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When Vera returns to her seat, her friend immediately points out that she looked like she just saw a ghost. Of course she brushes away the matter with a small, shaky smile, but truth be told, she can hardly breath. "Are you sure? Vera, you look like you're half alive." Kaela comments.
She looks around at the lit room and searches for any sign of the little girl. The show hasn't resumed yet, much to her relief. She breathes a sigh before replying in her best, typical Vera impression. "Hmm...half dead you mean, you optimistic goof." she jokes in an attempt of a light, sarcastic tone.
Kaela's mouth moves into a surprised o shape before turning into a wide grin. "You...you're... okay," She lurches forward and latches her arms around Vera's body in a tight embrace.
"You're starting to be okay again." Kaela beams.
She moves away from her friend and feels her own smile melt away. Somewhere in the background, "What do you mean?"
Her friend doesn't meet her eyes as she speaks. "I don't think you wanted me to notice...but I did. And for the past months you've been different. You were always tired but you would always smile."
Vera's eyes widen as her body goes numb. "I wasn't-"
"You smile for me." Her friend says, eyes glistening a deep blue. Like little oceans, full of life. "Don't think that I can't tell when you're lying and putting on plastic smiles. I haven't known you for any longer than a year and a half, but I know."
"Kaela-"
"When you came back a second late, pale faced, frail smile, I really thought something bad happened to you. In these few months you've been looking as if you were going to pass out any moment." Her friend explains, the concern evident in her voice. "But anytime I'd ask you, you would brush it off and put on a smile. And I assumed that it must be something that you didn't want me to know...so I thought that if I went along, that you'd feel better."
"Kaela I didn't..." Vera begins, but her voice is caught in her throat. I never thought that you would notice.
Her friend gives her a small smile and picks at a loose thread, dangling from the sleeves of her hoodie. "But I get worried about you, Vera. Worried about you and Remi being alone all the time-"
Vera leans toward Kaela until her dark eyes are only a few inches away from her friend's little blue oceans. "Please don't worry about me, okay? I'll admit haven't been feeling my best, but it's probably because of midterms, work, and..." She pauses abruptly. Her mind reels back to the sounds and echoes of his cries in the dark, his single yelp of sheer desperation and fear. "Remi's been having nightmares."
"What does he see?" Kaela inquires.
Vera thinks about her question for a moment before lifting her lips to answer. "He says he sees-" Her words are interrupted by a sharp, commanding voice of a woman.
