The Haunting of Sunshine Girl

Chapter 59

So. Mom.

They're on the Oregon Coast to escape the heat. And maybe talk a little bit about Nolan. Luckily Sunshine's already talked to Kat, so she's a little less upset than she was before.

Also, they definitely were not the only ones with the idea to come to the beach. The shore looks like a fucking colony. "Those are not ants, those are people," Sunshine quips as she drags the camera across the view.

Kat laughs. "I've never, ever seen the beach this crazy. Worth the drive, huh?"

Sunshine makes a face. "I dunno."

"It's beautiful."

"Except it's hot."

Kat smirks at the camera, talking in a baby voice. "The sand's burning her little feet cause she's a wuss."

"It is," she complains.

Kat smiles. "But we talked. About Nolan."

Sunshine sticks her tongue out.

"And why she met with him. And how it went. Which hopefully you all saw." She looks at her daughter. "Kinda crazy. So, okay, just to— make sure I understand, maybe you can help me out if I'm wrong— is he saying that everything was because he didn't take his meds?"

Sunshine pushes her lips back into a neutral smile.

"Is that...?"

She nods. "Yeah."

"Why did he not take his meds?" Kat asks in disbelief, shaking her head. "What was that about?"

"I don't know."

"I just think, it's like, what is the point if you have meds and you don't take 'em...?"

"You don't take 'em? I don't know."

"That's a bad idea," Kat says, looking at the camera, "for any of you out there that are thinking of doing something similar, we're gonna call it pulling a Nolan—"

"Pulling a Nolan?"

"—so don't do it, take your meds if you're supposed to, don't cause grief on the people that care about you — not that we care about Nolan, we're not saying that—"

Sunshine quickly shakes her head. "No, we don't."

"—but, yeah, so I don't know, uh, she told me a little bit about the voting thing. I guess I should probably just start watching the videos? A little bit more?"

Sunshine nods enthusiastically. Yep, good idea, Mom.

"And I think it's gonna be interesting to see— if Nolan really gets to stay in your life, what that means? Y'know?"

Sunshine nods again, this time less enthusiastic.

"And— it doesn't mean you have to take their advice, of course."

"Yeah, I know," she mumbles.

"I also love," Kat continues, smiling like she just saw two cats cuddling, "that Nolan called it 'our channel', that was funny. Like, oh! It's a Nolan and Sunshine channel!"

"No, it's... just a Sunshine channel—"

"You better rename it!"

"—and nothing else."

Kat laughs.

Yeah. It's definitely staying as her channel.

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So. This isn't weird at all.