Page 36 of Not You Again
“No change?” Carly stared at him.
He stared back. And as she studied him, something in her gut told her not to give up on this wild theory of hers. But now that the evidence was stacking against her favor, how would she convince Adam?
Chapter 14
Adam
Day 246
Adam reset in the office. Shireen pulled away from him. They exchanged a resigned look, and then she left the room. Business as usual, really.
Except today would be Adam’s chance to shine. He felt bad for Carly, seeing as the evidence hadn’t favored her wild idea. But still, how would the two of them cause a shift in time and space? Her notion had no logic. His theory that the shadow bands had caused a perfect ripple in time and trapped them all still had potential. Heck, depending on the data he collected throughout the day, there might even be a new option to consider.
As such, Adam walked out of the office and into the hallway with vigor. Today would be a fact-seeking mission, and he knew just the place to start.
“Oh, Carly.” He singsonged her name. “I have an idea of how to pursue the ‘Adam Knows Best’ Theory. That’s a working title, of course. Open to suggestions,” he said.
Carly cautiously walked out of the funeral service room and into the hallway. She stood to face him, almost squarely.Her fists balled at her sides. “You can do this, Carly,” she said to herself.
He watched her closely. As was the case with most of his Carly interactions, this one was baffling.
Then she took a deep breath and began to march toward him. “Carly?” he asked with some alarm as she showed no signs of slowing.
She stopped mere inches from him, so close he could see the constellation of freckles dotting the bridge of her nose. Carly looked up and he looked down at her.
“Ummm,” Adam tried again.
“I need to do something, for science, and I need you to trust me.” Her hands reached up and landed on the sides of his face, squeezing onto him like he was a basketball.
“Okay,” he nervously replied.
“The kiss will be brief, and it won’t mean anything. I just need to try this.” Her eyes widened, and he was certain his had, too.
“A kiss?” he asked.
“A small one. Okay?” She waited for him to agree, but he was stunned into silence. Maybe he nodded. He wasn’t sure, but before he had much time to protest, she said, “Three, two, one, blastoff.”
Carly hopped onto her tiptoes, pulled Adam toward her and kissed him. The kiss was painful, in that she pressed way too hard against his lips, and he gasped in shock, which somehow caused her to bite down on his lower lip. And then she released him, and he reeled backward, nearly tripping over his own feet. His hand instinctively went to his lips and pressed against them.
“What was that?” he said, rubbing at the bitten part. Unlike the fake kiss they’d done in front of Shireen, there was no thumb and no audience.
“I figured outwhymy theory didn’t work the last loop.” She adjusted her glasses, which drew his attention to her eyes.
He momentarily got lost in them. His focus returned, though. “Because it’s not based in scientific fact?”
“It is based in evidence, though, which is a kind of fact?”
“Fair.” He had to give her that one.
She started to walk toward the front door and motioned for him to follow. “I realized that one of the key things that happened with the loops that shortened was physical connection—touch—of some kind between us. The last loop, no touching and no change.”
“So you’re suggesting that the loop is changing only when you and I touch each other?” Adam held the door open for her and she walked through. “You’re really grasping at straws. You see that, right?”
“I do, yes,” she said.
“And why not just hold my hand?” he pressed on. “Why a full kiss?”
“The first time we—the stage kiss—when that happened, I experienced this kind of jolt. I don’t know how to describe it. But like, a little flurry, and I just think that was a signal of like, a charge or something, that caused the change, if that makes sense?” Her hands fidgeted at her sides, and he wondered if talking about this made her nervous. That was... interesting.
