I don’t know what possessed me. All right, fine, I’m a twisted old thing. But I had them read.
Ezell, it was extraordinary. Watching them together…it was like seeing two people switched on from the inside. Noah’s been resisting his birthright for years, but with this girl he just…gave in. He trusts no one but himself, but he seems to trust her.
From what I can discern she is totally untested, a complete tabula rasa. But she’s responsive and open and bright, and she’s a fellow twin…so, primed for higher levels of psychic connectivity. I think she might just have the makings of a born actress.
If they agree to work with me, this may be the opportunity I’ve been hoping for, to push our work on phasing beyond Laughter & Death. What a grand experiment that would be.
It was unreal to have this unfiltered look into Eudora’s brain—and to that end, Eudora’s unvarnished perspective on her own younger self.Later, as Noah unloaded the dishwasher, AJ asked if he’d read the papers.
“No. I have my own memories of that time,” he said irritably. “I don’t want Eudora in my head overwriting them. You shouldn’t either.” He closed the dishwasher a little too hard.
With one day tospare, AJ turned in the screenplay, and as June gave way to July, her grip on time started to slide. It was all the same sets as it had been thirteen years ago, and many of the same players, albeit some in altered states: as AJ perused Eudora’s papers, the distance between the summers of 2000 and 2013 began to collapse.
One surreal Friday, AJ and Noah went to retrieve Eudora’s ashes from the crematorium and spent a pleasant if macabre afternoon selecting an urn they felt would be up to her standards.
“I wonder if they have anything in cashmere,” said AJ.
Noah snorted and picked up a sleek blue-and-white number marked down for Fourth of July. “Classic adult urn. This weekend only, twenty-five percent off,” he read from the label. “I think this works. She loved a limited-time offer.”
From there, they went directly to a cookout at AJ’s parents’ house.
AJ tried not to think about cremation as she watched Noah and her dad fervently agree that ceramic briquettes were superior to lava rocks a foot from a flaming meat cooker.
As her dad clapped Noah on the shoulder, he tipped back a Diet Coke, and AJ’s heart swelled. In the year since Patrick’s accident, he had made a concerted effort to cut back. So far, it seemed to be sticking. It made AJ feel almost…hopeful.
She heard a crunch and looked up to find Mike chomping on a pickle beside her. “This is unexpected,” he said, nodding to Noah. “But also not.”
AJ blushed. It was the first time anyone in her family had directly addressed Noah’s presence. News of Libby’s split from Lucas earlier this month had eclipsed even Noah’s celebrity. In fact, Libby was holding forth on her divorce right now, Noah listening attentively.
“I mean, he’s noBrian,” said Mike, with his shy smile. “But he’s a good guy, too.”
Too good,an unpleasant voice interjected.All of this is too good to be true.
That voice seemed prescient when, around four, the group realized that no one had seen Emily in two hours. When she wasn’t inside the house, the Graveses began to panic.
“I’ll try Mrs. Chin,” said AJ’s mom, hands shaking. “Maybe she wandered off to see Agnes.”
AJ disagreed. “She’s here,” she whispered to Noah as Libby tried to establish a timeline.
Noah nodded, and the two of them began to hunt around the yard. AJ was convinced on a marrow level that Emily was nearby. When they arrived at the garage, AJ stopped walking.
Without a word, Noah bent down and hauled up the door. And there, passed out in the front seat of Katie Graves’s Toyota Camry, was Emily.
“Oh my God, guys,” said Emily as AJ and Noah returned her to the cookout. “Why so serious?”
On the ride back to Drew House, Noah was contemplative. “How did you know she was there?”
AJ shrugged. “Coincidence.” Noah glanced over at her. “What?”
He deliberated, then said, “You are twins.”
AJ laughed. “I don’t believe in that stuff.”
“Why not? You two have been bonded since birth,” he said forcefully. His tone made AJ look up. He was squinting down the road, his face like stone. “I have to believe that if two people are that close, some part of it can survive, no matter what.”
He was thinking about them.
A long moment passed as AJ struggled for words. “We will always be close,” she said at last.
