Chapter 2 #3
He stopped short and turned to look at me. “Hi,” he replied, a question in his perfectly accented voice. He took a step toward the side of the path, outside the crush of people. “Have we met?”
I blinked, trying to process this. It was very strange to have him looking at me like he’d never seen me before.
There was no jolt of recognition, no sense he remembered me at all.
Which of course he didn’t—but it was jarring to realize that I knew him, but as far as he was concerned, I was just another stranger.
“Um, not really.” I wasn’t sure how to tell him that we’d already met, but it hadn’t happened yet without sounding deluded.
“I just…wanted to say hi? And good luck with your show later.” I thought about the girl on the phone, describing the show to her friend—that it was unbelievable and unforgettable. “I know it’s going to go great.”
His face relaxed into a smile, and I felt myself smiling back at him—automatically, like it was a reflex, something you couldn’t stop even if you wanted to. “Really? That’s awfully nice of you to say. Thank you.”
“Sure,” I said. I hoped there would be more—I wanted there to be more—but after a moment, he just gave me a nod, and another smile, and then walked away.
I didn’t know how to continue this interaction without coming off like a stalker, so I turned in the other direction, and hurried to catch up with my friends.
The Emmas and Bryony were standing around a kiosk—I assumed the one where Emma had bought her ears—but as I got closer, Bryony shook her head. “They’re all out.”
“What?”
“Sorry about that,” the cast member working at the kiosk said. His name tag read JOHNNY, PROVO, UTAH.
“But didn’t you just have some?” I asked, looking at Emma R. She pulled hers out of her bag and held them up as proof.
“I did. Unfortunately, someone just bought the last pair.”
“Are there any other places that have them?” I could feel myself start to get frustrated. Last time around, Bryony and I had looked at a fair number of kiosks. Was it possible that Emma R. bought the last one in the whole park?
Johnny shrugged. “There should be more somewhere. I’m sure you’ll find them. As with anything worth searching for, the quest is part of the journey.”
“Okay, thanks,” Emma R. said, giving him a nod. She turned and walked away from the kiosk with the other Emmas, and Bryony and I started walking behind them.
“That’s such a bummer,” Bryony said with a sigh. “Maybe we could check the kiosk over there—”
“They don’t have any,” I said, cutting her off.
“They don’t? How do you know?”
“I…just do.” I turned to the Emmas. Emma J. and Emma Z. were huddled together, looking at something on their Emma Z.’s phone, talking in low voices. “Emma,” I said.
“Yes?” all three Emmas replied.
“Oh sorry—Emma R.,” I said, and the other two turned back to the phone.
“Because it’s going to be worth it,” I heard Emma Z. say under her breath.
“What?” Emma R. asked, bringing me back to the task at hand.
“How long after coming into the park did you get to this kiosk? Like, did you come here right away?”
“I mean, maybe five minutes?” Emma R. said with a one-shouldered shrug. “We got here, and I saw these right away, and knew I wanted them, so it wasn’t like I spent a ton of time looking at other stuff, you know?”
“Cool,” I said with a nod. “Got it.” And then I turned and headed for the doors, walking fast.
“Cass?” I heard Bryony yell after me. “Where are you going?”
“I’ll be right back!” I yelled behind me. If this was a time loop, when I came back, I’d have enough time to get Bryony her ears. And if it wasn’t—if this was just the world’s weirdest version of déjà vu—then that question would be answered, too.
I walked faster, and as I got closer to the Avengers Campus, I saw Amy sitting on a bench, and Ms. Mulaney sitting next to her. I slowed when I saw that Amy was sobbing, crying into her hands. “What’s wrong?” I asked, as I walked over to them—even though I had a sinking feeling that I knew.
“Amy and Carlos broke up,” Ms. Mulaney said, mouthing the last two words to me, like even saying them out loud might be too much for Amy right now.
“Again?”
Amy looked up, tearstained and confused. “What do you mean, again?”
“Nothing,” I said quickly. “I just mean, why?”
Amy took a shaky breath. “It started small and stupid, you know? We were arguing about who had the more accurate time—just so silly, you know? But then that turned into a bigger fight, and before I knew it, things were over.”
I swallowed hard. Once again, I’d inadvertently been the cause of their breakup.
How had this happened twice? If I got another shot, I resolved to just not talk to them the whole night.
That way, if anything happened, there was no way it could be my fault.
“Oh no,” I said, trying to sound surprised.
“I’m shocked to hear it! For the very first time.
I’m so sorry, Amy.” She gave me a quavery smile, then it turned into a frown and she started sobbing again.
I looked at Ms. Mulaney—should I even bother telling her that I was leaving?
On closer inspection, it didn’t look like Ms. Mulaney was doing great either—her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy.
Was she just really feeling Amy’s pain? Or was something else going on?
Whatever it was, I figured the last thing she needed at the moment was more student stress.
So I just gave her what I hoped was a sympathetic nod, which she returned with a wan smile.
Then I started toward the exit, my eyes fixed on the big wooden door. Before I reached it, though, I took out my phone and opened my notes app. TEST, I wrote, all in caps. I made sure it saved, then I locked my phone and dropped it into my bag.
Picking up my pace, I reached the exit—and stepped through.