“Don’t eat too fast, Donovan,” Theo fusses. “Your stomach won’t be able to handle it.”
“My stomach can handle every single thing in those bags,” I tell her, snagging a slice of pizza and tossing it in her direction. “You should be eating too.”
I take another slice, wrap it around the cheesesteak, then force the whole thing into my mouth.
There you go, stomach, told you I’d treat you right.
“Disgusting,” Cosmo grumbles. “At least use a napkin.”
Theo munches on her slice and gives me a concerned frown. I shoot her a wink. Nothing to see here, just a man on a food-mission.
“What was it like?” I hear Theo's friend ask her.
“Unbelievable, Wills,” Tee replies. “Unbelievable. There is so much to catch you up on.”
“Yeah, Wills,” I say, joining in. “Unbelievable is the right word. My last few years feel like they were a fever-dream.”
“The name is Willow,” she replies. “Only besties call me Wills.”
We’ll be besties before she knows it, but talking of best friends, I can’t wait to see Wes. I wonder how he explained his reappearance. “Did you hear anything about my twin, Wills?”
“Wait, that one isn’t your brother?” She points at Max.
“You didn’t notice the lack of resemblance,” Cosmo snarks.
“I presumed they were fraternal twins,” Willow snaps back at him. “Twins can look very different, you know!”
She turns her back on him and fixes me with her intense look. “Your twin is already back here? I’m confused.”
“I’d be surprised if you weren’t,” Theo says, giving her friend a sweet smile. “This shit is all bonkers! But as for Wes…yes—we were told he came back before us. Hopefully, he's keeping his head down somewhere.”
Willow and Duncan exchange a look. “We’ve been monitoring the portal. No one else has ‘arrived’ through it.” She does quote fingers. “Could there be another way back here?”
“Most likely there is a portal in the building site,” Alexis says,and I shudder, remembering the vision Amirene showed us. That invisible smoke looked like it was everywhere around here. Makes me want to keep us all in isolation.
Ooh. Idea.
“Hey, Cos, does the apartment still have its landline?”
“Of course," Cos says. "How else do you think I get in touch with the cleaners, kitchen staff, and such?”
“Douche,” Theo's friend mutters under her breath.
“Then call it and see if Wes picks up. Because of time-slippage and all that, he could have landed a few days ago, right?”
Cosmo fishes out his cell phone, then sighs. “My phone hasn't miraculously regained battery life. Anyone got a charger?”
Duncan passes Cosmo a charging cable and his own cell. “Here, use mine, the lock code is 7357.”
Cos grunts his thanks as Max high-fives Dunc and says ‘test’ loudly. I don’t think I’m the only one who doesn’t understand.
“Do your phones work after going beyond the Thunderdome?” Willow asks.
“Lost mine,” Max shrugs. “Somewhere out there, in a land, far, far away, is a sad little iPhone. Still got my wallet though—thanks, chainy.” He rattles the silver chain on his hip.
“Me too.” It’s wild that through all that’s happened, my passport and wallet are still in my back pocket. The phone, though? No idea.
“Has Singleton-Smith been back on campus?” Alexis asks.
