when it closed. The For Sale sign in the window had faded.
Their third date was also a dinner. William let her know he made pancakes a few
times a week. Casey was ecstatic about trying them for herself. They had their
first kiss on that date, which Casey initiated.
“Don't mind the house,” Casey told him as he walked through the door. “I'm mostly
unpacked but I haven't done much decorating yet.”
“It looks good,” William said, scanning the room. “A TV in the living room, that's
a great touch.”
“It was. It took me forever to decide where to place it,” she said, giggling. “Is
your TV not in the living room?”
“No,” William responded. “I prefer watching TV when lying in bed. If it was in the
living room, I'd never watch it.”
“I love watching TV in bed,” Casey admitted. “It'd be nice if movie theaters had
beds instead of… Never mind. That would be gross.”
William chuckled. “Yeah, I would imagine so.”
He stared at the wall above the couch. Casey had hung three paintings above it. The
middle one was of a man in a flannel shirt with blood gushing
out of his nose that was leaking into his waiting hands. The man with the bloody
nose resembled him.
He wiped his nose with his hand, half expecting it to come away covered in blood.
“Is that?” William asked, pointing to the artwork.
“Huh?” Casey asked, confused.
She glanced at William and back at the painting. She went back and forth between
the two, gazing at each for a moment.
“It does look like you,” she said. “That's weird. I made this painting senior year