“A hypothetical group of multiple universes,” she replies in a British accent.
I flash back to Clover, the day she downloaded Magic 8. “How does that work?”
Mermaid girl tilts her head, studying me. “Do you live here? I haven’t seen you around.” She dries her hands and I follow her out the door.
“I’m visiting Harrison.”
“Is Harry back?” Her face lights up in an expression I know well. I’d bet a plane ticket to Madrid she’s in love with him.
“He’s in his room. We’re not staying long.” I don’t plan on emphasizing we, but it sure comes out that way. “I’m waiting for him out here,” I add.
She smiles brightly. “C’mon then. I’ll explain the multiverse while you wait. I’m Kate, by the way.”
“I’m Paige. But really, you don’t have to do that. It’s Christmas.”
“Nonsense.” She waves off my objection. “Any friend of Harry’s, yeah? Besides, I’ve been with my family all week and needed a break, so I snuck back here to get away from the toxic drama that is my mum and granddad arguing about politics,” she explains as she leads me to a room a few doors down from Harrison’s. She pushes aside the clothes and books on her bed and pulls the quilt up, creating a space for us to sit. I toe off my shoes and sit cross-legged next to her pillow while she unearths a giant textbook from under her desk and places it on the bed between us. “If you’re interested in string theory, you’ve got to take Wallace’s class. She’s the best.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I say. It’s easier than explaining that I’m still in high school.
She claps her hands together, eyes bright. “In order to understand the multiverse, we have to start at the beginning. In quantum mechanics, there are four fundamental interactions that particles go through: gravitation, electromagnetism, strong nuclear force, and weak nuclear force.”
“Four interactions. Understood.”
“String theory is a set of mathematical models that attempt to explain all those interactions in the same theory. Currently, gravity is explained by the theory of relativity, and the other three interactions are explained by quantum physics. The problem is that these two theories occasionally come into conflict, which means there has to be something else out there that explains everything.”
“That’s string theory?”
“Yes! String theory explains all elementary particles and all their interactions in terms of tiny, vibrating strings of energy.”
“How tiny?” I ask, because Kate is looking at me expectantly and I still don’t know why I’m here and what else am I supposed to say?
“A millionth of a billionth of a billionth of a billionth of a centimeter.”
“Wow. Yeah, that’s small.” It sounds even sillier out loud than it did in my head. Brilliant, Paige. I’m so out of my depth.
“So, that’s string theory at its most basic level, and one theory within string theory is the multiverse, which is a hypothetical group of parallel universes. According to this theory, there are an infinite number of other universes, in which every possibility is played out.”
“Every possibility about what?”
“About everything.”
Everything. Every wrong move, every missed opportunity. If that’s true, there could be another version of myself that’s with Fitz in the cabin in Williams right this second. I can’t help but smile.
“You look pleased.”
“Harrison brought me here to show me the ‘meaning of life,’ but this is better.”
“That sounds like him.” She picks up a purple plush pillow and runs her fingers across the soft fabric. “What’s your major?”
“I don’t have one.”
“Can I interest you in quantum mechanics?” She does jazz hands around her textbook.
“I don’t think so. What I really want to do is travel, but I can’t afford it.”
She grabs her phone off her desk. “You need to talk to Naveen. He can help you. He’s always talking about how he’s gonna get out of here again. Teaching English in China or serving on a cruise ship or being a social media influencer intern or some rubbish like that. I’ll ask him. It won’t take a minute.” Her fingers fly over her phone, and thirty seconds later she’s scrambling through her desk for a blue sticky note and a pen. She scrawls a website on it and hands it to me proudly. “He says to check here. Travel jobs for college students. The pay isn’t good, but they’ll get you out of town.”
I accept the paper and slip it into my pocket as she says, “So, you and Harry, huh?” She raises her eyebrows meaningfully.
“I’m sorry if it’s weird that I’m here. I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but I—”
“Don’t worry about that.” She waves away my concern.
I sink back against the wall, fighting a smile. “Good.”
She raises her eyebrows. “Oh?”
My cheeks flush. I tell myself it’s too soon to be thinking about Harrison that way. But my brain’s never been all that good at taking instructions from me, and I’m thinking about him anyway. “Nothing’s happened, yet. But maybe.” I shrug, no longer fighting the smile.
“You like him?”
“We don’t know each other that well.”
“That’s a yes.” Her fingers quickly dance over her phone, tapping out another text.
I smile. “It’s not a no.”
Kate presses her lips together. “Well! I’m glad to hear that he’s okay. Our breakup was hard for him, especially with everything going on with his dad.”
All the happy, bubbly energy inside me whooshes out like a popped balloon. “You’re his ex-girlfriend?”
“What’d you think?” she asks as a knock sounds on the door.
“It’s Harry,” he calls from the hall. Kate lets him in, and his eyes are full of questions when they find me.
“We got sidetracked talking string theory.”
He takes in Kate’s shirt, and understanding lights his eyes. “All you needed was a science lesson from our resident genius.” The two of them share a long look, and my stomach sinks. Her phone is still in her hand. Did she text Harrison about what I said?
“Thanks again, Kate. I should go.” I pick up my coat and brush past Harrison into the hall.
He follows me, but I’m too fast, making a beeline for the elevator. I don’t have a plan, other than to get out of this building as quickly as possible. I’m not sure what I feel about Harrison, and I’m definitely not ready to discuss it with either of them.
“Paige! Wait up! What’s wrong?”
I step into the elevator as he catches up to me, sticking out his arm to keep it from closing. He squeezes inside and lets the door shut behind him.
“Molly!” Fitz drops the arm around my waist and steps toward his ex-girlfriend. His arm falls to his side, and I use the moment of distraction to snatch the letter from his hand. His eyes flit to me for only a second before falling back to her. Guess he doesn’t care about the letter now that she’s here.