closed starter for @intcgrities, located at sarah's apartment on january 11th.
sarah really had been trying to cook more often in the new year, a dream of ant's that she had taken and reconfigured to improve her own day to day life. in addition to that, as shown in the crocheted gift she had given to justice, she was also trying to strive toward the dream she had revealed to him; crocheting more and gifting whatever she made.
sarah had decided on one main dish, a side, and a dessert. all vegetarian, for justice's sake. eggplant parmesan, a simple side salad, and mixed berry crisp.
silence had felt like a second home to sarah since childhood. the sense of familiarity and comfort it had always brought along with it. but, recently, it didn't feel the same. now, it felt lonely. so, she opted to open spotify before she started cooking to play music that she could bop around her kitchen to while she cooked. but, instead, she noticed the newest episode of justice's podcast on her landing page. the title of which was displayed as 'let's chat'. vague. sarah pressed play with the assumption that it would be about rollaways, maybe some updates that justice would have on her suspension or the building's renovations that sarah hadn't heard yet.
while it began, sarah retrieved the vegetables she had washed earlier from beside the sink, an advertisement playing through the speakers of her phone where she had left it on the kitchen island, just a few paces away. then, justice's voice. "okay, okay!" sarah moved the vegetables to the island to continue drying on the towel while she started chopping them. lettuce, carrots, onion, tomatoes. a pretty standard line-up. "i see your comments, and i’m going to use today’s episode to talk about amelia, but then we’ll get back to derby stuff, alright?"
sarah felt her breath hitch in her throat. it didn't necessarily mean anything, but just hearing justice's voice utter amelia's name made her feel like her world had been flipped on its axis. as she listened, sarah roughly chopped the lettuce and dropped it into a large wooden bowl that she had set beside her. then, the tomato. next, she peeled and chopped both the onion and carrots to add to the mix. she had a handful of dressings that they could choose from when they got here. in the meantime, she mixed the salad, covered it, and set it in the refrigerator for the time being. while she was there, she poured herself a glass of white wine.
sarah got the rest of the dinner ready, freezing momentarily at justice's words. "she and i always had this weird, like, liminal friendship going on. y’know? like sometimes she’d sit next to me on the bus and we’d have these whole long-ass conversations." her eyebrows furrowed. what the hell? there was a world where that could've been possible, but... it just wasn't. there was no doubt in sarah's mind. had amelia and justice been friends, sarah would have known about it. as she continued to get dinner ready, she routinely paused the podcast to process, or rewound to make sure she had heard correctly.
sarah placed dessert into the oven, the warm fruity smell wafting pleasantly throughout her apartment. then added the eggplant parmesan soon after. she stood at the counter beside the stove, two separate timers set (one on her phone, and the other on the stove itself), her wine in hand. 'it’s hard to mourn someone who told you about some very personal things but wouldn’t save your number in her phone. "just in case someone saw."'
the shock of the statement made sarah drop her glass of wine. sarah lost her focus entirely, justice's voice still discussing what information they had about amelia's case in the background (which, of course, was none). but, they sounded far away and warped. sort of like the parents in charlie brown.
a knock at the door. sarah almost didn't respond to it. but, she had to. sarah tip toed over the broken glass, and approached the door. sarah opened the door, her face pale. as she did, the first of the two timers sounded from within her apartment.