CHAPTER 11

Right before closing, Avery had run inside the museum quickly. The temperature had dropped and the forecast called for snow sometime tonight. Avery was just glad she didn't have to walk in the snow yet. She had run into Larry and was following him around, making sure that no one was still in the museum. All the rooms had been cleared except the Hall of American History. Inside, sitting on a bench was Rebecca. Larry and her had started conversing about her dissertation on Sacagawea. She talked passionately about her and wanting to know more about her life as she had hit a roadblock with her paper. She had wished that she could have met her in person.

Avery felt guilty suddenly for two reasons. One because she didn't really know Rebecca as much as she had hoped to. Of course there were the friendly chats of seeing how the other was doing, how tours were going. But they had never gotten together outside of the museum, and it had been roughly three or so months since they had initially met. And two, she knew Sacagawea was real. Sure they hadn't formally met or talked because of the glass wall. But every night, she came to life.

"Sorry to have to do this to you but you gotta go."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, sorry. But gotta close down the museum. You know how it is."

"But wait, why does Avery get to stay?"

"I got permission from Dr McPhee to stay late tonight to, uh, shadow Larry."

"Huh, well I'm glad you two are both taking this job seriously. Let me just grab my things and I'll be out of your way." After a quick goodbye, Rebecca stood up to leave. She saw Larry hesitate before running after her. She had a feeling she knew what he was going to say.

"Hey Rebecca! Wait up! If you want, you can stay and wait about ten more minutes. There's a big secret I haven't told you. Remember how you said that history comes alive, well in this museum it does… I know it sounds crazy but everything in this museum comes to life at night."

Boom. The secret was out there now. They both waited with bated breath to see Rebecca's reaction.

"I'm sorry. What, what do you mean "everything comes to life at night"? She was skeptical.

"He means just that, Rebecca. Everything really does come to life at night. Everything in this museum. I've seen it with my own eyes!" Avery had jumped into the conversation because she thought that two people's accounts were better than one. She could verify and vouch for Larry that this museum did in fact come to life at night. Larry then went into a rushed explanation about how the tablet of Ahkmenrah was the source of power that made it possible. Avery looked at the expression upon Rebecca's face. She had pursed her lips in annoyance and raised an eyebrow at him. Avery knew that look all too well.

"Wow, that's cool… Make fun of the history geek." She began to walk away which prompted the duo to scramble after her. Avery felt her heart ache at the thought of Rebecca feeling rejected by them. That was the furthest from the truth.

"Honestly Larry, I don't know how you did it. You made me care about you. And now you make up this-this far fetched lie? You even got a college student in on the joke! Well I'm not laughing. In fact, I feel incredibly hurt by all this. This is some elaborate prank you pulled. What, are there hidden cameras too? Are you trying to make me look like a fool? Something I can look forward to seeing on the internet perhaps? I thought you were better than this. I thought you were both better than this. Really, how did you manage to convince Avery to help you in this scheme? No, don't talk to me. I'm leaving now."

Avery felt her heart break. She had no intention of "making a fool" out of Rebecca. She was being candid about what happens at night. But to Rebecca, it felt like she was betrayed by two people she trusted. She left in a huff, boots clicking on the polished floors. If the doors weren't revolving, she would have slammed them shut behind her. Rebecca had stormed out onto the streets where it had begun to snow.

Perfect timing, storming out into a storm. Avery thought as she watched Rebecca march away from the museum. Both she and Larry couldn't bring themselves to address that particular elephant in the room. Instead they kept to themselves and went about locking up the museum.

(I liked the idea of giving Rebecca more of a voice in portraying how hurt she had felt)