Treadmill

XXIII.II

Rebecca put her phone down and looked at it for a second, processing everything by herself before she would go and talk to Celeste. There were obvious pros and cons to agreeing to publish a piece in an actual magazine—she would have to be more careful about the possibility of libel charges on the off chance that Kennedy was found not guilty if her case went to trial.

She absolutely hated the fact that she even knew what the word 'libel' meant, and she hated it more that she was relating it to something in her own life.

Celeste walked out of her room and into the kitchen a few minutes later, and Rebecca followed her from the living room.

"So, a reporter just called me."

"Ooh, that's exciting," Celeste replied as she fished a bag of frozen berries out of the back of the freezer, "Did they want to interview you?"

"No, she wanted me to write an op-ed for her magazine, Chopped."

"The LA one?" Celeste whipped around, almost dropping the berries onto her feet.

"Yeah," Rebecca nodded, "Have you heard of it?"

"It's super popular. Lifestyle tips, cooking, drama, advice...I've had an online subscription to them for years." Celeste tipped her head to the side and looked Rebecca up and down curiously. "They want you to write an op-ed for them? About Kennedy and the Instagram account?"

Rebecca nodded.

"I think they're interested in the hit and run as well. Just...everything I've been putting out on the blog."

Celeste nodded and started pouring her berries into a blender, looking back at Rebecca quickly. "Are you gonna do it?"

"I don't know," Rebecca replied, trying to weigh the pros and cons in her head, "I don't know if it's the smart thing to do...with Kennedy threatening me and everything."

Celeste started the blender and Rebecca flinched at the noise, backing out of the kitchen slowly. She pulled out her phone and looked at it for a second, sighing.

She walked to her room and sat down on her bed, scrolling through her contacts until she found the person she was looking for and hitting 'call.'

"Hello?" the person on the other end answered after the first ring.

"Hey, Mom," Rebecca couldn't help but smile at the sound of her mother's voice. She hadn't talked to her in what felt like years, but had probably only been a few weeks. A few incredibly hectic, terrifying weeks.

"Rebecca Eaves, I cannot believe you haven't called yet. I've been reading all about you and your friend in the news and I told your father that you would call when you were ready, but it's been weeks and I'm so worried about you and—"

"I know, and I'm sorry." Rebecca interrupted quickly, "I should have called. I should have called 800 times by now, but I haven't and I'm so sorry. There's just...there's a lot going on right now. Too much."

"I know, honey," Jennifer Eaves sighed quietly, "I know. And I've been trying to give you space with everything going on. I didn't want to add to your stress, but...I worry. You know I worry."

"I know. And I'm going to tell you everything."

And for the next hour, Rebecca recounted the entire story to her mother—her and Kennedy's trip to Florida, her promising Kennedy to keep quiet, the fake Instagram influencer, Kennedy kicking her off of the account after Rebecca quit her job, Leo Lutz talking to her, Kennedy getting arrested, Rebecca starting her blog, the blog gaining traction, Kennedy threatening her, and finally...the Chopped opportunity.