Split Second

Addie gave Trevor a sideways glance. “You still want to talk, right?”

He nodded.

I hooked my arm through Duke’s and dragged him into the apartment, leaving them alone. I knew Duke wasn’t going to let me get away with not telling him what was going on. But I didn’t need a box to keep a conversation secret. It was time for some Thought Placement.

CHAPTER 31

Addie: Should I feel bad about forcing a hot guy into a small box with me?

If possible, the box was smaller than it seemed when my grandfather and I were in here. Then again, Trevor was thicker than my grandpa.

“Too bad there aren’t chairs in here,” I said.

“I don’t think two chairs would fit in here.”

“True.”

A bruise was forming on the side of his face where Duke had hit him. I reached out and ran a finger softly over it. “Are you okay? Do you want some ice for that?”

“I’m fine.”

“I thought you said you didn’t punch someone unless you said something nice first.”

“I figured I owed him one.” He stretched out the fingers on his right hand. “I’m sorry I did that in front of you.”

“He deserved it.” Being this close to him was hard. It made me miss him. My heart wouldn’t give me a break as it fluttered away. “Do you want to sit?”

“If you do.”

I did. I had a feeling this might take a while, because I was willing to stay in the box until he loved me again. He joined me on the floor, and our knees touched. “Tell me what you think you know, and we’ll go from there.”

“What I think I know is crazy.”

“Try me.”

“I think Duke and his teammates have some sort of powers and they purposely injured my shoulder.”

I nodded.

“So are you saying that’s true?”

“Yes.”

He took a short breath through his nose. “And you. You have powers too?”

It probably took about an hour to explain to Trevor about the Compound and what I could do. Unlike when I’d revealed myself last time, this time Trevor had pieced clues together on his own over time, so it wasn’t as shocking.

“So you can move really fast.”

“No. I can manipulate time. Slow it down and move through it. That’s why it looks like I’m moving fast. I can also see forward in time.”

“See the future?”

“Kind of. If I’m given a choice, I can see the outcome of both possibilities. And that’s how I know you. You were part of a path I wasn’t able to take. So I have memories of you. Very vivid and real memories of a life with you. I still have them because you made me promise I wouldn’t Erase you.”

“So you were given a choice, and in one version of that choice, you ended up with me. And the other was the one you picked . . . the one where you ended up with him?” He gestured toward the apartment with his head.

“No. I mean, yes, but it wasn’t about him. If I had stayed here in this life with you, Laila would’ve died. I had to choose the other path.”

“So you know me.”

I closed my eyes and drew in a breath. “I know you.” I opened my eyes and met his. He seemed skeptical. I needed to prove it. “You draw amazingly well, but you don’t think so. You’re hard on yourself. You have a trash can and car full of just how hard on yourself you are. Your mom’s name is DeAnn, and whenever she meets a new person she has them tell her about themselves. It embarrasses you, but you love her, so you let her get away with it. Your brother, Brody, idolizes you. He wants to be you when he grows up.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“He does. Believe me. And you are so good with him. If anything were to happen to him, your world would end.”

His jaw tightened, and I knew I’d gotten that one right.

“Up until last year all you wanted to do was play football, and now you’re not sure what you want to do.” I wondered if this part was still right. Maybe without me here he had figured out what he wanted to do. “You’re a little lost, searching for a path you want to take and hoping beyond anything that one exists that feels as right as football did.”

He intently studied his palms. “You know me.” His voice was smoky, like it always was when he tried to hold back emotion.

I reached out and touched his bruised cheek again. This time he put his hand over mine. “Are you sure you don’t want ice for that?”

“Addison.”

“Yes?”

“But I don’t know you that well.”

I choked back a sob. “I know.” It was so ironic. Last time he only saw me and not my ability. This time, he only knew me for my ability.

“Please don’t cry. I want—”

The sliding glass door banged shut, interrupting him midsentence. “We have company,” Laila said. “Make room.”

Suddenly, both she and Duke were in the box with us. We stood to make room, but it was cramped.

I swiped at my eyes to make sure they were dry. “Who’s here?”

“I don’t know. We heard the door being unlocked and came out here.”

“It’s probably just my grandfather.”

“Yeah, but since your grandfather doesn’t know me or Duke, I figured it was best that we come out here. Considering he’s the one who made that weird toaster on the coffee table, I didn’t know what he’d do when he walked into a room full of strangers.”

“Good point.”

I opened the box a crack and looked through it. The apartment was lit up, so I could see inside perfectly as a man who was most definitely not my grandfather searched the place. But I did recognize the man. It was Agent Miller—one of the CC agents who had come to my house last week. “It’s not him.”

