The crash of thunder woke me from my deep sleep. I opened my eyes to a dark room, hearing rain pounding against the roof and glass panes. I turned my head towards the windows, looking at the sky as it was lit with thunder. The clock beside my bed read nine thirty.

I slowly sat up, untangling the sheets from my legs. I recalled having some sort of dream, but couldn’t quite remember it. I tried to listen beyond the storm for sounds in the house, but it was impossible. I made myself stand and grope for the light switch, blinking hard when the light was on. I took a few minutes to actually wake up before going to the door and stepping into the dark hall.

Light came from the staircase, and I heard faint voices coming from downstairs. I hoped Phoenix was awake, as I didn’t want to be with the others alone.

I wandered into the kitchen, seeing it was only Rita and Luke. I would have backed out of the room had they not seen me.

“Sadie, you’re awake,” Rita said, smiling warmly. “I wondered if the storm would wake you.”

“The thunder did,” I replied, hesitantly walking in. Rita gestured me to a chair while Luke went on with their conversation.

“So you’ll wait for him? Tell him I want to see him when he gets here,” he was saying, making his way towards the living room.

“I will,” Rita said. Luke smiled at me and said good night, disappearing up the stairs.

“Would you like something to eat?” Rita asked me.

“Oh, no, I’m fine,” I replied.

“How about a drink?”

“Okay,” I agreed. She stood and went to the refrigerator, taking out a Blue Sky soda.

“Luke’s just worrying about Jamison again,” she said as she took down an old teacup from the cabinets. “He’s grounded again, and he didn’t come home after work.”

“Oh,” I said. “Where does he work?”

“Not too far. Just at a grocery store a few blocks away,” Rita replied, setting the teacup in front of me. I thanked her, taking a sip of the fizzing soda.

“If you don’t mind my asking, how old are you, Sadie?” Rita asked, pulling her dark hair into a ponytail.

“I’m nineteen,” I said.

“That’s the same as Jamison, he just turned last month,” Rita said. I nodded in understanding, assuming now that Jamison was definitely her son.

“Is he—he’s your son?” I asked.

“Yes, and Luke’s.”

So that meant that he was born shortly after Phoenix was born. I began to wonder how Luke had found Rita so fast, and I wondered how she accepted what he was so easily as well. I would have asked, but the back door handle suddenly turned a few times. There was a sound of a key being put into the lock, and the door opened, letting in a gust of cold wind and a mist of rain. A young man stepped in, and I assumed it was Jamison. He had a black hoodie on, the hood over his head. He was soaked, and when he turned around to see us, he stared at me longest.

“So you’re home,” Rita said lightly.

“Yeah,” Jamison said, pushing down his hood. His hair was black like Luke’s, and grown to his shoulders, cut in a British emo-punk style, part of it going over his left eye. His skin was fair like Rita’s, his eyes the same vibrant green.

“This is Sadie, Jamison. You remember I told you she was coming,” Rita said.

“Oh yeah, the whole new phoenix deal,” Jamison said, wiping raindrops from his cheeks. I shifted slightly at the mention of a phoenix, but said nothing and kept eye contact. Jamison walked forward and held out his hand. I shook it, amazed at how cold his hand was.

“Your father wants to speak to you,” Rita said when introductions were made.

“What for?”

“You’re supposed to be grounded, remember?”

Jamison said nothing, and only sighed in annoyance. He walked into the dark living room, and I heard his heavy footsteps go up the stairs.

“How long has it been since your change?” Rita asked after a few moments of silence. I felt myself blush a bit at the mention of it.

“Um—not long,” I replied. “Maybe two weeks.”

“So you haven’t gone through—well, tell me how it happened. From when you met Phoenix to now.”

I traced the rim of my teacup with my finger, avoiding her eyes. I knew she meant well, but talking about it? I wasn’t exactly sure I could even speak of it in coherent words.

“The reason Luke and I asked you here, Sadie, was to help you learn about this and by far understand it.”

I sighed deep, deciding it was now or some other awkward moment. I had a feeling I would find out some things that I didn’t necessarily want to know. But it would be better than being ignorant.