Chapter 29: The Porcelain Truth

Katherine walked into the restroom, the harsh fluorescent lights making her squint. She headed for the sink, splashing cold water on her face to shock her brain out of the spiral. As she was drying her hands, the door creaked open. Connie Addams walked in.

The two women locked eyes in the mirror.

"Enjoying your movie?" Connie asked, her voice echoing against the tile.

"It’s... it’s okay," Katherine said, her heart starting to thump. "A lot of dinosaurs."

"Movies these days have too much noise and not enough soul," Connie laughed, heading toward a stall. "But I suppose that’s just the way of the world now."

Katherine turned off the faucet, the silence that followed feeling heavy and expectant. She couldn't let it go. "So... back there. You were really sure about Noah? That you knew him in high school?"

The toilet flushed, and a moment later, Connie emerged, smoothing her floral cardigan. "I went to school with a Noah Riley in the sixties," she said, her voice clear and unwavering. "I wasn't popular. I was the girl people ignored. But Noah... he was different. He was kind. He took me to that dance when no one else would."

"And you think... you think my friend Noah is him?" Katherine asked, her voice trembling. "But that would make him eighty years old."

Connie walked to the sink, her hazel eyes catching Katherine’s in the glass. "I know what I saw, dear. I saw those green eyes and that same way he tilts his head when he’s thinking. I don't know how, and I don't know why... but that boy in there hasn't aged a day since 1968."

Katherine raised an eyebrow, her mind racing. "Are you sure it wasn't his father? Or his grandfather?"

"I knew his family back then," Connie said, drying her hands with a paper towel and nodding firmly. "Well, his parents died. His older sister was raisin’ him.”

She walked toward the door, pausing with her hand on the handle. She looked back at Katherine with a look of profound, motherly concern.

"Be careful, Katherine," Connie warned, her voice a soft, ragged whisper. "Some things are beautiful because they fade. The things that don't... they usually have a price."

"I’ll try to be," Katherine assured her, her voice barely audible.

Connie nodded once and slipped out. Katherine stood alone in the restroom, staring at her own reflection. For the first time, she didn't just see a girl on a date. She saw a girl standing on the edge of a cliff, and the boy she was falling for was the long, dark drop below.

She took a deep breath, straightened her shirt, and walked back out into the theater. She had to face him. But as she sat down next to Noah, she didn't see a teenage boy anymore. She saw a mystery that had been walking the earth long before she was even a thought.

"Everything okay?" Noah asked, leaning in.

"Yeah," Katherine lied, her eyes fixed on the screen. "Everything is just fine."