Chapter 15 #2
“That hardly sounds ‘unbelievable’ to me,” I mutter.
Quinn rolls her eyes, starting down the sidewalk. “Tell me about it.”
I fall in beside her, Percy assuming his customary spot at the rear.
I resist the urge to glance back at him.
Those flashes of sadness I’d caught while he was talking to Emmett make me wonder if there’s more he’s not saying, especially considering my conversation with Ms. Lindman.
Maybe his memories of Mackinac Island aren’t all good ones.
Is that why he’s here with a bunch of random students instead of his parents?
Whatever’s going on, it’s none of my business. Percy’s a big boy—he’ll be fine on his own. After all, thanks to him, I’ve had to be.
The morning drags on, turning into early afternoon as we graduate from interrogating tourists to assorted shopkeepers. It doesn’t escape my notice that Quinn always takes a few minutes to browse each store.
“You know that might all be wasted effort, right?” I gesture to the latest souvenir bag she’s carrying. “Everything you do today could be reset if we can’t figure out what the hell is going on.”
She grins at me. “We don’t know that for sure. Color me an optimist. Besides, I believe in our powers of deduction. We’ll find a way to break you out of this—if there’s even anything to break you out of.”
Deduction. Right. Because that’s gotten us so far. That one woman and her kid aren’t even the worst we’ve run into. One man literally spit at us. Like, seriously, who does that to someone asking a simple question?
By the time we collapse at a table in a little sandwich shop on Market Street, my feet ache, and there’s a steadily building pressure behind my eyes. “This is useless,” I growl, kneading my forehead as we wait for our order. “It’s been hours, and all we’ve learned is that people suck.”
“Not totally useless,” Quinn says brightly, jangling her collection of shopping bags. “And we did learn a few interesting tidbits. What about that guy who insisted he’d seen a ghost? Or those girls who wanted to meet up later so we could check out a disturbance in their room?”
I close my eyes. “That guy was literally handing out coupons for a ghost tour, so I’m not sure we can take his word at face value. And those girls just wanted in my and Percy’s pants.”
She raises an eyebrow at me and smirks. “Kinda barking up the wrong tree then, aren’t they?”
I snort. Beside me, Percy chokes on his water, sputtering and coughing.
I’m pretty sure Quinn had only been talking about me, but she’s certainly eyeing him speculatively now.
He stares at his lap, a deep flush coloring his cheeks.
The sight affects me more than I’d like, and I sigh, taking pity on him.
“If there’s someone else around here experiencing the same thing as us, they’re keeping it close to their chests,” I say, drawing Quinn’s attention back to me.
Percy shoots me a thankful look, which I ignore.
“And even if there is something weird going on, what’re the odds we randomly stumble on it?
Let’s face it, we’re not Sherlock Holmes. We need a new plan.”
“I see your point,” Quinn concedes. “But hey, at least we’ve ruled out one option. Hurray for the scientific method in action.”
Percy sits up straighter, his face brightening. “That’s it!”
Quinn and I both blink at him. When he doesn’t immediately answer, I tamp down my irritation and ask, “What is?”
“Instead of vague clues, what we need to get to the bottom of this is some actual science.” He looks at Quinn. “Professor Oshkoff wanted us to take you to the hospital earlier, right?”
“Yep. I told her I had—”
I cut her off with a raised hand. “I’d rather not know.” I stare at Percy. “What’s your point?”
“Well, there are all kinds of tests they could run for us at the hospital—blood tests and brain scans and the like. If we convince them to see us right away, maybe they can identify a cause.”
Unease washes over me. “You think there’s actually something wrong with us? Like, a brain tumor or something?”
Percy flinches like I’d slapped him, hunching his shoulders as if he wants to burrow down into himself. What the hell? I admit it’s not the most pleasant thought, but I didn’t think it would provoke that sort of visceral reaction.
Before I can question him about it, he seems to come back to himself, clearing his throat.
However, I don’t miss the haunted look that remains on his face.
“Not like that. But maybe we share the same physiological symptoms. We could’ve both ingested something or been exposed to identical chemicals. ”
Quinn’s eyes light up. “Ooo, like superheroes! Maybe you both got dosed with radiation that granted you extraordinary powers!”
