“I … was stuck in a time loop.”
They stared at each other, silent, for several long seconds. The silence was interrupted by a loud sizzling as the boiling pot of water began to overflow onto the stovetop.
“Shit!” Amie whipped around and lowered the flame. “Shit, shit, shit …”
When she turned back, Ziya was rubbing one side of her forehead, her eyes closed.
“Can you say something?” Amie pleaded.
“Put the macaroni in the water.”
“But—”
“Don’t make me Swayze you.”
Comforted only a tiny bit by the joke, Amie returned to the stove and dumped in the noodles.
Ziya’s eyes were open by the time Amie was done.
“So …” Amie prompted.
“I’m not sure what you want me to say.”
“Do you believe me?”
Ziya laughed.
Nodding to herself, Amie clicked her tongue. “Guess not.” She grabbed a spoon and gave the macaroni a stir.
“I’m sorry,” Ziya said, still giggling. “But you’d be theworstperson to get stuck in a time loop.”
Amie was prepared for a variety of responses, but that had not been one of them.
“Why?” she demanded, feeling slightly miffed. She thought she’d handled the time loop pretty well. She’d gotten out of it, hadn’t she?
Ziya was still smiling as she searched for words. “What wouldyoudo in a time loop, Amie?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean,” Ziya said carefully, “I think a lot of people would take advantage of being given infinite time to do as many things as they could with no long-lasting consequences. Do you really think you’d do that? Sorry—didyou do that?”
Amie frowned. Somehow, even though Ziya clearly didn’t believe Amie, she was still right.
“I did some things,” Amie argued weakly. “I visited my parents a few times. Read at the library. Tried that new Thai place by the library.” She struggled to come up with another example, preferably one that had taken her beyond a five-block radius of the library.
“God,” Ziya said, shaking her head, “if I was in a time loop, I’d do so many things. I’d travel all the time, as far as I could get within a day. Learn another language … ooh! Skydiving!”
She was still going strong ten minutes later as they sat in front of steaming bowls of macaroni and cheese.
“Mm,” Ziya said between forkfuls, “I’d run a marathon. Normally I’d feel like shit the next day, but in a time loop? No problem!”
“All right, I get it,” Amie said, rolling her eyes. “You’d be amazing in a time loop. I’d be terrible. New topic, please.”
“Seriously, though,” Ziya said, chuckling. “What’s with the time loop talk? What did you mean by that?”
Amie was too tired to deflect. “I was in a time loop,” she repeated, stabbing a fork into her bowl. She didn’t look at Ziya. She couldn’t.
After a long moment, Ziya sighed. “Okay,” she said. “New topic.”
