Work in Progress - Excerpt from January 10 Vanessa's Journal

The closest pool is across from Marianne's house, but this pool belongs in some otherworldly place, like the pool dad told me about months ago when he dropped me off (except the patio isn't gold, but there may be curses). It is all decked out with umbrellas and loungers, and big, fat cushions on all the furniture.  Beast and me and our friends float on the giant animals in the backyard paradise in the middle of the afternoon.  The whole time we hang out at the topical island next door, we are sometimes in the ocean and sometimes out of it.

The only brightness is the sunshine outside.  A woman I don't recognize cleans up the vomit on the edge of the pool steps.  Don gives me a ride home.  I ask him if he knows Mega-Hero Muscle-Never-Lost-A-Match.  I ask if he knows about Juniper.  He tells me he knows a lot of people and can't remember if Mega-Hero is one of them.  "It's a shame about Juniper," he says.  He pats my hands and drops me off in the driveway.  It isn't like before, he doesn't bang on Marianne's door at three in the afternoon and tell her I went swimming again.