“But it is, though.” I could hear my voice rising in frustration. “That’s the way this works.”
Freddie blinked at me, and it was like I could see this sinking in. That all we’d talked about—our whole night—would be like it had never happened. “Right,” he finally said. “Once you walk through the doors, you’ll remember everything…”
“But you won’t,” I finished. “It’ll be like we never met.”
Freddie put both hands on the railing and leaned forward on it, then pushed himself back, his brow furrowed. “I have an idea,” he finally said. “If the loop starts again, come and find me. And sayExcalibur.”
“Excalibur?”I echoed. “What will talking about your video game do?”
“No, it’s like a code.”
“But it has to be a code you would have known about before this conversation.”
“But that’s the thing!” he enthused. “Itis. My brother, Jack, and I came up with it yonks ago. When we were kids, we had a pact that if either of us had a magical experience, we would sayExcaliburto the other, and they’d know it had happened. That we’d crossed into a place where magical is real.”
“And that will be enough?” I asked, feeling relief spread through me. If these loops kept going, I would want to find Freddie again for sure. But the thought of not having to take him through this whole explanation again was also very appealing.
“Absolutely,” he assured me.
I nodded, wishing this didn’t have to end but knowing that we had run out of time. “So?…Excalibur.”
He nodded, giving me a smile.“Excalibur,”he agreed.
“Good luck,” I said, nodding toward the stage. I could see now that the countdown clock showed there were only twenty minutes until the performance—and he had to get going.
“Thanks,” Freddie said, giving me a smile. “It was great to meet you, Cass. Maybe I’ll see you after the show?”
I smiled back at him. “I’ll be here.”
He gave me a nod, then turned and started for the stage. He walked along the side of it, then turned and pushed through the door that, I assumed, would lead him backstage. I watched him go, feeling a few giddy butterflies start to take flight in my stomach.
I had met someone I liked. Like,reallyliked. Was that why these loops had started—so that we could meet? So that this could begin? I felt myself smile as I leaned back against the railing, looking up at the stars and feeling like something was finally on the right track.
Iknew I didn’t have a ton of time, but I took advantage of the fact that I had a little bit of a window before Eton Mess would be onstage. I walked to the bathroom across from the door that Freddie had gone through. Now that I was closer, I could see it was wooden and marked with anEMPLOYEE ACCESS ONLYsign.
I used the bathroom, washed my hands, and then dug in my bag for the tinted lip balm I was sure was rolling around in there somewhere. If I’d known I was going to be meeting a cute British musician at Grad Nite, I might have tossed in a lipstick or something, but I had to make do with what I had on hand.
I had just raked a hand through my curls, willing them to behave but knowing it was a losing battle, when I heard the unmistakable sound of someone crying in one of the stalls. I walked back over toward them. The crying was louder now—someone sniffling and sobbing.
“Um?…is everything all right? Do you need help?”
There was no reply. I tried to think about what could be causing someone to have a breakdown here. Was there also a sink at Disneyland that sprayed you in an unfortunate area? All at once I realized that maybe it was Amy and that she and Carlos had, once again, broken up. “Amy?” I ventured.
The door unlocked and opened up, and I took a step back in surprise—becauseTabitha Keithwas walking out of the stall. Tabitha Keith, nepo baby, burgeoning actress?, and cosmetics mogul. Soshewas the celebrity that was here tonight!
But she didn’t look at all like the Tabitha Keith I was used to seeing in paparazzi pictures and Instagram ads. Her face was puffy and her eyes were bloodshot—she’d clearly been crying. “Who’s Amy?” she asked me.
“Oh,” I said, blinking. I shook my head and attempted to pull myself together. “Um, she’s my friend. She and her boyfriend break up tonight—I just didn’t know if it happened yet.”
Tabitha frowned, looking confused, but just said, “Oh. Okay.” She took a step closer to the mirror and stared at her reflection. “God. I really look bad, huh?”
“No, no,” I said quickly, even though my voice was higher than usual. “Just like you’ve been crying maybe? But not bad.” I flashed suddenly to what would be happening not that long from now—remembering the security scrum escorting who I now knew was Tabitha out of the park. Because pictures of her had been sold to DitesMoi, and she was getting swarmed. Clearly, I was just seeing the prologue to that. But was there anything I could do with this knowledge? If the crying was anything to go by, it seemed like she was already well aware that something bad had happened.
“Sure,” Tabitha said, shaking her head. She waved her hand under the dispenser to get some paper towels and blotted her cheeks with them. “Just—you think you can trust your friends, right? And then to find out like this….” She let out a shaky breath.
“Why?” I asked, taking a step closer. “Did something happen?”
Just then, I heard the crackle of feedback from a speaker. “Make your way over to the stage,” a voice said. “Eton Mess will be going on in just a few minutes!”
