––––––––
“Imagine this salt shaker is a connecting piece,” Liam said, setting it in the middle of the table. We were eating at this reality’s version of Taco Bell, called El Mohican. Do not ask me how it correlated—I’m still trying to figure it out. Everything looked mostly normal in the center of the mall food court, except for the blue plants. Even the lettuce was blue, though it tasted okay.
Liam pointed to a salt shaker on a distant table. “That salt shaker over there is also a connecting piece.” I nodded, following him so far, but he’d only added two salt shakers. There wasn’t much to be confused about yet.
Unless we were talking about this morning when I woke up next to him.
No, not next to him. More like intimately pressed against him with his arms tight and possessive around me. And Liam woke up happy. As in, there was something between us that had never been there before.
At least not that I’d noticed. Can someone say awkward?
“Gavyn, this is not going to work if you don’t pay attention.”
My eyes snapped to his. He smiled that sexy smile at me. Oh man, he really did something to my hormones and rational thought. “Sorry.”
“This salt shaker is yours, and let’s say the far salt shaker is a Gavyn’s in another reality,” Liam continued. He waited for me to nod before he went on. Did he think I was a moron? “Because the two of you own a similar object, it connects you between the two worlds. When you sleep, you can see what happens to the other world’s Gavyn because of this connection, and she can dream about what’s happening in your reality.”
“So I can only dream about other Gavyns, right?” I was glad my mind decided to jump out of the gutter and get on with the day. Plus, Liam was right. It didn’t make sense if I wasn’t paying attention.
“No.” He picked up the salt shaker again. “You dream about other Gavyns because you guys are similar and have similar personal items, like your dream journal, or that ugly stuffed dog, or the snow globe. You can dream about other people as well, though the connection is usually weaker and comes from a non-personal item like an alarm clock or a dresser.”
“I guess your dad taught you a lot about this, huh?” He must have started really young, too, because this was some complicated stuff.
Liam pressed his lips together. “Something like that.”
“Do you miss him?”
His eyes shuttered and he leaned away from the table. “What do you mean?” Suddenly he was on the defensive.
I backtracked. “It’s just that I’ve been gone from my mom for a day and already I miss her like crazy. How long have you been gone?”
Liam shrugged. “Long enough.”
He was always so evasive. It was annoying, especially after how close we were this morning. At least he bought me breakfast. And let’s face it, I deserved it. Even it was Taco Bell. Or El Mohican. Whatever. It was food, and I had every intention of keeping it in my stomach today.
“So these connections,” Liam said, dismissing the topic of his family. “They leave residual energy, like the trail a jet leaves in the sky. And if you know what you’re doing, you can follow them.”
“Is that how you found me?”
He nodded. “Sort of.”
I took a bite of my blue lettuce taco, thinking about this. “But you didn’t come through my room. If you were using my personal items, wouldn’t you have come through there?”
A frown teased Liam’s mouth. “So you are paying attention. I was following Emily.”
Emily. Her name sent a white hot pain through my heart.
When we arrived in this reality, she was plastered all over the house. I got to see her childhood laid out like displays at a science fair. Round and chubby as a newborn, first tooth, first step. Finally, an unsteady toddler and the first day of school.
Emily. My Emily. That’s what I’d called her when my mom was pregnant. I was elated at the thought of a sibling.
There were also pictures of Gavyn and Emily together. Those were the hardest to see, only because I knew it could’ve been me.
She looked like my mom, all dark hair and eyes, but there was something of me in her smile. I could tell she was my sister, even if she wasn’t a Ginger or a Daywalker. I bit my lip. The pictures made me wish I’d gotten a chance to know her.
“Hey.” Liam’s hand covered mine.
I waved him off. “I’m fine.”
“Yeah, that’s what you said when I hit you last night. Now look at you.”
I rolled my eyes and ducked my head. Like I needed to be reminded. I took three pills I hoped were ibuprofen this morning. I had a nasty bruise and a dull headache. Liam was right.
“It was an accident,” I mumbled. “No big thing. I understand.” Though I didn’t. Not really. He’d called out my name while crying in his sleep. That raised all kinds of questions in my mind. I knew that he didn’t want to talk about it.
I finished my taco and crumpled the wrapper. “Let’s go clothes shopping,” I suggested, already checking out potential stores. Liam grinned and I smacked his hand.
He’d bribed me out of the bathroom this morning with the promise of clothes and food. I’d taken a shower and hidden in mortification until he tried to break down the door. I couldn’t help that I was embarrassed over his morning excitement and afraid to face him. It’s not like I’d ever woken up next to a boy before. It was just another first Liam claimed. And he wasn’t ashamed of himself. Not even a little bit.
Secretly, I thought he was proud and enjoyed my discomfort.
“If you’re gonna be a jerk, we’re going back to the hotel.” With that, I shoved away from the table and disappeared into a store.
Liam followed me from store to store as I tried to pick an outfit. I wanted to go shopping in Gavyn’s closet, but he vetoed that idea, stating that we were already making enough ripples as it was.
