“This is seriously confusing. You know that, right? Some of this … it’s just beyond comprehension.”
He gives me a slight smile. “You get used to it. I’m trying not to overload you with too much at once. Come on. Let’s see what’s cooking on this side of the mirror.”
“Wait,” I say. “I’m not going to encounter an evil version of everyone, am I? My parents and Danny aren’t going to have goatees or anything, right?”
Finn shrugs. “How do I know? Let’s go see.”
He reaches for the door handle, and as he opens it, a woman in a shiny silver coat guiding a young child steps back from where she’d been waiting to get into the restroom. She sees me coming out from behind Finn and gives us both a look that should incinerate us.
Finn gives her a nod that can only be described as regal, and I clap my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing as he pulls me past her and over to the counter.
“Oh my God,” I say, in a hushed whisper. “She thinks we were…”
“Yes, she does.”
He threads his fingers through mine and gives my hand a squeeze. We make our way to the front counter, and I can’t stop looking at the glittering lights and polished chrome walls. Finn reaches up with his other hand and turns my head so that I’m looking full-on at the array of baked goods on display in a shining golden case with ornate prism crystal shelves.
Once again, I am dazzled. Everything looks like it was the prizewinning dessert on a Food Network showdown. There are brownies with gold leaf glittering on the top, cupcakes that sparkle and stand six inches high with shimmering, fluffy frosting over gilded golden wrappers. The cookies are glowing under the lights with silver and gold chips, and they’re easily the size of my outstretched hand.
Finn nods to the girl behind the counter. “Two chocolate spice specials and two bowls of glitter mousse, please.”
“No mocha with cinnamon?” I ask, still drooling over the cupcakes.
“That’s not what they call it here. Think about it a moment—the memory will come to you.”
He’s right, and it does. Cinnamon is just referred to as “spice” here.
He pays the girl and takes our tray of treats, motioning me toward a booth in the corner with a tilt of his head. I slide in, staring at the small, circular pot of sparkling stuff in front of me. It looks like whipped cream, but in an eye-popping shade of silvery blue.
“Glitter mousse?” I ask. “What flavor is this?”
He shoves a spoonful in his mouth.
“Glitter,” he says, raising his eyebrows.
I take a dab on the tip of my spoon and slide it into my mouth. The flavor explodes on my tongue, sweet and tart and screamingly delicious. My eyes are literally rolling back in my head.
“Mmmmmmmm!”
“Told you so,” he says. “Now for the best part.” He opens his mouth, smiling widely.
I suck my breath in, choking on a laugh. “You’re glowing!” His teeth and tongue are shining like neon.
“Should have brought you here at night,” he remarks. “The effects last for hours.”
I bring my hand up to my mouth self-consciously. “How am I going to explain this? When we get back?”
Finn answers around another spoonful. “You won’t have to. You’ll be back as your other self. She didn’t eat this stuff.”
“In that case, maybe I’ll have two.”
He raises his brows. “I don’t think the other you would appreciate it.”
I look down at myself. My clothes detract a lot from the rest of me because they’re pretty loud and flamboyant, but it’s clear I weigh more here. I’m not obese or anything, but I am definitely overweight.
“Are you making a remark about my—our—weight?”
“Not like you think. I just know that this Jessa used to weigh more. A lot more. She’s been working really hard to get in shape.”
He’s right. The memories of all the early morning workouts and the ways I’ve cut back come to me. Now I feel bad. I really shouldn’t sabotage everything I’ve been working toward over here.
“Guess I’ll stick with one.”
I take another spoonful, sighing in contentment as it melts on my tongue.
“So…,” I muse.
“So…?” He licks his spoon.
“You know me here.” The memories are trickling in as I access them. “But we’re not together.”
“I know you everywhere.” he replies, “and we’re not officially together yet because I only just got to know you.”
The memories are getting clearer now. Finn used to work here, and in a complete change of events, I told him that he was a Traveler.
“So just because I know I’m a Traveler in one reality doesn’t mean I know it in another?” I ask. “I mean, I knew before you over here. We don’t all become aware at the same moment?”
“No. What are you, Skynet?” he smirks.
“That,” I say, pointing my spoon at him, “was a solid nerd joke. Ten points to Gryffindor.”
He looks at me blankly.
“No Harry Potter, huh?”
He shrugs, still clueless. “No Terminator, either. I just happened to catch it on TV once, when I was traveling.”
“So you’re not from here?”