Page 63 of The Déjà Glitch

Until Jack came along.

When he had told her things about himself at the lamps, it made her want to know more. Learning about him somehow made her feel like she missed him. How that was at all possible, she couldn’t explain other than by accepting the fact that they really had known each other for five months, and something deep in her brain, or perhaps her heart, longed for his presence.

And he was right about Nick. It did still hurt. It hurt enough that she’d closed off her feelings out of self-preservation, which had left her alone.

Until Jack.

She’d cut Jack off before he said anything about her father, but that one was a no-brainer. One of the greatest sources of her unhappiness was her troubled relationship with her dad. Too bad it appeared it would be permanent because of her father’s undying commitment to his own ego. She couldn’t imagine he’d ever do anything to repair it, even if part of her wished he would try.

So then in those ways, Jack was right about her unhappiness—and he’d even helped her fix some of it. But what did that prove? Only that he was nice and caring and more observant than most. Certainly not that they were each other’s solution to breaking out of a day skipping like a broken record.

Lila turned onto a street in her neighborhood, and the song that had been haunting Gemma all day came on the radio.

She snapped out her hand and turned it off.

Lila scoffed in surprise and turned it back on. “What are you doing? I love that song. And so do you!”

The poppy melody pulsed through the speakers, as joyful as ever. Lila instantly started singing along to it. Gemma knew resistance was futile.

She looked back out the window and tried to ignore that the song might have been a sign. Even though she had decided the “signs” today had been random coincidences that conveniently aligned, a nagging sense that it did all mean something bounced around her head like an incessant little insect.

With the song insisting it be heard and nothing to do but stare at taillights, she surrendered to a feeling she’d been fighting since she first heard the song that morning—of when it had reminded her of being in the bar with Jack. Instead of denying the surge of familiarity and chalking it up to something impossible, she welcomed it in. She opened a door she’d kept locked all day, and suddenly, there it was as if it had been waiting for her. It unfolded itself into a colorful cloud of memory, of light, and she saw it all.

“Lila,” she said to the window, stunned and knowing she was with the safest person she could ask, “what did you do last night?”

“A deep conditioner and watchedSchitt’s Creek. You?”

Gemma bit her bottom lip as they turned into Lila’s complex. She’d crossed many barriers that day, but there really was no turning back if she said what was on her mind.

She spoke slowly as if not to frighten away her own timid thoughts. “I went to your birthday party, and I met Jack at the bar. We talked for an hour. He ordered me my favorite drink, we heard this song, and then we kissed on the sidewalk. It was the best kiss I’ve ever had in my life.”

Lila parked and remained quiet until Gemma turned toface her. The bare certainty in Gemma’s voice hung between them. “You really remember all that?”

Gemma knew she could tell her the truth that she had finally accepted. “Yeah. I do.”

Lila fiddled with her key fob and hesitated. Gemma’s mood had tempered her enthusiasm for the bizarre, it seemed. Now that Gemma was taking it seriously, Lila stowed all her gasps and declarations. She spoke at a metered, cautious tempo like saying it too fast might make Gemma change her mind. “So, do you think that means he’s... right?”

“About what?”

Lila snapped back to her normal self and dramatically groaned. “Gem, comeon. I heard what he said to you back there. He’s inlovewith you. Who cares if he’s got a clingy ex-girlfriend and might be moving to Europe. He wantsyou. And I think if you remember what happened between you guys last night,truly remember it, that means his theory is right, and you have to love him back.” She snapped her wrist like she was putting a point on her statement and proudly tilted her chin.

A warm rush started in Gemma’s chest and filled her face. “It’s not that easy, Lila.”

“Of course it is! You have to trust him. And trust yourself.” She reached out and put her hand above Gemma’s heart. “Trust what you feel, Gem. Believe that this thing in here knows what it wants.”

For a fleeting second, Gemma was tempted. Tempted to take the risk of letting herself feel something and admit that Jack was right, not just about her unhappiness but about everything.

“Too bad I told him to move to Scotland.”

Lila shrugged. “Sounded like he’s willing to renege on that little situation.”

Gemma studied her friend with a moment of seriousness. “Don’t you think that’s a little irrational? I mean, that’s hislife, and—”

“Love is irrational!” Lila chirped. “Gemma, that guy is head over heels for you. Why can’t you see that?”

She turned to stare at the stucco wall out the windshield. Jack had known her longer than she’d known him, sure. He knew his feelings and trusted what he wanted. But what if he was wrong? What if when he got to know her outside of a single day, he regretted rearranging his life around her? She had been hurt too badly to trust herself not to fall for someone who would hurt her again.

The insecurities were too big, and she secretly hoped he was on his way to the airport for a red-eye to Europe.

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