by Bailey James
“I guess I should go. My family thinks I’m at the mall. Thank you for answering my questions.”
The two of them smile.
“Anytime, Lily. And we mean that.” Rowan hands me a slip of paper with numbers on it. ”These are all our numbers. You can call if you need us: day or night. Or, if you prefer, you can just stop by. You are always welcome.”
“We’re family now. Please don’t hesitate,” Cindy says, and hugs me. ”Hold on. I have something for you.”
She takes off through a door and comes back holding a glass tiger lily. The colors of orange, black, red, and purple melt together on the actual flower, while different shades of green color the stem and leaves.
She tries handing it to me, but I stick my hands behind my back. “Oh, I can’t possibly take this; it’s too beautiful.”
She laughs and pulls my good arm free before pressing the flower into my palm. ”I felt the need to make this the other day, and now I know why. It would please me greatly if you took it.”
She’s smiling at me, so I don’t have any choice except to agree. Not that I mind much. It’s beautiful.
“Thank you.”
They walk me to my car, arm-in-arm, and wave as I drove off. The whole way home, I ponder what they told me. I still have no answer as to why this is happening, but I now know it’s real. All of it. Other dimensions. The mirror. Jackson.
For some reason, that last thought, that Jackson is real, fills my body with tingles and giddiness, and I can’t wait to get home to see if he’s waiting for me.
Part Two
Scene 1
“Everyone wants some magical solution for their problems, and everyone refuses to believe in magic.”
~Lewis Carroll
Chapter Eleven
When I get home, I pull into the driveway, carefully grab the sculpture, and take off toward the house, barely stopping when Mom steps out of the kitchen.
“Lily? Where did you go? Ty—”
“I’ll call Ty later, Mom. Right now, I have to do something.” I dodge around her to run up the steps to my room. I stop short when I see Ty sitting on my bed, staring at the door. His back is stiff, and anger pours off him in waves.
How in the hell did I miss his car?
“Hi,” I say, unsure what to say or do.
“Hi, yourself. Where have you been?” Ty asks, his words clipped short.
I blink at his tone. Why is he so angry?
“The mall.”
“No, you weren’t,” he says quietly.
“Yes—”
“You left your computer up. Please don’t lie to me.”
I narrow my eyes, my irritation popping up now. ”What are you doing snooping through my computer?”
To his credit, guilt flashes across his expression. “Your mom was worried when I couldn’t get a hold of you on your phone. She tracked you through your phone and saw you weren’t at the mall. She wanted me to find you. You have a habit of not shutting off your web pages. I thought I might be able to find where you went by looking at your computer.”
“Oh.” Damn it. I forgot my mom could track me. She’s never done it before.
“You went to see those…people?” he asks, gesturing to the computer, relieving me off the last hope I had that he didn’t know exactly where I’d gone.
Double damn.
“Yes,” I say carefully, watching his expression. “I thought they might be able to help.”
Sadness, worry, and anger cross his face, even as he closes the distance between us in two steps and grabs my shoulders. ”Lily, those people are either nutcases or predators. There are no such things as parallel dimensions. You aren’t seeing anyone in your mirror. It’s your brain trying to repair itself.” While his words are rough, his touch is gentle, and his tone has nothing but worry in it.
“How do you know what I’m seeing? I don’t even know for sure what I’m seeing, but these people,” I gesture to the computer, “are my friends. The man is from there.”
Ty ducks his head, so his nose presses against mine. ”They aren’t your friends. They’re just preying on weak people.” I press my lips into a thin line, and he grips me tighter, giving me a little shake. “They could have hurt you! Don’t you see that? Please promise me you won’t go over there again. It isn’t safe.”
He’s right. I know he is. But my gut is telling me I can trust them. And, right at this moment, they’re my only hope for trying to figure out this whole mess.
I step back, away from him, so he has to drop his hands from my shoulders. “I can’t, Ty, but I promise they aren’t what you think they are. If they were just trying to get money or something, why didn’t they ask for it? Why did they tell me everything I wanted to know without asking for anything in return? Why didn’t they hurt me already? Why did they give me this?” I hold out the glass lily.
He barely glances at it. “People like that don’t always just go after money.” His eyes meet mine, and now I only see the fear behind his beautiful blue eyes. “They, obviously, know how to play the game. They’re hoping you’ll trust them enough to come to them when you have more questions. They’ll lull you into a sense of complacency, and then one day, it’ll be too late.”
“They wouldn’t hurt—”
“They will,” he interrupts.
“You don’t know that,” I say, my voice rising. I barely resist the urge to stamp my foot.
“Lily.” He sighs, and drags his hands through his hair. ”Please. Think about this. I don’t want to see you hurt.”
I don’t say anything, and he growls, tugging on the ends of his hair. “Fine, if you have to go there again, at least promise you’ll take me with.”
I don’t have time or the energy to deal with this, and I know he’ll never leave unless I agree, so I nod. ”Okay, sure. Fine.”
The relief on his face is so instantaneous it makes a twinge of guilt churn in my belly. Maybe I really should bring him with next time. I’m fairly certain they won’t hurt me, but maybe they could explain to Ty what’s happening.
