“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Everyone knows you don’t stick. When was the last time you had a serious girlfriend?” I kept my voice light.
“They know what they’re getting into.”
“And they all talk about what a great guy you are.” They talked about other things, too, but I wasn’t about to feed his ego. “I’m not judging. But I’d have to be blind not to see you’ve got someone new on your arm every six weeks. And you’re blind if you think Bree’s not after something more serious this time around.”
“You want to talk about blind? What about the guy in music class? Lee?”
“Eliot? I told you, we’re friends.”
Simon scoffed. “If you say so. I’ve got to run.”
“Be careful,” I called as he left, surprised at how hurt I felt. “Bree’s looking to be more than the flavor of the month.”
The door slammed.
I wandered back into the music room, studying the score we’d worked on. I picked up my violin, tightened the bow, and ran through my part. Without Simon’s half it sounded thin and lonely.
“Not your usual work,” said Monty.
“Hey, Grandpa. It’s a project for school. I have to compose with someone else.”
“Simon,” he said with a knowing smile. “Where’d he go?”
“Date,” I mumbled, and shifted to Bach.
“Hmph,” he said. “You let him slip away.”
I stopped playing with a screech. “What was I supposed to do, sit on him? Steal his keys?”
Actually, I could have lifted his keys. But I wanted him to choose to stay.
I wanted Simon to choose me.
Monty shook his head mournfully. “Do you think Rose fell into my lap like an apple from a tree? Make an effort.”
“He’s not a Walker.”
“So?”
“So, isn’t that kind of . . . frowned on?”
Monty sucked in air through his dentures. “Since when has that ever stopped you? You’ve got a connection with this boy, haven’t you? When the multiverse tries to tell you something, it’s best to listen.”
The multiverse was giving me mixed signals. Much like Simon himself. “He’s on a date with another girl.”
“Find a way around. You can, if you want to badly enough.” He played a quick ditty on the piano and pushed up from the bench. “Dinner?”
“In a minute.” I stared at the score Simon and I had written together. He couldn’t draw a treble clef to save his life. He was dating Bree again. He wasn’t a Walker. Bad enough I’d hooked up with his Echo. Falling for his Original would be an even bigger mess.
And it was too late.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
WHAT’S ON TAP for this week?” I asked Addie as I set the table that night. “More inversions?”
“That’s the only one Lattimer told me about,” she said. “But I’ve got fun stuff planned.”
I was afraid to ask what constituted Addie’s idea of fun. Then again, Lattimer had told her to ramp up my training, and she wouldn’t ignore a directive from the Consort.
“What’s fun?” asked my mom, dropping into her chair. “I could use some fun.”
My dad rubbed her shoulders. “Sorry I missed your friend today, Del. Will we be seeing him again?”
“No idea,” I replied, and turned to my mom. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing,” Mom replied. My dad opened his mouth and closed it again.
“We’re not little kids anymore,” Addie said. “You don’t need to protect us.”
“What are you guys looking for?” I asked. Dad gaped at me, and I shrugged. “Why else would you need Eliot’s map?”
“It’s classified,” he said.
“And completely manageable,” added my mother.
A completely manageable problem wouldn’t have turned my mom’s skin waxy with fatigue, or threaded strands of silver in my father’s sandy hair. It wouldn’t have meant whispered conversations and locked doors, late nights and short tempers. Whatever they were dealing with was the opposite of completely manageable.
“Let us help,” Addie said. “I’m nearly done with my training, and Del doesn’t completely suck.”
“Hey!”
My dad shook his head. “Too dangerous. What we need from you two is to be careful. To keep an eye out for anything strange, especially on the Key World side.”
“You know you can talk to us,” Mom said. “About anything.”
At that, I rolled my eyes. Parents said you could always talk to them, but whenever you took them up on their offer, it was less of a talk and more of a lecture. I got enough of those as it was.
A thick, uncomfortable silence blanketed the room. Finally my mom pushed up from the table, her dinner untouched. “You two keep on doing what you’re doing, and things will be back to normal soon enough.”
My dad ruffled my hair and followed her upstairs. Addie surveyed the table, the food lying uneaten at each place. “They’re lying.”
“Duh.”
“Inversions,” Addie said, green eyes thoughtful. “He wants to know if we’re seeing inversions in the Key World. That’s definitely serious enough for the Consort to freak out.”
“They’re going about it backward, as usual,” said Monty. He crammed a piece of garlic bread in his mouth. “Inversions are a symptom.”
Addie watched him closely. “What would you do?”
“I’ve been out of the game too long to do much of anything,” he said, and Addie sat back, disappointed. He lifted his eyebrows. “But if I were a younger man, I’d be more curious about the disease, wouldn’t you?”
She nodded slowly. “Del, you’re on dishes tonight.”
“You have plans for this evening?” Monty asked when she’d left. He slanted a look at my backpack, sitting next to the back door.
I poked at my now-cold dinner. “I was thinking about it.”
“Be a doer, Del, not a thinker.” He winked. “Is it too late for a cruller?”
There was no way the doughnut shop was open at this hour, but I understood him perfectly. “I’ll find out.”
There was probably a lesson to be learned about the foolishness of Walking without a plan. Walking to Doughnut World was becoming second nature. Even the frequency, stronger than my last visit, was less irritating. But it wasn’t until I was standing outside Simon’s house that it hit me: He could be out with Bree in this Echo too. Or at a party. Or at Grundy’s, or anywhere. A few make-out sessions didn’t make this Simon mine, and it wasn’t like we’d spent a lot of our time talking, either.
The Jeep was gone, and the shades were already pulled. It was the same cozy ranch as in the Key World, but it was missing the Washington High pennant hanging in the front window, and the shutters were a glossy green, not red. Neat rows of solar lights lined the front walk, and the hedge along the driveway was carefully trimmed.
I made myself as comfortable as possible on the cement steps. It could be a long wait, and I contented myself with folding star after star, stringing them along a piece of kitchen twine. The temperature was dropping steadily, and I pulled on my fingerless gloves.
This had been a stupid idea. My parents were going to be furious. Addie would know something was up. I’d risked everything, again, and all because I’d been hurt Simon had chosen Bree over me. Again.
I reached for my backpack as headlights came around the corner. An instant later Simon pulled into the driveway and climbed out of the Jeep, white plastic grocery bags in hand.