Dreams Of Fame
1.8 - Moving In
“It’s done,” Zoe said.
“Seriously? That was quick. Only took like six months!” Summer turned back into the house, and hollered “Guys! The second floor on Zoe’s house is done!”
Even back before Zoe had locked Giovanna in the basement, Zoe, Summer, Travis, and Liberty had all become close enough that they’d started talking about moving in together. In the fever that came with locking Giovanna in the basement and the cash that Zoe began to rake in with her stories, the three had gotten really serious.
After a long discussion around their back porch table, it was decided that they’d all chip in and add a second floor to Zoe’s house, then the three would move in with her.
Zoe hadn’t really thought about how she’d hide Giovanna’s presence in the basement from three roommates, but now that the day had arrived that the second floor was actually finished, she realized she really had to figure that out. Travis worked from home, Liberty was unemployed, and Summer only worked part time at a local bar.
“Really?” Travis said, leaving his bedroom. “That was fast! You know how to hire the right people, Zoe.”
Zoe smiled. “I just hired someone I’d already used…”
That was when it her. She’d hired the same person who'd built her basement. The last person who saw Giovanna alive before she disappeared for a year. Jo had posted missing posters all over their neighborhood.
“I- I need to go,” Zoe stammered, hurrying away.
“Zoe?” Liberty called out, emerging from her bedroom only to see Zoe running away from their house.
“No idea what that’s about, and I honestly don’t care,” Summer sighed. “Let’s start packing guys.”
Zoe ran up to her front door and came face to face with the same man who’d seen her disappear inside with Giovanna a year before.
“Ms. Presley,” he smiled. “You’ll be pleased to find that your second floor has been painted.”
Zoe breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t waiting to ask.
“Also…”
Zoe grimaced.
“I saw your basement.”
“I can explain, I can explain everything! Just listen to me and please don't report me to the police!”
“And you listen to me, Ms. Presley. I’m not even going to mention what I found down there. I have my own fair share of secrets, so I'm not in the business of exposing the secrets of others. ”
“Who are you, again?” Zoe stammered.
“You can call me Sergio. You’re new here, so you wouldn’t know… I worked for the family that's in charge of this town, the Goths, until recently. I dropped that because of some... differing views. So, I’m not going to report you. Not to a government where the Goth family plays a particularly strong role.”
“Thank you so much!” Zoe exclaimed, hugging him.
Sergio pushed Zoe off, and smiled. "Rumor has it that the current president, Mr. Laurent, and by extension, some of the Goth family's power is about to retire. So, I recommend you fix your mess in the basement before I'm able to change my mind."
Zoe nodded quickly.
“Anyway, I have another job to get to. You take care, Ms. Presley,” Sergio sighed.
He gave her a polite nod, and walked calmly off her front porch. By the time Zoe turned around to seem if he was truly leaving, any trace of Sergio had vanished completely.
Taking a deep breath, Zoe reentered the house. After spending way too long staring at the pile of furniture, wracking her brains, she finally figured out what she was going to do. Zoe jumped into her car and drove to the furniture store, purchasing a whole collection of curtains to block off the staircase. Zoe pushed her desk up against the curtains, blocking off Giovanna’s exit, then she was golden.
Summer, Travis, and Liberty moved in the following day.
They all settled into their rooms peacefully, and all was going just as Zoe had planned. Or at least, at first.
As the sun started to set in the evening, Travis, Summer, and Liberty were hanging out downstairs while Zoe checked out the new upstairs.
“This house really is too purple…” Summer sighed. “I wanted her to move in with us instead, but you all shot me down. So now, we're all stuck in the plum hell. Thanks, guys.”
Travis, not wanting to deal with Summer, got up and started investigating the new curtains. “Remember the one time we were over and Zoe straight up shouted at me for trying to move her dresser into her room? I told her that it's where most people keep their dressers, and she acted like I'd just assaulted her.”
“How could we forget Travis?” Summer gasped. "You deserved so much better than that, you were only trying to help!"
Liberty rolled her eyes.
“Then the stuff just sat there. For months!”
“Oh, totally. It did!” Summer went on.
“So, if I moved this curtain a little…” Travis muttered.
“You really shouldn’t…” Liberty said quietly. “If Zoe was so mad last time she’s going to get mad again…”
“But guess who lives here now? That’s right, us. So, shut up Liberty, You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Summer said curtly.
Travis moved the curtain. “Holy… there’s a staircase back there!”
Summer stood up, and hurried to Travis’s side. “Seriously? Ooooooo, this is so exciting!”
Liberty wandered over too, just as curious as everyone else.
The three of them pushed the curtain out of the way, hurried down the stairs, and discovered… Giovanna.
“We really, really, really should have just all moved into our place instead,” Summer whispered.