Chapter 4 mix-up

Abandoned Park.

Celeste sat on the peeling bench, feeling just like this rundown park - completely abandoned by the world.

Scarlett paced back and forth beside her, pulling out a crumpled napkin she'd swiped from a fast food joint, still printed with half a goofy burger logo, and roughly shoved it into Celeste's hand.

"Stop crying, Celeste."

Scarlett scratched at her hair in frustration.

"Forget it, I won't go! I don't need that twenty thousand dollars! I'll stay here with you!"

Celeste sniffled, her eyes red like a pitiful little rabbit.

"Are you crazy? Are you not going? You're gonna stay here and rot with me instead?"

Scarlett's lips twitched at that, but her face quickly fell again.

Celeste pulled out her phone with the screen cracked like a spider web from her pocket.

She'd run out of the library so fast earlier that she hadn't even shut down the computer.

Luckily, her phone email was set to auto-login.

Even though this piece of junk loaded web pages slower than a snail crawling, during the walk over, that rejection email had been sitting quietly in her inbox.

She stared at the words "Not Approved" on the screen, tears falling again.

"My life is over, Scarlett."

Celeste sobbed, her mind filled with miserable images.

"Tomorrow, my mom's gonna force me to apply at the diner. I'll put on that uniform that reeks of onions, and every day that fat boss Rhys will grab my ass. Then I'll turn into some greasy-faced bitter woman who does nothing but complain..."

"Shut up! Don't you dare talk about yourself like that!"

Scarlett snatched Celeste's phone, staring hard at the screen, her finger jabbing at it in frustration.

"This damn broken system has to be messed up! We filled out the same information - why would they take me and not you? Because I look more like a psycho?"

Scarlett cursed while swiping randomly at the screen.

Suddenly, her movements stopped.

Scarlett pressed her face close to the screen, eyes wide. "Wait... Celeste, why is this email size so weird?"

"What?" Celeste looked up, tears still hanging from her long lashes.

"A rejection email with just one sentence - why is it two megabytes? What's stuffed in there? A digital elephant?"

Scarlett bit her lip, scrolling down hard on the screen.

"Oh, my God!" Scarlett suddenly grabbed Celeste's shoulders, shaking her so hard she nearly scrambled Celeste's brains.

"Celeste! Look! Look below!"

Celeste saw stars from the shaking, staring dumbly as she leaned in.

Below the "Initial Review Not Approved" line, past a huge blank space, there was actually a second page!

Written in bold red text:

[System Correction Notice: Due to a code conflict from merging applicant files with the same surname, the previous message was automatically sent in error.]

[Ms. Celeste Phillips, congratulations on passing the initial review. Please arrive at 6:00 AM tomorrow with valid personal identification at the abandoned gas station at the Nightthicket Road intersection. A special vehicle will transport you to the facility. Note: Do not bring any communication devices.]

Celeste froze.

Her brain seemed to lose power for a second, then got hit with ten thousand volts of electricity.

"This means that the broken system mixed you up with some poor soul named Phillips! The rejection email was a mistake!"

Scarlett's face flushed with excitement as she grabbed Celeste's face and squeezed it hard.

"It means you passed! We can go together!"

Celeste threw herself into Scarlett's arms like a kid who just got a giant lollipop.

They rolled around on the grass, covered in fallen leaves and trash, laughing and screaming.

"For twenty thousand dollars! For total freedom! For never being controlled again!" Scarlett shouted.

"For twenty thousand dollars! For total freedom! For never being controlled again!" Celeste shouted back, laughing like an idiot.

In that moment, in their eyes, this wasn't a bus to hell - it was a pumpkin carriage to heaven!

After the wild celebration, the two lay sprawled on the grass, catching their breath.

Scarlett was the first to calm down. She glanced at the cheap digital watch on her wrist.

"It's 2 PM now. We meet at six tomorrow morning. We only have sixteen hours to prepare."

The smile on Celeste's face slowly faded.

"Can't bring communication devices... that rule is so creepy," Celeste muttered.

Scarlett shrugged carelessly. "Whatever, maybe they're afraid we'll scroll through videos during work. The point is, Celeste! You need to go home and pack. And you need to deal with that crazy mom of yours."

Celeste's eyes dimmed. "She'll never let me go. If she finds out I'm going to be locked away for three months, she'll lose it. She'll deadbolt the door, or just break my legs. Because if I leave, there's no one to pay her rent, no one to buy her cheap cigarettes."

Scarlett sat up, looking at Celeste seriously.

"Celeste, listen." Scarlett gripped Celeste's shoulders.

"This is your last chance. If you don't walk out that door today, you'll really be stuck rotting in this town for the rest of your life. You understand?"

How could she not understand?

She understood too well!

That feeling of despair from earlier, thinking she'd been left behind to die in the mud - she absolutely, absolutely never wanted to experience that again!

That suffocating feeling was scarier than any horror story.

"I know, but I don't care anymore. I have to go."

Scarlett snapped her fingers in satisfaction.

"That's my girl! Tonight I'll just throw some clothes in a bag. My drunk stepdad is probably passed out at the bar anyway, won't even notice I'm gone. Five-thirty tomorrow morning, we meet under that broken billboard at the edge of town. Don't miss it!"

"Don't miss it!"

The two split up at the intersection.

Celeste turned toward the trailer park.

This time, she had that broken phone in her pocket, like carrying a golden ticket to freedom.

Celeste climbed the rusty metal steps and pushed open the warped door.

The living room lights were off.

"Where have you been?"

Quinn's voice drifted over coldly from the darkness.

Celeste jumped, looking toward the voice.

Quinn wasn't sprawled on the couch smoking like usual, but sitting upright at the dining table.

In her hands was Celeste's worn canvas bag.

Celeste's heart sank.

"Give me back my bag."

Quinn didn't move, eyes fixed on Celeste.

"Did you go ask at the highway diner?"

"No."

Celeste took a deep breath and just laid it out.

"I'm not going to the highway diner. I found a new job at a mental hospital with room and board. I'm leaving tomorrow morning."

Celeste strode over, trying to grab back her bag.

But Quinn suddenly stood up and threw the bag on the floor.

"What? That private severe mental hospital no one dares go to? You think you're going there for a vacation?"

"Celeste, do you know... that place, no living person has ever walked out of there?"