He smiles and kisses me. ”Wonderful. Now. Where would you like to go on our date?”
God damn it! I bite my lip. ”Oh. I completely—”
His face falls, and that guilt burns brighter when he says, “Forgot. You forgot, didn’t you?”
I lower my eyes to the floor. “Yes, I’m sorry.”
I look up through my lashes to see him watching me with narrowed eyes. He reaches out and rubs a thumb under my eyes. “Did you get any sleep last night?”
I shake my head. I’m lying enough, and he’ll just see through this one, so I opt for the truth. ”No, I read those books.”
He makes a sound and tugs me over to the bed. ”You need sleep.”
“Yes, you’re right.” I quickly agree, knowing it’s the only sure-fire thing that will get him to just go. I still feel guilty, but I have to talk to Jackson. I need to learn more about what’s happening to us. I crawl onto the bed.
He grins and starts to climb up with me, but I hold out my hand. “I really am tired, and I know if you crawl in here with me, I won’t be sleeping.” I wink in a way I hope is seductive. “Why don’t you get ready for our date, and I’ll get a few hours’ sleep?”
Heat darkens his gaze, but he nods. “Okay. I’ll come back in a few hours.” He kisses my head. ”Get your beauty sleep.” He turns and walks to the door. “I love you, beautiful,” he says when he’s at the threshold.
My heart melts a little like it does every time he says it. “I love you, too,” I murmur.
Then, with one last smile, he leaves, shutting the door behind him.
I wait a few more minutes until I hear the front door shut before I jump off the bed and rush to the mirror.
“Jackson,” I say the second my fingers brush the glass. The mirror shimmers gold,
and then his room shimmers into view.
He’s on his computer and cursing under his breath. I smile as a surge of relief passes through my body. I tap on the glass, and he spins around. He grins, showing off his dimples and causing all sorts of butterflies to burst into flight in my stomach. I shove them down. He quickly shoves from his seat and hurries over, pressing his hand against mine through the glass. Giddiness washes over me, pushing back some of my fatigue.
He frowns. “You look exhausted. What’s wrong?”
I wave a hand in front of my face. ”I didn’t get to sleep last night. But that’s okay,” I say before he lectures me, too. ”I read all the books.”
“You found them?” His eyes widen, but his smile is wide. “All of them? Wow!”
“Yeah, but that’s not the best part. I know where your missing men are.”
His jaw drops. ”You do?”
“Yeah. They’re over here.”
“I knew it!” He shrieks, but the look he gives me makes my heart thud. “Wow, I finally get you to believe, and you take over,” he says with a lopsided grin.
My heart skitters in my chest like it had the first time I met him. “Sorry.”
He chuckles and then tilts his head. ”What changed your mind?”
“The books helped, but then I went to see your scientist. Rowan. He’s here.”
He blinks and then shakes his head. “He is?”
“Yep.” I say, popping the ‘p.’ “I met him and his girlfriend today. She’s from here. She gave me this.” I leave the mirror long enough to snatch up the glass lily from my nightstand.
“What is it?” he asks.
“Oh, it’s a tiger lily. Cindy, the woman I went to see today, made it.”
“Wow, it’s pretty. Not as gorgeous as you, but it’s a close second.” His eyes meet mine, and he frowns. ”You really do look exhausted. You need to try and sleep.”
I shake my head. I can sleep when I’m dead. “I want to know everything; now that I know you’re real. Rowan told me a few things, but there is so much more I need to know.”
Jackson gives me his crooked grin. “Like what?”
I take in the surroundings of his room again, this time with an eye for the unusual. Although at first glance, things seemed normal, I have to admit that there are a few things that aren’t right: like the plant on the window. It’s blue, not the petals, but the stem and leaves. The petals are sharp and pointy like a cactus, and each has a little gold star-shaped flower on the end.
There are other things, too, such as the color of the sky. It’s blue, but it’s a different shade, as if it’s cleaner, newer. And there are a ton of planes in the air.
Wait. No. Not planes, cars. They have flying cars. Awesome.
A little voice in my head tries telling me I’m crazy, but the rest of me knows I’m not. I still don’t know how, but this is real.
“Like, are those really flying cars? Why is your plant blue? And why is your sky a different shade of blue? How come I can only hear you when I press my hand to the glass? How did you get through to save me and then go back, but neither of us can now? Why did you go back? What are your buildings made of? How come—”
“Lily, slow down,” he says, laughing. His eyes sparkle with amusement. “I can only answer one question at a time.” I make a go-ahead gesture, and he barks out another laugh before saying, “Uh, I guess I’ll start with the easy stuff. Our buildings and most everything is made up of carbon nanotubes—”
“Carbon nanotubes? What are those?”
He chuckles. “They are difficult to explain, but we use them for almost everything. Buildings, batteries, computers…” He shrugs. “They’re strong and almost indestructible. They’re good for…everything.”
I remember something my physics teacher had mentioned. “I think I’ve heard about them. Aren’t they toxic?”
“No. For a long time, we thought they were, but—after extensive testing—we found they’re pretty much the safest material we manufacture.”
