“You haven’t been doing it right.” She tosses her black hair over her shoulders, reminding me so much of Lalana that my heart aches. “You’ve been stumbling around your brain, trying to find the one cell that will let you enter the void. That’s like looking for a four-leaf clover in a random field of grass. You could search for years and never find it!”’

The sunlight streams through the window, highlighting the dust particles around Cristela. Even those specks seem to dance, as though infected by her exuberance.

“You have to go back to a moment when you know the portal was accessed. Such as the first time the Voice visited you.” Her words become faster, tumbling into one another. “This was also the moment she started tricking you, which corresponds to the point in the future where you want to travel. Correct?”

I nod. My mind hasn’t worked this hard since my AP Calculus class. “I guess. But you said yourself: You haven’t invented time travel yet. How am I supposed to return to last week?”

Bandit drifts to my side, his arm next to—but not brushing—mine. We haven’t touched since he found out I was trying to kill him.

I get it. I really do. I wouldn’t want to touch me, either. Doesn’t stop my stomach from sinking to the floor, though.

“You’re right. I haven’t,” Cristela says cheerfully. “And I’m certainly not going to do it today, in this kitchen. This is a hack that works only because your older self has been visiting you. The thing is, we all have a pseudo time machine, one that takes us to the past.” She taps her temples. “Your memory is a powerful thing. Recall a scene forcefully enough, and you might be able to trick your brain into believing it’s the real thing. At least, real enough to activate the portal. Think you can remember that moment strongly enough?”

“Probably.” I dart a quick glance at Bandit, blushing. He stares straight ahead. He knows that the Voice’s first appearance coincided with me telling him I loved him. Is he wishing that our meeting never happened?

“There’s only one problem,” he speaks up, his voice gravelly. “We’re trying to outsmart Alice’s older self. But she, by definition, knows everything that Alice knows, because she’s already lived it. Won’t she sabotage Alice’s trip to the future before it even begins?”

My mouth drops. He’s right. I never knew having your older self as an enemy could be so complicated. “We’re doomed,” I moan.