Page 48 of Parallel

She makes it all sound so easy, and so controllable, when I doubt it can be. “So the uniform you were wearing today…was that evenyours?”

“My grandma lives near the school. I went to her house first, but she intentionally keeps the worst clothes to discourage us from jumping here, like housecoats and orange jumpsuits. So, Iborrowfrom the school’s lost andfound.”

She emerges from the stall with a wide smile and walks back to the table, where her Coke and cheeseburger now wait. “The one thing about jumping is that you’re starving when you get back, and sleepy if you’ve gone far. You’llsee.”

She digs into her food and Nick watches, looking deeply unsettled. In a different world, I’d lay my head on his shoulder and pull his hand into mine. It feels like the action I’m supposed to take. I twist my engagement ring on my finger again and againinstead.

“Okay, how does this whole thing work, theoretically?” he asks. “How are you able to doit?”

She takes a polite sip of her drink and looks up at him. “Every time traveler has this thing we call the spark. Time traveling’s just part of it. Like, once we reach adulthood, the aging process slows for us as well. But, anyway, it’s a genetic mutation, I guess. The only reason I have it is because both of my parents carry it. So both of Quinn’s parents must have carried ittoo.”

I laugh. I can believe in many things, but not this. “My mother thinks going to Philly for the day is a major trip. She isnota timetraveler.”

“You can be a carrier and never realize it. Or sometimes, for whatever reason, people refuse to use it,” she says, glancing at me. “Like you. You obviously can, but you’ve chosen notto.”

Nick rubs the back of his neck. “If Quinn is doing what you are, intheory, how come her body doesn’t disappear like yours just did? She’s not waking up nakedanywhere.”

“Because she’s jumping into herself. It’s sort of a baby step. But it sucks because you have no control over your actions that way, so you’re just living something again. And it’s dangerous too, because you’re under the sway of the brain you had at that time. If you’re happy there, you might not come back. You might not even realize youwantto comeback.”

It’s easy enough to picture. I remember Nick kissing me against that tree outside the high school. If any voice but his had been calling me, I’m not sure I’d havereturned.

“These aren’t memories, though,” I argue. “These are things that never happened. Like, I see myself living in London with Nick, or growing up with him in anotherstate.”

She shakes her head. “All those thingsmusthave happened. You can’t travel to something that has never or will never exist. All I can think is that maybe someone changed yourtimeline.”

It’s exactly what Grosbaum said. And it would mean that my dreams about London, about Nick as a child and our high school romance…aren’t dreams at all. They actuallyoccurred.

Nick blows out a breath, sinking backward into the booth. “Ifthis is all actually possible,” he asks, “why would someone be messing with Quinn’s timeline in the firstplace?”

“I don’t know,” she replies, raising a shoulder. “Maybe to make sure she doesn’t do something in thefuture.”

“I’m not Hitler,” I argue. “I don’t have a powerful job. I don’t even fudge my taxes. There’snoreason someone could ever be scared of whatImightdo.”

“Maybe she wants something you have,” Rose says. “Yeah, a time traveler can just take almost anything she wants but”—her eyes flicker from me to Nick—“some things you can’t justtake. Maybe it’s him this personwants.”

I can’t believe I’m hearingthissuggestion again too. “We, um…aren’t together,” Ireply.

The girl raises one perfectly groomed brow and starts laughing. “Ohreally?” She isn’t merely dubious. She’s acting like what I’ve said is so ridiculous that laughter is the only possibleresponse.

“Yes.Really. I’m getting married next month.” Nick’s hand, resting at the edge of the table, clenches into afist.

“Then I can only think of one other possibility,” she says. “Someone’s trying to kill you and keeps botching thejob.”

Nick’s body leans forward, suddenly shot through with tension. “Why would anyone want to killQuinn?”

She glances at me, hesitating. “I don’t think I should sayanymore.”

I see her looking around as if she plans to disappear again and my pulse skitters. Ineedto knowthis.

“Please,” I beg. “We’ve got to figure this out. If I can find a way to stop whatever it is I’m doing, or stop this person, maybe the brain tumor won’t keep growing. You’re my lasthope.”

She swallows, looking behind her before she turns back to us. “There’s something called the Rule ofThrees.”

Goose bumps crawl up my arms. I recognize the phrase. It’s something I talked about in therapy as a child. “I’ve heard of it,” I say quietly to Nick. “I spoke about it in those dreams I had as akid.”

Beneath the table his fingers twine with mine as he looks at Rose. “What isit?”

“That spark I mentioned she has?” Rose says. “Imagine it’s like a flame that can be shared but can’t be spread too thin. It’s limited to three females in a family. No one knows why it’s this way, but it’s what keeps the population small and ensures that no family has too muchpower.”

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