Page 74 of Not You Again
Where the hell is he?
Carly’s thoughts came so fast that she couldn’t lock on to any of them. As soon as one came, another zoomed in todistract her. It was almost like her brain was a salad spinner, and the thoughts were strips of lettuce, crashing into each other and flying around in a maddening circle. At some point, she was so overwhelmed that she crouched low to the ground, hung her head between her knees and covered her ears. She couldn’t hear anything except a blaring white noise in her head.
She finally snapped back when Shireen shook her shoulder, shouting, “Carly!”
Carly took her hands from her ears. She sat on the gravel driveway and sucked in one long, steadying breath, then let it out, the same way her therapist had encouraged her to do when her ADHD was in overdrive. She repeated that two more times.
Eventually, Carly swallowed down her own fear, looked up at Shireen and said, “You were gone, too.”
Carly explained the last loops—Shireen’s disappearance and that, as far as they knew, no one else had gone missing. Shireen listened to all of it and tried to hide her reaction when Carly brought up Adam and Dean’s confrontation. She wanted to word vomit the facts as quickly as possible so she could get on with the bigger task of bringing Adam back.
“Do you feel any different after this reset?” Carly asked. As far as they all knew, the time between the eclipse and a reset was just a snap of the fingers. But Shireen had been gone for multiple loops. Had she felt that time pass?
Shireen shook her head. “I kind of don’t believe what you’re telling me. In my mind, I reset and came straight here. I didn’t miss a day, or any time at all. It’s only Adam missing that makes me think you’re telling the truth.”
Carly pushed herself up, feeling lightheaded from the near anxiety attack. If Shireen was able to come back, Adam would, too. But Carly had to channel Adam in that moment—gatherthe facts and come up with a plan to bring him back. That was doable. She could dothis.
When they arrived in town, Shireen parked her SUV at the top of Main Street. But when they got out, the first thing Carly saw was a blow-up swimming pool filled with stuffed animals—enormous giraffes, big fat elephants, tiny fuzzy cats, teddy bears with bows, bunnies with fluffy tails—and toddlers jumping onto the pillowy pile with utter glee. Farther down the street was a group of skateboarders moving in time to the beat the drum circle was putting out.
What was going on? Why wasn’t anyone else concerned?
“How do we start this?” Shireen asked.
Carly wasn’t sure. She’d had Adam as her partner, and without him, she felt unsteady. But then she spotted Mayor Franco in a purple cowboy hat and matching boots headed toward Moms Pie House. Mayor Franco had been her lifeline before Adam, and Carly could use her help again today.
Carly jogged to catch up. “Mayor Franco!”
The mayor turned, and when she saw Carly she tipped the front of her hat in a hello. “Good for you to keep up with exercising. And to go for a run in combat boots. You’re hardcore!”
Carly caught her breath but quickly said, “Adam is missing.”
“Well, I canseethat,” the mayor said. “Where is he this morning? Playing basketball? Cleaning gutters without the assistance of a ladder? What else do obscenely tall people do?”
She was not getting this at all. “No, I mean, Adam’smissing. He’s vanished, just like Shireen did. He’s not in Julian.”
“Oh,” Mayor Franco said, but still looked bewildered. “I see Shireen is here, though. That’s good news, right?”
Talking to Mayor Franco was a bad idea. She shook her head and turned back toward the street. Carly’s heart pounded so loudly her ears started to hurt. Could it reallyjustbe Adam who was gone?
“Shireen!” Dean’s voice came from behind them, and Shireen looked from Dean to Carly.
“You go,” Carly said quickly. They had a lot to catch up on, and Carly didn’t have time to listen to the recap. She had to bring Adam back. “I’ll keep looking.”
Carly went into every open storefront and spoke to as many people who were willing, but no one had seen Adam. At one point, she spotted red hair through the Main Street crowd and ran toward it with blinding intensity only to find that it was a mannequin someone had pulled from a clothing store.
Carly calmed herself with the knowledge that if Adam was missing, he’d surely come back in the next reset or two. Shireen had returned. Adam would, too. But Carly knew she had to tell Adam’s parents before they found out from someone else.
She approached Shireen and Dean on the sidewalk and said, “We have to tell Bill and Sheila.”
“Right.” Shireen focused on the ground.
Carly’s car was parked outside her dad’s place. She hadn’t been back there since... “Can I borrow your car?” Carly quickly asked.
“Oh, of course.” Shireen pulled the key ring out of the back pocket of her jeans and tossed them to Carly. “Do you want me to come? I know them very well, obviously.”
“Me, too,” echoed Dean. “I could come.”
“I’ll handle this on my own,” Carly said. “You both have unsettled business with Adam’s family. You know, destroying the marriage and friendship thing?”