“What, like the ability to trap ourselves in the same terrible day?” I scoff. “That would be the lamest superpower ever.”
Percy shrugs, his lips quirking into a small, hesitant smile. “Trust me, there’s worse powers out there. We could be stuck making our limbs fall off or conjuring fireworks out of thin air.”
I give a mock gasp, clutching at my chest. “I know you did not just insult my girl Jubilee straight to my face!”
His smile widens into something more genuine, and my breath hitches at the dazzling sight. It’s like glimpsing the sun breaking through a sea of clouds. “I wouldn’t dream of it,” he replies. “All I’m saying is, if you browse the annals of comic history, time looping doesn’t seem so bad.”
I shake my head, trying to ignore the too-quick patter of my heart. “Maybe if you can control when the loop starts or ends. Imagine ending up doomed to repeat the worst day of your life over and over.”
Percy’s smile falters, and just like that, reality reasserts itself.
For a moment there, I’d been back in Percy’s dorm room, the two of us snuggled up in his bed and joking like we always had about anything and everything.
Now, all I can think of is standing outside Percy’s dorm in the bitter cold that first day back from break, watching in heartbroken silence as he turned his back on me and walked away.
Judging by the expression on Percy’s face, he’s reliving an equally terrible memory. Though, somehow, I doubt his worst day is the same as mine. The thought sends a fresh wave of anger through me, and I tear my gaze away, scowling and crossing my arms.
I catch Quinn’s curious gaze from the corner of my eye as she glances between Percy and me.
She’s been giving us similar looks all day, but whatever suspicions she has, she doesn’t voice them.
The three of us sit in awkward silence until the server returns with our sandwiches and chips, the food offering a blessed excuse not to talk.
A buzz interrupts our quiet chewing, and I glance over to see Percy checking his phone. I don’t miss his frown when he reads the message or the sudden tension that radiates down his back.
He starts to tuck his phone away, then seems to reconsider and pulls it back out with a grimace. He types out a quick response before shoving it in his pocket. I watch him as he returns to picking at his food, his expression distant.
“What was that about?” I ask, curiosity getting the better of me.
Surprise flashes across his face. “Nothing.”
“It doesn’t seem like nothing.”
He refuses to meet my gaze as he picks at the chip crumbs in his sandwich basket. “Just my dad. Checking in.”
Checking in on what? Given his obvious reluctance to talk about it, I’m not sure he’d respond, so instead, I ask, “Why bother answering?”
His brow scrunches in confusion. “What do you mean? He’s my dad. I can’t just ignore him.” His voice gains a hint of challenge. “Are you telling me you ignore your parents?”
I grimace. “That’s beside the point. This isn’t a normal day, and those aren’t normal texts. We’ve already been through Saturday once already. It’s not like anything we do right now matters.”
I crunch down a few chips and take a sip of my pop before I realize he’s staring at me. I cock an eyebrow at him, and he flushes, staring back down at his own tray.
“We don’t know for sure that today will repeat again,” he says quietly. “Besides, I’m not like you. I can’t just dismiss things like that. To me, everything matters.”
From the offhanded way he says them, I don’t think he intends his words as an insult.
But they certainly feel that way. As if there aren’t still things that are important to me?
As if my emotions are somehow less valid than his?
He knows what things are like with my parents.
How much effort I’d put into the track team and how worried I’d been about coming out. How much he had meant to me.
I narrow my eyes, my jaw flexing.
Quinn must notice my expression because she hurriedly turns to Percy. “You really think visiting the hospital will help?”
He blinks at her abrupt change of topic, then nods. “At the very least, they might be able to tell us more about our condition. If they can identify an underlying cause, well, all the better.”
Shoving aside her mostly finished sandwich, Quinn hops to her feet and claps her hands together. A few of the cafe’s other patrons give her startled looks. “All right, I’m in! One trip to the hospital, coming right up.” Wariness flickers across her face as she turns to me. “Chris?”
Even my—wholly justified—anger at Percy isn’t enough to make me miss the rigid way he’s holding himself or the haunted look that remains in his eyes.
Despite my own hurt feelings and reservations, despite the weight of everything that still lies between us, I find myself giving a terse nod.
“Fine. Let’s go embrace the miracle of modern medicine. ”