Page 31 of Not You Again
Carly could insult right back, though. “The human bodyiscinema, Adam. Maybe you’re just too uncomfortable in your own masculinity to acknowledge the majesty of the male form.”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m bisexual. I’ve been with men. Rhys wouldn’t be my celebrity crush, though.”
“You’ve...” It’s not that Carly was shocked that Adam was bisexual, necessarily, but hadn’t he been with Shireen forever? “When?”
“High school. Junior Year. Casey Todaro. He was a nice guy.”
“Oh.” Carly tried to hide her shock.
“But maybeThe Shield Forcewill prove me wrong about Rhys,” Adam said.
As they returned to the snack counter in search of gummy bears and popcorn, the whole situation felt wildly normal, as opposed to the terrifying reality of every loop. They were just talking about pop culture, grabbing food and getting ready to relax with a movie.
Why hadn’t Carly thought to come here sooner? The change of pace was a balm.
In the theater, they sat in the middle row, and Adam’s elbow landed on the armrest between them. Their bodies touched, but he didn’t pull away, and she didn’t, either. They were both comfortable, so what was the harm? Other than the fact that she could feel the heat of his skin through his shirt.
“Okay, let’s say your theory is correct,” Adam said as the title cards rolled onscreen. “That a person has created some change in our universe. Andweare somehow those people.”
“Thank you, yes.” Carly shoved a handful of popcorn into her mouth.
“So if we stopped spending time together, no further changes would occur. Correct?” He grabbed the gummy bears and tore the package open.
“Yes,” she answered hesitantly. “That’s what I tested the last loop.”
“Let’s run a more proper control experiment, then.”
She didn’t love his expression, which looked like he was about to saycheckmate. “So what are you... What are you saying?” she asked.
“Let’s isolate for two additional days.” Adam leaned a bitcloser and she was distracted by a vein in his forearm, but tried to listen as he said, “No talking. Just go back to how we were before. We’ll study the eclipse independently and if it keeps decreasing, then your theory is incorrect.”
“But if it doesn’t decrease, then I get a Pulitzer?” She smiled.
“We’ll see.” He tossed a gummy bear into his mouth and chewed. “Do you want to know if the eclipse was shorter today?”
“No.” Carly just wasn’t ready for the bubble of this moment to pop yet. “So, when do we isolate?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Okay.” She could avoid Adam, she thought as she chewed her popcorn. She’d done it over two hundred times before. Her leg began to bounce in her seat, and she smoothed her hand over her thigh to still herself. She wished she had her fidget cube, or her stress ball to squeeze. Instead, she squeezed the top of her knee.
Her leg stilled. She was ready to be absorbed by the film, just as her dad would’ve wanted. That brief thought of Bruce triggered the realization that she was finally getting to watch a movie in her dad’s theater, but he wasn’t there. He never would be again. Carly’s cheeks were wet with tears before she realized what was happening. Adam’s arm coiled around her shoulder and he brought her into his chest. He smoothed his palm down her back in slow, gentle swipes until her body calmed.
At some point, Carly’s thoughts strayed from her dad to Adam, who wasn’t as terrible of a person as she’d thought. Here he was, comforting her, when he really didn’t need to. He wasn’t askingwhyshe was crying. He wasn’t trying to force her to talk about her feelings. He was just letting her completely soak his shirt with tears.
She was suddenly very tired. When she blinked, her lids nearly refused to open, and it was with some effort that she fluttered them. Maybe she’d fall asleep in this chair. Her dad had picked comfy ones, hadn’t he? Her dad. Her dad... She buried her face into Adam’s shirt. He smoothed his palm down her back again. And eventually, she drifted off.
Chapter 12
Adam
Day 243
Adam restarted the loop in his office, the same as he always did. Shireen was inches from him, but all he could think about was Carly.
She’d fallen asleep pressed up against him, and he’d been too scared to wake her. So he just held her through the action movie and the gratuitous shirtless scene. (He had to admit she was right; Rhys was handsome.) Adam felt her chest rise and fall in slow, easy breaths, and as the credits rolled, he stayed as still as possible so as not to disturb her.
He found he didn’t mind, because she’d been so upset that she’d cried herself to sleep, something she obviously needed. But the other part was that peppermint smell. Helikedbreathing it in, soothed by the scent.
