Camouflaged

Chapter 19

~A month later~

"Morning, babe," Alex says, taking my hand.

I'm so used to him calling me 'babe' now, that I don't mind.

We walk down to breakfast together at the bar in the hotel, where we meet the rest of the cast members. Sophie, who plays Riley, walks up to me and hugs me.

"Good morning," she says sweetly.

I ruffle her soft, thick light brown hair.

"Morning Soph," I reply, sitting down.

Alex sits down beside me, giving me a menu. Sophie sits across from us.

"Where are your parents?" I ask.

Sophie's parents are here with her, since she's only 9 years old.

"They're still in the hotel room. They don't come out much anymore. They don't like this acting stuff," Sophie responds, shrugging.

A waiter comes over and Alex and I order our food.

"Did you eat?" I ask Sophie.

I'm kind of like her second mother now. Whenever her parents aren't around, it's me that takes care of her.

Sophie nods and smiles, two dimples forming. I smile back.

"Raven?"

"Yes, Soph?"

"How old are you?"

My breath catches in my throat but I quickly think of a way to get out of this situation, without really lying.

"Can I tell you a secret?" I whisper, lowering my voice.

Sophie grins and nods. I grin too.

"I'm ageless."

Sophie laughs, but doesn't ask me again for my age.

I basically didn't lie to her, since I really don't have an age. 

A comfortable silence falls between us as we wait for Alex and my food. I sigh, leaning my head against Alex's shoulder as he gently caresses the palm of my right hand.

"Do you miss your friends, Raven?" Sophie asks.

"Yes. But I have many friends here," I answer, smiling.

This girl is really something. She seems so much like how I was when I was young. So curious to find out about everything in the world.

"I miss my friends," Sophie says, sighing.

"Of course you do. Do you have many friends?"

"Yes. But they're all invisible."

This takes me aback.

"Invisible? Like, they're superheroes?" I ask, puzzled.

I know that that's stupid, but what else was I supposed to say to the poor girl?

"No. They're normal. I just...I don't have real friends so...yeah. All I have are them."

"Why don't you have friends?"

"I guess...I'm kinda strange. I can...do things. Like Lena can. Like Ridley and Riley and all those characters. When I read the books, I thought I was a Caster for some time until my mom told me that Casters aren't real," Sophie explains.

"Never believe that something isn't real," I say, before I can stop myself.

"Are you a Caster?" Sophie asks, eyes suddenly alive.

I giggle, like I'm 12 again.

"No. But you could be," I answer, smirking.

Sophie obviously likes the sound of that.

"Yeah! I could!" she says happily.

In my head, my thoughts are swirling around. Could Sophie be a Supernatural too? If she is, I can't tell her. The thought of never seeing her parents again for someone so young is practically unbearable. She's only 9! She shouldn't have bad thoughts in her head yet. I remember how I felt when I found out I would never see my parents or my friends again when I turned 20. If I was 19 and I couldn't handle it, someone 10 years younger than me definitely can't handle the thought. So I just keep my mouth shut to spare Sophie some tears.