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\u201cIs it back yet?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAre you sure? Did you look everywhere?\u201d<\/span> \u201cYes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cCan I try?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBut you\u2019re hogging it!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t need a telescope to see the moon, dummy. You can just look up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>I know that<\/span><\/i>, but what if it\u2019s really far away now?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why I’m using the telescope. You\u2019d just break it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFine\u2026Is Sadie coming back soon?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAny minute now.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you mean, \u2018It\u2019s gone\u2019?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cKor, I am telling you,\u201d Rhea said, pointing out the window. \u201cIt was right there, and it\u2019s just\u2013it up and vanished\u2013I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat did?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Rhea sighed and tousled her hair before saying, \u201cI can\u2019t\u2013I don\u2019t know how to explain it without sounding insane, just check Twitter.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Joyce Brodie<\/b><\/p>\n @JoyceBrodie<\/span><\/p>\n Soooo did the moon just vanish from the sky or am I #tipsymommy <\/span>\ud83d\ude28\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 9:17 PM <\/span>\u00b7<\/span><\/a> Nov 15, 2022 <\/span>\u00b7<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 Twitter for iPhone<\/span><\/p>\n 15.6K Retweets\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>2,464 Quote Tweets\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>35.4K Likes<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n NASA<\/b><\/p>\n @NASA<\/span><\/p>\n We are closely monitoring the situation with the moon and will provide updates when we have enough information.<\/span><\/p>\n 9:17 PM <\/span>\u00b7<\/span><\/a> Nov 15, 2022 <\/span>\u00b7<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 Twitter for iPhone<\/span><\/p>\n 542 Retweets\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>536 Quote Tweets\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>12 Likes<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mira<\/b><\/p>\n @crxckhead_Mira<\/span><\/p>\n should be calling my ex the moon the way he disappeared on me<\/span><\/p>\n 9:19 PM <\/span>\u00b7<\/span><\/a> Nov 15, 2022 <\/span>\u00b7<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 Twitter for iPhone<\/span><\/p>\n 405.6K Retweets\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>105.3K Quote Tweets\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>35.4K Likes<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mira<\/b><\/p>\n @crxckhead_Mira<\/span><\/p>\n omg a hit tweet<\/span><\/p>\n 9:30 PM <\/span>\u00b7<\/span><\/a> Nov 15, 2022 <\/span>\u00b7<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 Twitter for iPhone<\/span><\/p>\n 12.4K Retweets\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>5,012 Quote Tweets\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>14.6K Likes<\/span><\/p>\n Kor paced up and down the living room and kitchen of Rhea and his apartment, stopping occasionally to peek out the window and gawk at the mostly familiar, but now overwhelmingly alien, night sky. Rhea was buried in her phone, scrolling through her Twitter feed too fast to read any of it, lost in the simple, repetitive motion of her finger swiping and the avalanche of words flying up her screen and out of sight. They could barely hear the waves crashing on the beach a block down. The couple repeated their rituals over and over again without tiring.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Twenty minutes later, or maybe thirty, Kor stopped, and in a very deliberate manner that suggested he\u2019d been going over how to broach this subject in his head for some time now, said, <\/span>\u201cWhat happens now?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Rhea didn\u2019t respond for a few moments, and Kor blushed. Then, she put her phone on the table and said, \u201cI want to say that we\u2019ll be okay, that this won\u2019t change much about our lives, but, the Moon…\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a pretty big deal, right?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYeah,\u201d Rhea said, getting up from the couch. \u201cI think it is.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI mean, it\u2019s…I don\u2019t know.\u201d Kor was pacing again. \u201cGravity, I think, would have something to do with it,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd the tides?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe tides, yeah.\u201d Rhea grabbed a bottle of wine, not realizing until she was holding something heavier than her phone that her hands were shaking.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe Moon\u2019s definitely responsible for the tides rising and falling, I remember that from, uh, wherever.\u201d Kor grabbed two wine glasses from the cabinet and placed them on the countertop in front of Rhea.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo, without it\u2026\u201d Rhea, with her nerves shot and hands shaking, struggled to pour the first glass of wine. She glanced at Kor who was again staring out the window. He caught her look and took the bottle, but his hands were not trembling any less than hers.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWithout it, who knows what they\u2019ll do? Maybe,\u201d he said, pouring the wine, \u201dMaybe we\u2019ll…Shit!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The bottle slipped out of Kor\u2019s hand and shattered against the sink. The remaining wine burst out of the bottle and surged through the sink, sweeping up every last scrap of food and dragging them into the faucet. Rhea and Kor stood side by side, staring at the once populated surface of the sink now empty and stained red as the bubbling wine echoed as it coursed through the pipes. Rhea grabbed a broom and started gathering the glass shards. Kor quickly followed suit. They said nothing until the floor was clean and they were sitting next to each other on the couch.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe should probably read something about it,\u201d Rhe said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cRead what?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAn article, or study, or something. About what\u2019s going to happen next.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOh, yeah, of course. My laptop\u2019s right here, I\u2019ll look it up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Each tap of Kor’s fingers on the keyboard was louder than the last.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOkay, I found an article.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cReputable?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIs astronomy.com reputable?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c…Probably?\u201d Rhea said, and at Kor\u2019s widening eyes added, \u201cIt\u2019s good enough.