“What? Oh. I don’t know.” He shook his head. “I forget. There are so many things to know, so many things to find out. I lose track of where I am in the maze.”

He used his hands to indicate a maze. (Think of the common gesture for maze.)

“The main thing,” he said, “is to just enjoy what you have. The paper trick is cool. Do it again.”

She did not.

“But definitely don’t go looking for King City,” he said. “People like to think that there are places other than Night Vale out there what with all the desert, but it’s just not true. You try to go to a place like King City, you probably would never come back.”

Steve paused.

“I don’t think that man has given the paper to the person who was supposed to get it yet,” he said.

“Oh yeah?” she said, trying to encourage without seeming too eager.

“I think he’s looking for one particular person, and he hasn’t found them. It’s a message, and the message hasn’t been received yet, you know? I wonder what happens when whoever is supposed to get that message finally receives it. Could be something very bad. Real bad.”

The door opened. Diane walked in. The noise brought Steve back to himself.

“Hey there,” he said. “Your friend Jackie and I were just talking about you. Good things, of course.”

Diane glared at the nineteen-year-old, who returned her glare defiantly.

“Not my friend, Steve. Jackie, whatever it is that fascinates you about my life and the people in it, I need you to let go and leave us alone.”

Jackie felt herself regarded not as a woman or a human, but as a teenager. She had a rush of anger that felt embarrassingly young but that she couldn’t suppress.

“I’m looking after my own life, man. What I want to know is why you always seem to end up involved.”

“I’m sorry, Diane,” said Steve. “I thought. I mean, I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay, Steve,” said Diane. “I know you love a good conversation. Jackie, what are you doing here? Are you researching me? Following me?”

“You’d love it if you were that interesting.” Jackie stood up so quickly that her folding chair tumbled backwards into the popcorn machine. Steve and Diane winced, but nothing visible happened, and so they relaxed.

Jackie didn’t like how the situation was going, but she also didn’t know how to change the momentum. She came right up to Diane’s face, like a child fighting on a playground, or like a larger, older child fighting in a bar. Jackie felt unsure and silly and young, and she channeled the discomfort of that feeling into anger and projected that feeling onto Diane.

“I already have one sullen teenager in my life. Go home, Jackie.”