"CREAK—" As the door opened, Sydney Sawyer instinctively looked over.
Her hand moved with her body, sweeping the front-facing camera across the scene.
From Sebastian Lockwood's perspective, the image on his screen panned away from Timmy Lockwood, settling on a pair of large feet in sandals before moving up to a pair of baggy gray shorts.
Chester Sawyer, not knowing she was on a video call, scratched his damp hair.
"I need to use the hair dryer. A shower feels so much better. You want to go take one too?"
Sebastian Lockwood didn't see his face, but the word "shower" was like a bomb going off in his ears.
He pressed his lips together, pushing up the glasses on the bridge of his nose. When he looked up again, his eyes had darkened into a bottomless abyss.
Sydney Sawyer lowered her head and pointed to her phone, and Chester Sawyer instantly understood and went quiet.
But on the screen, Sebastian Lockwood watched as the boy walked over to Timmy Lockwood and scooped up *his* cat.