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Kor stared at the screen for a while. Rhea, although she was sitting next to him, chose to stare at anything but the screen. A minute later, or maybe five, she asked if he had read the article yet.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYeah, uh…well, no, not yet,\u201d Kor said. \u201cActually, I was thinking\u2026maybe we don\u2019t have to read it right this second?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI was just thinking, you know, if it\u2019s good for us, we don\u2019t have to worry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd if it\u2019s bad for us?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThen we spend the rest of our lives worrying. Maybe, we should try to have this one stress-free movie before we read the article, just in case it\u2019s our last.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c…What movie were you thinking?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSomething terrible.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHoly shit guys, <\/span>400,000 <\/span><\/i>retweets.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMira, what the fuck that\u2019s <\/span>insane<\/span><\/i>,\u201d Tammy said, \u201cIsn\u2019t it insane, Cass?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHuh?\u201d Cass said, jolting upright. She had been laying down, staring at the ceiling for the past few minutes, her expression intense. Mira and Tammy hadn\u2019t seemed to notice. Tammy rolled her eyes and elaborated:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMira\u2019s viral tweet\u2013the joke about her ex? Isn\u2019t it insane that it blew up?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOh, right! That is <\/span>so <\/span><\/i>crazy! By the way, Mira, do you think you can…\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Mira shot her hand out in front of Cass and said, \u201cWait, shut the hell up. What if someone famous retweeted it?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Tammy began pouring through her phone. \u201cOh my God, wait, that\u2019s 100% possible. I\u2019m looking through the retweets right now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Cass stared at the ceiling as Mira and Tammy got to work. They were in Mira\u2019s room, with its lavender walls adorned with astrology posters and tapestries. Its shelves were full of lit candles and its carpeted floor with a bed and only two bean bag chairs, both of which Mira and Tammy had dibs on, leaving Cass to sit on a hastily constructed make-shift bean bag chair made out of a few of the many throw pillows scattered on Mira\u2019s bed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Cass\u2019 gaze shifted to the open window above the bed. Just half an hour ago, everybody\u2019s eyes were transfixed on that window. An overwhelming dread had seeped into the room. They couldn\u2019t bear the silence, but they didn\u2019t know what to say either. All it took was one joke for the dread to get sucked out and for the room to be buzzing with excitement again. Laughing at the thing made it easier to ignore. Cass sat up, took her phone out, and joined in the excited chatter.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>Taylor Swift <\/span><\/i>retweeted it!\u201d Mira said, all but frothing at the mouth, shoving her phone into Cass and Tammy\u2019s faces.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNo fucking way!\u201d Tammy took out her own phone and took pictures of Mira\u2019s screen, \u201cWow, and that\u2019s so Taylor, like that joke is her humor.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Cass wanted so badly to be happy for her friend, but she couldn\u2019t tonight. She usually let things like this slide, valued keeping the peace over speaking her mind. Maybe it was the unshakeable thought that had crept into her head earlier that said they all may not be alive much longer anyway, but she found the courage to say:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHey, Mira, I was wondering…\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cCass. Cass,\u201d Mira said, punctuating each \u201cCass\u201d by putting a hand on Cass\u2019 shoulders. \u201cYou have been such a good friend to me, and I don\u2019t say that enough. Really, seriously, I never say it. This has been such an amazing night for me, and honestly? It\u2019s because you and Tammy are here, not my viral tweet that Taylor loved. Your support for me is the most important thing. You are my <\/span>rock<\/span><\/i>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Mira wrapped her arms around Cass. Cass reciprocated. Tammy wiped a tear away.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOh, wow, that\u2019s so sweet! Thank you, you\u2019re really important to me too,\u201d Cass said, bracing herself.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOf course, we\u2019re best friends. We have to stick together and support each other.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIn that case, do you mind giving me credit for the joke?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Mira recoiled from the hug and made a face like Cass had thrown up on her bedsheets.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cLike, on your tweet?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou know, because I was the one who said it first?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c…After I called you my rock, Cassandra?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDid you find it yet?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cStill no.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBut it\u2019s been forever! I\u2019m getting cold. Let me try now!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cConnor, I think we have to call it a night here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Ellie lifted her head out of the telescope and stretched. She grabbed the telescope and lugged it to the left end of the street, looking back frequently to make sure Connor was following. The cold was becoming unbearable, and as she walked, Ellie found herself trying to burrow as much of her head into her jacket collar as she could to keep her ears warm. She left the telescope next to the garage door of the Bryce\u2019s place, although judging from the muffled cries coming from most of the houses on their street, a missing telescope would be the least of the neighborhood’s worries.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As they walked back, Connor tugged on Ellie\u2019s jacket and said, \u201cWhat are we doing now?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re heading back inside.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat about Sadie? You said she\u2019d be back soon. Where is she?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s somewhere private. She\u2019ll be back soon.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cShouldn\u2019t we wait for her?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019ll be fine.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOkay.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Once she was in front of their house, Ellie looked back again and Connor was lagging behind.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIs everything okay?\u201d she called out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
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