Page 129 of Time Stops With You

“Isn’t the radiation from those nuclear thingies really bad for you?” I mumble, glancing at my phone again.

A stifling silence fills the air.

I look up and meet Josiah’s narrowed eyes. My brother isn’t saying a word but every inch of his face screams‘are you an idiot’?“What kind of radiation are you talking about, Nardi? Photons? Particles? Be specific.”

“The heck should I know?” I grumble, pulling my leg under me in the chair.

“If you’re talking about photons, then what’s the frequency?”

“Frequency?”

“Or the wave length?” He waves a hand as if he’s intentionally dumbing down the question for me, but I still have no idea what he’s talking about.

“That lightbulb up there is radiating. These laminated floors. This cell phone is radiating.” Josiah grabs my cell phone.

“Yeah, I know.” I swipe it back. “That’s why you shouldn’t sleep next to a cell phone at night or keep it in your pocket. It can make you sick.”

Josiah gives me another ‘you’re dumber than a box of rocks’ look.

He really should learn to hide that expression. I’m his sister andIfind it annoying. Josiah will be in high school soon. Those kids will have a field day teaching the little boy genius that they don’t appreciate feeling like idiots.

“Everything’sradiating,” Josiah continues in a ‘you should already know this’ tone. “All the time. Photons are being emitted and have been emitting since the dawn of time.”

I check my phone again.

No messages from Cullen.

“What do photons have to do with nuclear energy?” I mutter, grabbing a pillow and squeezing it tight. “We were talking about how dangerous it is to mess with nuclear energy. Why are you changing the subject?”

Josiah springs to his feet with a sound of utter frustration. “Go outside tomorrow. You’ll be standing in front of a literal nuclear reactor that produces electromagnetic radiation through nuclear fusion.”

“I didn’t understand any of those words.”

He grunts and stalks off mumbling, “This is why I don’t talk to you.”

“Hey! Don’t be rude!”

Josiah’s door shuts firmly and I’m left alone to the restless quiet.

Pulling my phone to my face, I open my messages app and scroll down, refreshing the page. There are no new messages.

I check if my network is stable.

It is.

Wait for me tonight.

I’m not crazy. I heard what Cullen said. He looked me in my eyes and told me that he’d visit tonight. Did he change his mind because of what happened in the office?

“What a waste of a razor,” I mumble, smoothing my hand over my glossy, cocoa-buttered legs.

Not that I shaved for Cullen.

Or cleaned up other areas of my body for Cullen.

Or used my expensive perfume that I won during an office holiday party… for Cullen.

It’s because I deserve to treat myself with care. No one else is going to do it.

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