She turns on her heels and moves away from Claire and me without another word. We watch in silence until she disappears around the back of the building.
“Well that wasn’t helpful,” I say, turning to find Claire. Her eyes are glossy with tears. She turns and starts moving back toward the street, pulling her coat around her tightly.
Fuck.
“Claire?” I yell as I gain on her.
“Please, I just need some time to process everything,” she calls back.
“Stop moving!” I shout.
“Everett, please just give me a second!”
Catching up to her, my hand connects with her wrist. “Please stop and talk to me,” I say, spinning her toward me. Her face is red and puffy. She sniffles, and her eyes find mine.
“I just need a minute,” she snaps.
“No.”
“No?” she questions, becoming more frustrated with me.
“No. We need to figure this out together, and I know that was frustrating and not helpful, but running away from me isn’t helping anything either.”
“And I just need a minute to gather my thoughts,” she says, spinning and walking away from me again.
“Claire,” I huff out, but she ignores me and keeps walking.
I follow her into town, restraining myself from trying to stop her again. The town is busy with people going about their day. Each person pauses as we walk by, watching and taking note of our body language and the fight I guess we’re having.
Making it to the ice rink, she sits down on one of the benches and folds her arms across her chest. I take a seat on the other side, and the cold air burns my lungs as I inhale and exhale slowly.
“Can you please tell me what’s going through that head of yours?”
“You heard her. She said I should be able to figure it out, and then she kept saying the word home, like we’re never leaving. This isn’t home.”
“Claire, she essentially talked in circles. Nothing she said made any sense.”
“But if she’s right…what if I’m the one who has to get us home, and I don’t know how. Or what if there is no getting us home and this is it. We’re just stuck here.”
Her face falls into her hands, and she shakes her head.
“I was so sure we were right about the crystals, and we weren’t, so what now?” she asks.
I move closer to where she sits. “I don’t have an answer, but I think if we just take a minute, take some deep breaths, we can figure this out.”
Her hands run through her hair, and she looks around the town.
“Why don’t you go dance for a little while, and I’ll go talk to Cami. See if we did something wrong with the crystals. I’ll get us some coffee, and then we can go back to the house and see if we missed something in one of those books.”
“I can come with you.”
“I know that, but I think you need to take a break. Clear your head. Forget all that nonsense that she just spewed. We’re going to figure this out, and we’re going to do it together. It’s not going to fall all on you, and we definitely aren’t staying here.”
“I’m sorry,” she says, her body crumbling against me. “I’m so sorry.”
“Shhh.” My hands rub up and down her spine. “It’s okay. Waking up here this morning was a lot, and you freaked out. She was no help. It’s okay.”
“I’m sorry,” she says, sitting up. The cold wind wraps around us, causing her to shiver, and she wipes her face with the back of her hand.
