I have actually had this chapter finished for a while now, just haven't had the chance to upload it.
The Plan
2am and Mary was still up, sitting on her bed, infra-red glasses on, just in case, telling Sulley what had happened, and about her talk with Tessa. "Wish I knew what her plan is, though." she said.
"I wish I did, too." Sulley did not sound happy. Not surprising, really, given the circumstances.
"I trust her, though. She's good at what she does. The best."
"She'd better be."
Mary looked up at her old friend. "Don't worry, I can take care of myself."
"Hmmm, not sure about that."
"Really, I'll be fine; Tessa's been teaching me mixed martial arts for the last six months."
"She has?" The blue monster heaved a sigh. "I wish I could get away more often, I seem to be missing out on quite a lot."
"Anyway, my point is I'm perfectly safe."
"I'm not sure six months is long enough-"
"Oh, stop worrying!"
"I wish I could." Sulley frowned.
He sounded tired, and Mary looked at him then, like, really looked at him. He looked worn out, and she could see he was getting old. She had known he wasn't as young as he used to be, but it hadn't sunk in before.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Sulley had noticed her staring.
"You look old."
He chuckled. "I'm not young any more, no, but I'm not as old as all that."
Mary scrunched up her nose. "You look old to me."
"That's because you're young. I was as young as you are once, would you believe it? And what's with the goggles?"
"Infra-red. These things see heat instead of light. This particular pair aren't that good, no zoom function or automatic focus, – Tessa's got better ones – but these are more portable and way more stylish; the other ones are so chunky!"
"Oh, I see. Forgive me if I still don't get why you're wearing them."
"They render camouflage obsolete." Seeing he still didn't understand, she added, "That means I'll always be able to see Randall."
"Oh."
"There, happy? I'm not being irresponsible after all. I have my reasons!"
Sulley just shook his head, smiling.
###
Mary found out what Tessa's plan was the very next morning. She had just finished breakfast and had gone upstairs to brush her teeth when the doorbell rang. Her mother went to answer it.
"Oh, hello Tessa. What do you want?"
"I was wondering if you had any plans for the rest of vacation?"
"As a matter of fact, no. Why?"
"Well, I've set up a summer camp for all the children I teach, and I was wondering if Mary would like to come."
"When does it start?"
"On Monday."
"Sorry if I sound rude, but isn't that a little short notice?"
"Well, it was originally going to be fourteen of the older ones, but one of the girls dropped out," Tessa lied, "And as Mary is the next eldest, I wondered if she would like to join us. It's completely free."
"Oh, in that case..."
Mary stopped listening, concentrating on her teeth. So that was Tessa's plan. Interesting. She wondered if there really were other kids. Probably not.