“Oh.” I don’t know what else to say to that. I’m actually beginning to feel a little stupid. I don’t know anything about what he’s talking about.
“Don’t feel stupid, Lily.”
My head shoots up. “Did I say that out loud?”
He winces. “Uh…I felt the same way about your world when I was first learning about it. I mean, really, who uses gasoline anymore? Geesh. I just assumed you’d be feeling that way.”
“Oh.” Now I feel foolish.
He goes on before I can think that one over. “Yes, those are flying cars—”
“How do they work?” I ask, interrupting him. “I want one.”
He smirks at me and runs his other hand through his hair. “It’s complicated.” He chuckles. “I don’t really know how they work. They’re run by computers, very complex computers. You don’t drive them like you do cars in your world. You program where you want to go, and it takes you there. I don’t know the mechanics of it, but I’m happy that you don’t have one.”
I’m about to tell him that we have cars that kind of drive themselves, too, when I catch his last sentence. “Why?”
He blinks and then stares at me. “Well, geez, imagine if you’d crashed in one of those. You could have gotten seriously hurt! Then, again, it has to be safer than gasoline. That’s like driving a bomb. Why were you driving alone anyway?” he asks, almost as an afterthought.
Not expecting that question, I stutter over my reply. “Oh…uh…My friends wanted to go to the beach and stay overnight at the hotel they rented, and I couldn’t. Stay the night, that is. So, I had to go home by myself.”
“Oh, cool. Did you have fun?”
I blush, remembering how hot and heavy Ty and I had gotten that night and then again the next day. “Yeah, I did.”
He grins. “What’s with the blush?”
For some reason, guilt starts to weigh heavy in my stomach. “Oh…uh…Tyler—my boyfriend—was there.” Yeah, so not telling Jackson the rest of it.
His fists clench, and there’s a little tick in his jaw. “Why in the world did your boyfriend let you drive home all by yourself that late at night?”
Let me? “Well, I didn’t exactly have a choice,” I say, irritation causing my spine to straighten. “I had to leave and…”
“So?” he interrupts, and I narrow my eyes. “He couldn’t have driven you home? What kind of gentleman is that?”
I scoff. “I’m perfectly capable of driving my car by myself, Jackson.” I let out an irritated breath. “Besides, I wouldn’t have had my car to drive back the next day.”
“There are ways around that, Lily,” he says quietly. “If that were me and you, I would have found a way to make sure you were safe. You’re too important to lose.”
Chapter Twelve
My stomach flips, my heart skips a beat before quickening, and everything in me goes soft. How can I argue with that? More importantly, why would I want to?
I press my hand tighter to the glass; he places his hand over mine again. We stand there for several moments, just staring into each other’s eyes, palm to palm, sharing soft smiles. When I lick my lips, his eyes follow the movement. Butterflies erupt into my stomach, and I focus my own gaze on his lips.
God, I really want to kiss him. I sigh wistfully.
Then, as if those words are a gong, it startles me out of those thoughts, and I jerk my gaze to the floor.
You’re with Ty. You love Ty, I have to remind myself, shaking my head to clear it. You definitely should not be thinking of kissing other guys. Even ones with sexy-as-sin smiles and gorgeous hair, which beg you to run your fingers through it.
Focus! I quickly clear my throat and ask the first thing that pops into my head. “Your cars don’t run on gasoline? Are they electric?”
He sighs now, too. His is nowhere near wis
tful; it’s filled with disappointment instead. “No, they run off the energy caused by matter-antimatter collisions.” The look in his eyes is still far away.
Antimatter doesn’t exist; I don’t think anyway. We studied this in physics last year. It had been discussed, and I think some scientists in Switzerland had tried creating antimatter, but it isn’t sustainable. At least here it isn’t.
“Your world figured out how to sustain antimatter?” See? I want to ask, puffing out my chest. I know what I’m talking about.
He nods, pride obvious on his face now. “Yes, a few hundred years ago.”
“A few hundred?” For some reason, that bit of information hits me harder than the flying cars and the nano-thingies. My legs wobble, and I have to sit on the floor. I rest my head on the warm glass.
This is just too much. This is so completely unreal.
“Hey, are you okay?” Jackson asks, sitting on his floor, keeping his palm pressed against mine through the glass. I’m not entirely sure if it’s necessary for him—in fact, I’m pretty sure it isn’t—but I know I want the pseudo-contact of his hand pressed against mine. It adds a level of reality to the fantasy world I’ve found myself in.
“I’m fine,” I finally say, “I just can’t…I don’t know how this is possible.”
He sighs. “I know. It’s hard to take in. Listen, let me start from the beginning, okay? It might be a bit easier to swallow than a Q and A.”
I nod.
“As far as I can tell, our worlds are the same, minus a few changes, and those only occurred because of things that differ in our histories.”
“How do you know what’s different?” I ask, looking up and into his eyes. For a minute, I get lost in them. They’re such a beautiful green, I’m sure I can stare into them forever.
“Well,” he says, jolting me out of my stare. “I don’t know everything, and I don’t know if it’s all true, but from the research I’ve done—”