We’d crossed though the looking glass and had a night that I knew nobody would believe, and even though we were back in the real world again, it felt maybe like we could take some of the magic with us. Like maybe our ordinary lives wouldn’t seem so ordinary, now that we’d hung out with movie stars and discovered fortunes hiding in plain sight; now that we’d found the answers had been in our pocket all along; now that we’d faced our dragons and slain them—or at least, in my case, come to a better and more communicative understanding with them.

But maybe, I realized as I started to turn the doorknob slowly, not wanting to wake up Teri or set off any alarms, our lives weren’t so ordinary after all. Maybe the regular life you take for granted becomes unspeakably precious once it’s not yours anymore. When Amy and I had found ourselves together in a corner of the loft, she’d asked me about the theater department, and whether I was going to act in college.

“I… don’t know,” I said, trying out every word carefully. I was in unchartered territory, now that I no longer had the easy answer. It was suddenly like the world was a whole lot wider than I’d realized. And it meant that I no longer had a plan… but maybe that was okay. “Maybe?” I finally said. “I’m still deciding, I guess.”

“Just enjoy it,” she’d said, smiling at her fiancé, who came over bearing a drink for her. “Before it all matters so much. Before it’s how you pay the rent. There’s something so wonderful about that.”

I’d nodded like I understood what she was talking about, and she just smiled at me. “Have fun,” she’d said, before giving me a quick hug (!!) and disappearing back into the crowd.

Now, I turned to Kat on the landing of the guesthouse, to make sure we were somewhat in control. She gave me a thumbs-up and I smiled back at her.

My best friend. I was never going to stop being happy to see her.

I pushed the door open slowly, and after Kat followed me in, closed it just as slowly and turned the lock. Since it was after three in the morning, I’d expected that Teri would have been in bed ages ago, but the TV was on, showing the changing screen saver—the Golden Gate Bridge, Hong Kong, a wide-open plain—and in the glow of it, I could see that she was stretched out on the couch, fast asleep. There were empty snack wrappers spread all around, and Kat’s phone in the center of the coffee table, just where we’d left it.