KAYLA’S POV

“Whoa,” I said, my head spinning. The world around me was strangely black-and-white. “Where am I?”

“Take a guess, genius,” a newly familiar voice said. Faith.

“Beside you?” I sang quietly.

“Oh, thank god,” Katie said. “She’s quoting 5SOS. She’ll be okay.”

Nurse Amanda walked into the hospital room. OH—THE HOSPITAL ROOM. That’s where I was. Who would’ve thought I’d go colorblind in the sun at the beach twice in one day? “You’re back?” she asked with an asking look on her face.

“How did I end up here?” I asked.

“Oh my goodness, she’s quoting 5SOS again!” Amanda exclaimed in the tone of voice in which someone would exclaim something. “I mean…who are they?”

“Funny you mention it,” I heard Katie respond. “That’s Kayla’s favorite band!”

“I know,” Amanda mumbled. “I know all too well.”

Luke walked into the room, a ray of sunshine beaming down on him like a yellow, really bright spotlight coming from the sky. “I feel so at-home,” he marveled, complete. “I could live here.”

“Okay,” Katie said, her eyebrow raised. “I guess it’s not a bad thing that you’ve never been to a hospital before today, but what makes this place so great?”

“Everything is so clean. Like, the kind of clean you get right after you wash something.”

Katie cocked her head to both sides repeatedly. “Wow, I never thought of it like that.”

“Yeah, I’ve been told I can be a real genius sometimes,” Luke said, smiling. His teeth were bright, like a light bulb looks when you’re not wearing sunglasses.

KATIE’S POV

Kayla sat straight up. “Guys, I have good news!”

I leaned toward her until my face was directly in front of her face. “What what what what what?”

Kayla scoffed. “You know, I was going to tell you, but now your face is all up in my face and I’m feeling a bit violated.”

My cheeks turned the shade of red that’s usually in a sunset that lacks the color brown. “Sorry, ma’am.”

“I’ll let it go this time,” she said, menacing with a menacing look on her face. But the menacing look went away quickly and was replaced with her usual happy-go-lucky demeanor that I loved so much. “Anyway, wanna hear the good news?”

“Sure!” I said, backing up this time.

“I can see in color again!”

“Hurrah!” Kaz—who hasn’t said or done anything yet and might as well not even be in this scene—exclaimed.

Faith jumped when she heard Kaz exclaim. “Where did you come from?”

“I just popped in ‘cause I had something to say,” Kaz said melodically.

“But you just appeared there!”

“Man, I had nothin’ to be here for until then!”

Faith’s jaw hung open. “But…but you can’t just—”

Before Faith could finish, Kaz faded into the night. Which it actually was now, despite it being Australia.

Faith waved her hand through the space Kaz used to occupy. “Where did she go?”

“She doesn’t have any more lines in this scene,” Kayla explained. “So she disappeared.”

“Can I do that?”

“No, you still have lines.”

“How do you know?”

“Well, you’re still talking,” I pointed out.

“No I’m—oh, wait.” Faith clasped her hands together. “Maybe this is my problem. Maybe I just need to roll with this.”

Luke jumped out of a dark corner. “I feel so at-home!” he shouted. “The hospital is where I want to be, always.”

“That’s awesome!” I said, smiling with a smile. “Let’s all just keep talking so we don’t disappear!”

So Kayla, Luke, and I named every vegetable we could think of while Faith listened, a look of horror on her face. She must’ve really hated vegetables.