“Listen to me, Hunter.” I set the pulverized eggshells on a counter, and put my hands on his shoulders, forcing myself to make eye contact. “My ‘business’ was a mistake—probably the worst mistake of my life—and I don’t want you to make the same stupid choices I did.”

He shrugged out of my grip. “If it’s so bad, then why don’t you just stop, like you always say you will?”

I thought back to all the things that Ralston had said. The veiled threats that weren’t all that veiled. “It’s not that easy.”

“Yeah it is,” Hunter said, still young enough to be painfully naïve. “You just stop. It’s not like they’re gonna kill you.”

10

Cheeseburger in Parallel

There used to be a farm next to my school. I’m not sure what grew there because I never paid much attention. But it didn’t matter now, because the field was gone, replaced by the Bowman Athletic Center—our school’s state-of-the-art sports complex, named, of course, after our family, or more accurately, my father.

I got to school an hour early, not sure when Katie would show. The athletic center was already full of activity. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the football team had early-morning weight training, but as today was Monday, I had no idea what teams were filling the various spaces. Turns out the expansive double gym was being shared by gymnastics and the girls’ volleyball team today. A team that Angela would have been on, a woeful part of my mind reminded me.

“Ash! Over here . . .”

I followed the loud whisper to the bleachers, which were empty. Katie was in the space below the retractable bleachers, famous for kids making out and for spider infestations. I went around the side and slipped into the shadows of the steel infrastructure.

“Are you sure this is a good idea,” I said with a smirk as I approached her. “If someone hits the button, we could be diced and sliced like those two ninth graders last year.”

Katie shrugged. “Secret meetings are dangerous.”

Those kids actually didn’t get diced and sliced, by the way. It was more like trapped and embarrassed—primarily because they were secretly making out, although they claimed to be looking for rare spiders. I suddenly had to shake off a chill. I was remembering it like it was a real memory. Maybe it was for the rich me with the football star father, but not the me me who was really me. I got a little spike of anxiety as I realized there might come a time when I couldn’t differentiate between the memories anymore.

“So what did you find out?” Katie asked. “I can’t wait to hear.” Then she added, “I think.”

I hesitated, then realized there was no easy way to couch the news, so I just put it out there.

“We’re dealing with multiple parallel dimensions.”