she'd be coming? Was that crazy? Maybe.

Cherry looked back at Betsy and floundered a bit at the shrug the woman gave her.

Weirdass school.