The Uncanny Accuracy of Fate

Chapter 9

9

I look at the note on my bedside table, heart sinking. It reads:

Pippa-

(8:30) Didn't want to wake you up, I'll take the subway back (Promise!) Thank you for everything. Text me with updates! -Cam

According to my phone, it is now 9:15. I'd missed her. I get out of bed, kicking myself for not asking Cami the night before when she had to be back (I couldn't bring myself to call that place her home anymore). I text her, telling her to come to the theatre later if she can get away, and then call Vanessa. As I expected, she's thrilled with what Cami had said, and Lin doesn't miss the opportunity to scream "I TOLD YOU SO" in the background. Vanessa fills me in on the next couple of steps I should take, and tells me she'll start writing some official document I'll never remember the name of. I can't get the smile off my face as I think about finally getting Cami out of there.

At the theatre later, I sit down Jasmine and Renée and finally fill them in on everything that had been going on, everything I couldn't tell them before. Renée's maternal eyes fill with tears when I tell them Cami's being abused, and even Jasmine, Ms. "hasn't cried since 2014", has suspiciously shiny eyes. When I finish talking, they exchange a worried glance.

"Phillipa," Jasmine begins slowly, glancing at Renée, who nods. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" I stand up, indignant.

"Are you kidding. Did you not hear anything I just told you?" This time Renée chimes in.

"Just hear us out, please. There are programs that exist specifically for this purpose. To help foster kids in abusive situations get out of them. I know that you want to help her, and no one is blaming you for that! But did it ever occur to you that you might be moving a little quickly? You barely know her. You said yourself, you don't know why she's in the system, or anything other than her last name!" I step back from them slowly, my voice shaking.

"I know this all must sound crazy to you. I understand that, I really do. I don't know very much about Cami, but nothing she could tell me would make me care about her any less. I know it's not going to be easy, trying to fix her or help her or whatever. But I want to do it. This isn't about me just wanting to fix everything in the world, and this isn't about trying to deal with Steven leaving. This is about Cami. Because she's so incredibly special, I can already tell. So I guess for right now, I just need you two to trust me."

Jasmine steps forward, pulling me into a hug. "We trust you Pip. If you're so sure about this, I trust you. 100 percent." Renée was suddenly in the hug too.

"And you're right, Pip, it's not going to be easy, kids never are. So it's a good thing you don't have to do this alone." I feel so safe in the arms of my sisters, and I know then, for sure, that this is the right decision.

"I love you guys; you know that right?"

Just as they're beginning to answer me, the door flings open and I hear Oak bellow "GROUP HUG," before we're rudely interrupted by him, Daveed, and Anthony throwing themselves into our little circle. I chuckle as Jasmine begins yelling at Anthony about messing up her hair. These crazy people were my family, and I couldn't be happier that they were going to be Cami's too.

The show flies by, and before I know it we're taking our company bow and ambling up the stairs, everyone talking about what they're planning for their day off tomorrow. I peel off into my dressing room as Andrew announces that he's going to sleep, because "this queen needs his beauty rest." Chuckling, I pick up my phone, hoping for a text from Cami, and see the only one I've received is from Sprint, telling me I've used 75% of my data. I groan and throw my phone onto the beanbag chair in the corner. "She just forgot to plug her phone in again," I tell myself, trying to dispel the weird feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"You ready to go?" Daveed walks into my dressing room, eyes closed, and immediately runs into the wall.

"Daveed, I'm not naked. You can open your eyes," I say through peals of laughter. "I'll be ready in a couple of minutes; can I meet you guys downstairs?" He agrees and leaves, rubbing the back of his head as Renée continues to cackle with laughter.

"Sure you can't come?" I ask as I slip on my jacket. Chris has been raving about a ramen place on 74th for ages, and a bunch of us are going tonight.

"I'm sure," Renée smiles. "Sundays are one of 2 days I get to tuck my babies in. I can get ramen anytime." I nod and leave the room, smiling to myself. I love "Mama Renée," as Anthony's dubbed her.

~

About twenty-five minutes later, we all finally straggle into the restaurant, and the waiter smiles as he shows us to our table. "It's like herding cats!" Chris, who'd spent the past 15 minutes on the phone trying to give Anthony and Oak directions, whispers to me. I giggle and sit down in between Jasmine and Daveed, grabbing a menu. It strikes me in that moment that I haven't heard from Cami since her note this morning, and I pull out my phone in case I missed the vibration, but still, 0 new messages. I text her again, asking her to let me know if she's okay, then tune in to the argument Jasmine and Daveed are having about who successfully dabbed more times in the show tonight.

When the food comes, I finally realize how hungry I am, but only take a couple bites before my phone rings. Crossing my fingers that it's Cami, I grab it out of my purse to see a number I don't recognize. Hopes dashed, I slide my finger to answer it anyways, standing up and moving a little ways away from the table.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Phillipa Soo?" I don't recognize the woman's voice on the other end.

"Yes, this is she."

"I'm calling from Morgan-Stanley Children's Hospital. We have a Camille Beckett here and she's asking for you."

******

woahhh cliffhanger! Also, I just realized that I wrote THIS WHOLE THING in past tense so I went back and changed it, but it's still the same story :)