After leaving the Edwards, I sat in my car, trying to process everything they had told me. There was hope, but there was also risk. There were things I couldn’t control, but maybe some things I could. I was not entirely alone. And I’m not just talking about the Edwards. Before I had left that day, I had asked them why, if the universe changed, did some people have partial memories—like Katie remembering Tsammy Tsunami. The Edwards were not surprised. In fact, they had a name for it. They had a name for everything.

“It’s called the proximity effect,” they told me. “The closer someone is to the subjective locus, the more likely they, and even people around them, are to have stray memories from other existences.” I wasn’t sure whether they meant physical closeness, or emotional, but either way, it explained why Leo, Katie, and even Katie’s brother had flashes of memory. Who knows, maybe others would, too.

Before I drove home, I texted Katie. I had to believe that our conversations in those other realities had carried through to this one, the way my conversation with Hunter about the skaters had. It kind of makes my brain spin to think about it, but there was evidence in every world that my jumps were a constant. In other words, even in this reality, stop signs had once been red, and I hadn’t always been rich. Which meant that I must have confided to this Katie about the jumps as well. At least I hoped that I had. There was only one way to find out.

Hey if the T-ville Tsunamis and red stop signs mean anything 2U text me back becuz I know whats going on now. And if not just ignore this.

Then I waited. It felt like ten minutes of waiting, but to be honest it was probably less than two.

Hi Caitlin no way thats hilarious ROTFL

I texted her back a quick WTF, and her next response made it all fall into place.

Layton says hi.

Okay, so Layton was with her, and she couldn’t talk—or text—without him getting suspicious. I wondered if she’d had the foresight to save my phone number as “Caitlin” so that when it popped up on her phone, Layton wouldn’t think anything of it. Katie was definitely thinking a few moves ahead. I needed the help of someone like that, because thinking ahead has never been one of my personal strengths. It’s why I suck at chess, and in the past had been known to make fun of kids who didn’t. It’s a time-honored tradition, isn’t it? Define yourself by what you’re good at, and piss on the things you’re not? I’m sure that behavioral flaw goes back to when we were lower mammals.