The Invisible World

Chapter 24: Open Arms

Jenny and I didn't say anything for a few seconds after that, still shocked by what Brian just did. Finally, I was the one to say, "That's not what I meant."

Brian looked up at me. "What do you mean, that's not what you meant?"

"I don't know. I was just expecting you to let them down a little easier than that."

"You said that my relationship with my parents wasn't real if I didn't think it was. I was just making that clear with them."

"I guess I thought you weren't going to be so forceful about it. You're usually so kind."

Jenny shook her head. "No, this is totally on-brand for him. He'll make anything into a show if he can."

Brian leaned back into his chair. "You're right. That gave me a power high."

I shrugged. "Okay, that's fair." Then something Jenny said struck me as odd. "Wait a minute. On-brand?"

"2024 slang," Jenny said. "It means it fits Brian's way of acting, his brand, if you will."

I nodded. "I get it."

"It is so much fun dating a 21st-century girl," Brian said. "I've gotten to learn hip new words and phrases such as 'slay' and 'understood the assignment.'"

"Excuse me?" Jenny playfully shoved Brian's wheelchair. "I am 23 years old. I'm a 21st-century woman."

That's another discrepancy. I said, "I thought you were 22."

"Oh," Jenny said. "That must have been in an earlier chapter. Let's just say I turned 23 between then and now."

"Okay, then. Happy birthday."

"Thank you."

Brian looked up at the both of us. "So we're done with that. What now? We only have so much time until the final chapter. Are there any other loose ends we need to tie up?"

"We can go talk to Jack," I suggested. "We could see if he defeated that big bad demon that's supposed to attack at the climax while Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' plays in the background." I chuckled. That was a joke.

Jenny rolled her eyes. "I don't think we need another thriller after Brian's performance."

"Still, there must be something we can talk to him about," I said.

"You can apologize for taking the plot away from him," Jenny replied. "This was supposed to be a thrilling adventure full of ghosts and ghouls, and instead, you made it a metaphysical treatise on the nature of fiction."

"You think I chose to become self-aware?"

"Okay, okay. Still, if you'd like to see him, we can make that happen."

And with that, we were headed for the door. That's when I remembered I still had the eye drops in my hand. I decided that I couldn't let Brian wreak any more havoc with these things, so while their backs were turned, I snuck over to the trash can beneath the TV and threw them away.

We drove to Jack's house. I knocked on the door. No answer, which is sad because I was looking forward to visiting my old stomping grounds one last time. "He must not be home," Brian said.

"It's 2 pm on a Wednesday," Jenny answered. "If he's anywhere, he's at work."

Oh, yeah. He has a job. "Work!" I exclaimed. Then I looked back at the other two. "Wait a minute, why aren't you two at work?"

"Mr. Bergeron gave us an extra couple of weeks of leave for the move," Brian explained, "but I'm sure he'd like to see us."

"Then it's settled," Jenny said. "To the Inquisitor!"