"I should've figured Ennis would put you up to this. You can go ahead and shut up."
"No, it's not that, I swear," Ashley says.
"Just let her talk, Petzeiros," Diego says. "There's no harm in that."
"I'm not a part of what Ennis is doing," Ashley tells you. "What I'm trying to say is that sometimes it feels like…I don't know."
"Like what?" you ask her.
"Sometimes, I think I see him," she explains. "My dad said that it's normal, like when his brother died, he used to see people who looked kind of like him all the time and think for a second that it really was him. This is different though. I'm not mistaking other people for him, I'm just seeing him, alone, when there's nobody else around. Whenever it happens, there's something off about him too. Like he's changed."
She laughs at herself, and it startles you. It sounds nervous and forced.
"It's stupid, I know. I'm sure it'll stop soon," she says.
"How long has this been going on?" you ask.
She furrows her brow as she thinks about it. "It started maybe two weeks after he died? The weirdness of it has got worse over time, though. Like, he felt less and less like Rex each time. Then it stopped suddenly for a long time, and only just started again. It's funny. I miss him when it feels like he's completely gone, but then when this happens…I just want it to stop."
As Ashley turns her head to clear her throat, Addy catches your attention and gives you a stern look. You can't quite tell what they mean other than that they think this is serious in some way.
"Anyway, I am sorry about Ennis and Caleb," Ashley says. "She hasn't been handling any of this very well. I'll have a talk with Caleb again and tell him to stop helping her with this stuff, but again, I promise you he was not wearing Rex's clothes. I really don't think that was him you saw."