I slipped on a jacket and someone flicked my stupidly heavy ponytail, sending it swishing like a horse’s tail. Liam was kind enough to put it up for me that morning.
“Hey, Gavy. Why didn’t you tell me you were going shopping today?”
I turned and attempted to keep my mouth shut, though it really wanted to fall open with surprise. Lena stood before me (Lena! My best girlfriend!) wearing skinny jeans and tight black tank top with sequins.
Okay, so she wasn’t my Lena after all. My Lena wore huge wide-leg jeans and too big t-shirts.
I didn’t say anything at all. My mind tried desperately to process this event. Lena looked over at Liam. I didn’t miss the way her eyes traveled from the top of his head, with his sexy, too-long hair, all the way to the toes of his badass boots. “And who,” she asked, “is this?”
Her words didn’t even hint at a stutter.
“L-L-Liam.” Great. Now I was the one with a speech impediment. I turned my gaze to Liam, eyes wide. What the hell was I supposed to do? Liam just smiled at me. Wow. He was so much help.
Drake walked up behind Lena and slid his arm around her waist. Oh my God. Drake! He so didn’t look nerdy. He had contacts and a Mohawk. He almost looked cool. “Drake,” I squeaked. This was too much.
His eyebrows lowered and he gave me the weirdest look. Uh oh. “Drake?”
Lena nodded. “Yeah. I think Gavy’s having a bad day, Demitri. She’s acting kind of funny.” Her eyes narrowed. “And what’s with that bruise on your face? Miss your mouth?”
Liam snickered, but I didn’t get it.
“Oh yeah, you know. Now that you mention it, I am feeling kind of weird.” I grabbed Liam’s hand. The look on his face was priceless. He could barely hold back laughter. “I’m probably getting sick or something. We should go.” I pulled him toward the front of the store. “See you guys later,” I mumbled.
We almost made our quiet escape, but as I began to realize, once you started messing around in other worlds, nothing was easy. As soon as I stepped outside the store the security alarm screamed.
The jacket.
I couldn’t very well take it off because then they would see that I only had one arm. I knew for certain their Gavyn had two. I’d seen those arms wrapped around Emily.
“Run!” I yelled to Liam, who took off, yanking me along behind him. We barreled through the hallways, running into people and ignoring their shouts and curses. Bursting into the sunlight, we made a beeline for our vehicle. The hovercraft was nestled among the others, suspended in the magnetic field of the parking lot. The highly advanced plastic polymer window gleamed in the sun, the shiny black chrome making ours stand out amongst the rest. Liam assured me this was a high-end model. I equated it to a Cadillac, but he had no idea what I meant.
We dove into the hovercraft (yes, still cool) and collapsed on one another in a fit of nervous laughter. The giant door hissed as it lowered over us. The situation probably wasn’t funny, but I couldn’t keep myself from hysterics. In the past twenty-four hours I’d become a thieving Ginger murderer. I needed to get myself a pair of badass boots if I kept this up.
“We are going to get into trouble,” Liam said between chuckles, trying to catch his breath. “The ripples will be huge.” He leaned over me and sealed the doors. They hissed. We lay haphazardly across the seat, tangled together. Liam’s hair tickled my face. “You really don’t know how to stay out of trouble, do you?”
My gaze flickered to his eyes; they were dark and full of secrets. “What does that mean?” All of my recent troubles were because of him and a bunch of Gavyns I’d never met before. I didn’t see how any of it had anything to do with me. I would’ve wiggled away from him, but he had the jacket wedged between us in such a way that I couldn’t get my arm free.
Liam kissed me.
It wasn’t like our first kiss where it was sweetened with surprise and innocent obliviousness; this kiss was warm and heavy, a hot summer night in August. His lips pressed against mine with intimate familiarity, his tongue teased my lips and then tasted them.
Eyes wide with shock, I watched his closed lids. Thick eyelashes cast a shadow on his stubbled cheek. His fingers inched into my ponytail and curled around it. He tugged lightly. His breath caressed my face.
When he didn’t stop after five seconds (much to my disbelief—didn’t he realize what he was doing?), my eyes fluttered shut. I sighed against him.
When he pulled away, I kept my eyes closed. Oh my God. I’d been kissed. And it was real. And I didn’t think I was dreaming. I wasn’t dreaming. And he kissed me.
Me!
Gavyn, the one-armed Ginger with a predilection for trouble.
“Gavyn?” Liam said.
“Hmm?”
“Look at me.”
“I...can’t.” If I opened my eyes he would disappear. I’d wake up and it would all be a dream. That was how it usually worked. His delicious weight would lift off of me like it’d never been there at all. The stubble of his cheek would become a distant memory. The taste of his lips would fade like gum chewed for too long.
His lips pressed against mine again, just quickly this time. “You are so strange, Princess.”
I gritted my teeth. “Stop calling me Princess.”