“It’s not?” Duke asked. “Great.”

“I wonder what he’s looking for.”

“Us?” Laila said. “Just a wild guess.”

“Let’s hope not, because we’ve packaged ourselves handily,” Duke said.

Panic gripped my chest. “Do you think they’ve done something to my grandpa, then? They seemed to ignore him for ten years, but now this. Do you think he’s in trouble for talking to me? Telling me all his theories about the Compound?” I’d just gotten him back in my life. I wasn’t ready to lose him again.

A warm hand grabbed mine, and I looked down to see it was Trevor’s. My heart exploded.

“Your grandfather is probably fine. Like you said, they’ve ignored him for ten years,” Duke said. “We’ll just hang out here until that guy gets what he wants and leaves.”

We were too cramped for Duke to notice my hand in Trevor’s, and I was glad because I didn’t want him to ruin it.

“So how does it feel?” Duke asked, looking at Trevor.

His hand tightened on mine, as if that was what Duke was asking about and he wasn’t going to let go. “How does what feel?”

“To know there are advanced minds in the world and that you aren’t one of them.”

I forgot what a jerk Duke could be. “Duke.”

“I’m just wondering. I always wondered how Norms would feel if they knew about us. Does it make you feel like less of a person?”

“Not at all. What about you? How does it feel to know that even though you have an advanced mind, the girl you love wants me?”

My eyes widened, and I almost laughed. Trevor wasn’t known for being rude, but that was a pretty low blow.

Laila raised her hand. “Could I request a no-fist-fighting-in-the-box rule? It’s too crowded. As soon as we’re free, please, carry on.”

Outside the box, the agent sat on my grandpa’s couch and picked up some of his handmade devices on the table.

“Maybe if you had kept your mouth shut,” Duke said to Trevor, “the CC wouldn’t be so interested in you.”

Trevor had angled himself slightly between Duke and me. “I actually started suspecting because you and your teammates couldn’t keep your mouths shut in the locker room.”

“No, seriously,” Laila said. “If someone ends up hitting me by mistake, I will wipe them clean and won’t even care.”

“He’s getting on the phone,” I said. All of us fell silent, and I knew Duke and Laila were advancing their hearing along with me.

“Yes, he’s taken care of.” He paused, and I took a small sip of air. “No. I have it under control. No, I’m not monitoring the apartment. No one is here.” He listened.

I looked up and around at the mention of the monitors. Had I missed them before? I waited for some sort of light to come on indicating we were now being monitored. Nothing changed.

“I thought we’d decided she’s all but passed. Her compassion indicators are high. She has respect for authority.” He paused. “No, she didn’t tell the boy.” The agent turned in a big deliberate circle. “I’m standing in the apartment right now. No one is here.”

“Can you read his lips?” Trevor asked.

“Shut up,” Duke said. “We’re trying to listen.”

“Don’t tell him to shut up,” I said.

“Shh,” Laila hissed. “I think he’s leaving.”

I concentrated.

“I’ll fill out a report. I’ll send it on Monday.” He put the small black box he had picked up back on the table. “No. I don’t know.” Suddenly, his eyes darted to the sliding glass door, to the box. I let out a small gasp.

“What’s the plan if he comes back here?” Duke asked.

“Addison can slow down time and we can run,” Trevor said.

“Duke can soothe him, I can Erase him, and yes, Addie slows down time and we run,” Laila said as we all prepared to be discovered.

Agent Miller walked slowly to the door. His hand gripped the handle, but instead of opening it, he locked it. “Yes. We’re good. Email me any questions.” He headed for the front door, opened it, and flipped off the lights. The apartment went black.

We were all silent for a while. Then Duke said, “We’re locked out here.”

I exited the box, needing some air, and everyone followed. “They took care of him? What does that mean? Did they hurt him? What should we do?”

“First we should get off this balcony,” Duke said.

Trevor took me gently by the arms. “Do you have your grandpa’s cell phone number? Maybe we can start there.”

“No . . . ,” I started to say, but then remembered that I did have his info from when I took it off my dad’s phone. I scrolled through my contacts and found it listed under Brett. Was that my dad’s code name for him or something? I dialed.

On the fourth ring he picked up. “Hello?”

I let out a huge breath of air. “Grandpa? It’s Addie.”

“Hi, Addie. How are you?”

“I’m fine. Are you?”

“Yes. I’m fine.”

“I think I messed up. The CC was at your apartment tonight, and it was my fault. They must’ve followed me there last time.”