“What are you doing here?” she asked coldly.
“Looking for Nick,” Josie said.
“Nick’s not here.”
Yeah, like she was going to take Madison’s word for it. Josie gazed over Madison’s shoulder, trying to see if Nick’s SUV was in the parking area. “Any idea where he is?”
“Maybe you should try calling him. Phones are magical like that.”
Josie rolled her eyes. “He’s not answering.”
“Ever occur to you that maybe he just doesn’t want to talk to you?” Madison said with a half smirk.
“Ever occur to you that you’re a raging—”
“J-Jo?” Penelope shoved her head around the side of the wall.
“Damn,” Josie said with a side glance at Madison. “You guys don’t waste any time, do you?”
“Nick asked me to bring her over after school,” Madison said drily. “If it were up to me, neither of you would be here.”
Josie looked her straight in the eye. “Then I guess I’m lucky it’s not up to you.”
“Whatever.” Madison shoved the door. It rolled up so quickly it clattered to a stop, bouncing against the top of the frame from the violence of her push. “Get your car inside before someone spots it.”
Josie smiled as she climbed back into the black BMW. So Nick had overruled Madison on the issue of helping Josie get home. Considering what Josie assumed about their dating history, that was only going to make Madison hate her even more.
Madison relocked the gate but refused to acknowledge Josie’s presence, let alone talk to her as the three of them walked to the living-room area of the warehouse. It was almost ironic, really. The same anger Josie felt toward the Madison who had betrayed her, this Madison seemed to harbor for Jo. Was it all because of Nick? Suddenly, Josie’s and Jo’s realities seemed more parallel than ever.
Madison curled up on one of the sofas, arms crossed over her chest, staring into the recesses of the warehouse. Her hatred seemed to taint the air, and the whole atmosphere felt heavy and unwelcoming. Josie had viewed the warehouse as a safe haven, the only place in this world where she could actually be herself and not Jo. Without realizing it, she’d actually been looking forward to coming back to that place where people, regardless of whether they believed her, actually knew her secret. There was a sense of comfort in it that had now vanished in the face of Madison’s cold, impenetrable disgust, and despite herself, Josie yearned for Nick’s presence.
“So do I have this right?” Penelope said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. “You’re not actually Jo Byrne?”
“That’s right. I’m Josie.”
“Huh.” Penelope wasn’t quite convinced. She stood behind the table with a haphazard stack of books open in front of her, eyeing Josie with suspicion. Physics, quantum mechanics, string theory. Some were titles she recognized; some were completely foreign.
“Wow,” Josie said, examining one of the spines. “You have Feynmann here too?”
Penelope tilted her head to one side. “Yeah,” she said slowly, suspicion dripping from the long, drawn-out syllable.
Josie flipped through the book. “I’d never really thought about it before, but the laws of physics should—in theory—be uniform across both of our worlds. Which means the conclusions of science should be at least similar.”
“Einstein?” Penelope said. “Relativity?”
“E equals mc squared,” Josie recited.
“Quantum mechanics?”
“Copenhagen Interpretation or a many-worlds theory?” Josie asked quickly.
Penelope arched an eyebrow. “Unifying theories between the two?”
Josie smiled. “Too many to list. You want my favorite or should I give you the greatest hits?”
Penelope stared at her, eyes wide and gleaming in excitement, yet her face was still tense, her body closed off, and she stood angled toward the door as if she might make a break for it at any moment. She opened her mouth to say something, paused, then slowly scratched her cheek. Josie couldn’t help but smile.
“What?” Penelope said sharply. “Why are you smiling?”
“You’re scratching your cheek,” Josie said. “My friend Penelope always does that when she’s trying to figure out a problem.”
“Your friend Penelope?” Madison said with a breathy laugh. “That’s a good one.”
“Why?” Josie asked.
“Give it a rest,” Madison said. She shifted her position on the sofa to face Josie. “You’ve done nothing but bully Pen into doing your homework since sixth grade. Then when her dad lost his job last year, you promised you’d keep them off the No Access For Nonpayment list at the Grid, if she helped you pass physics. Not exactly the foundations of a friendship.”
“The Grid actually cuts people off for nonpayment? With the Nox out there?” Josie asked, horrified. “I thought Jo was just bluffing. What do you do if you can’t get power?”