****
We’re in my car, driving, with the sun setting behind us and the moon already sitting high in the sky. The sky is split between orange and deepening blue, like it can’t quite decide which part of the day it belongs to anymore. The road hums beneath the tires, and for a moment I pretend that this is just another drive, another evening that won’t change anything. I know better, though. Tonight is a line in the sand, whether I want it to be or not.
"You don’t have to come with me," I tell Stephanie. I’ve tried to talk her out of coming, without trying too hard and making her suspicious, but it hasn’t worked. "I promise you, I plan on breaking it off with Tina."
"I know," she tells me calmly, her hand lightly resting on my thigh. The touch is gentle, and reassuring. "I just want to have a small talk with Tina, too. I trust you," Stephanie said.
That word, trust, lands heavier than it should. I wonder at that, questioning if she’s playing some game or another, but she’s assured me she isn’t. Stephanie doesn’t feel like someone who needs to scheme; she’s too direct for that. Still, a part of me stays wary. Calling Tina over the phone to break it off isn’t an option for me. I feel like it’s the coward’s way out, and I know the blonde deserves better than that. Stephanie insisted on coming along, and I’m just not up to arguing with her anymore. I’ve had enough battles lately, both real and imagined.
"Now, you told me that Tina knows about your ability, but not how you got it, right?" Stephanie asks, her tone curious rather than accusatory. "And not about the alien?"
"Yeah," I answer, wondering what Stephanie is planning to talk to Tina about. My grip tightens slightly on the steering wheel. "She knows nothing about Vage."
"Vage, yes. What about her mom?" she asks next, her voice thoughtful.
"To the best of my knowledge, Nancy doesn’t know about any of it," I tell her. Saying it out loud makes me realize how many layers of secrecy I’m juggling, how many people are living in carefully constructed versions of the truth because of me.
"You know, you could make her forget all about you," Stephanie tells me solicitously, like she’s offering a practical solution to a difficult problem. I glare at her. She knows how I feel about using my power like that, about crossing that line. She immediately backpedals. "I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Sheesh, you’d think I asked you to rob a bank or something."
"Not a bank," I mumble, staring straight ahead, "just someone’s mind and memories."
"Well, I guess if you put it that way..." she says quietly, the humor fading just a little. "But how do you explain what you did to Tina and Nancy, then?"
"I was still learning, and I made mistakes," I tell her defensively. The words come faster than I intend. "That’s why I’m so careful about using them on people now. I don’t want to decide who someone gets to be."
"Okay," my girlfriend finally relents. Then she changes tactics, her voice softening again. "What about me?" she asks, and I’m thoroughly confused. "Can you tell if I have the magic gene? Maybe I could magnify your power so you won’t have to lay with your sister."
"It doesn’t work like that," I say, trying to let her down softly. This is one conversation I never imagined having. "Everyone seems to react differently to the gene being activated. In some, nothing happens. In others, they simply die. Only a few gain abilities."
’She doesn’t have the gene. I know that as surely as I know my own name’ Vage said through the nanites.
Somehow, it doesn’t surprise me that Vage is watching us at the moment, observing quietly from wherever she is. I decide against telling Stephanie the news. There’s no kindness in giving her hope only to take it away in the same breath.
She remains silent for the rest of the drive. The quiet isn’t awkward, just heavy, filled with unspoken thoughts. I can understand her motivation, though. She now sees me as some mythic person and is trying to find level ground to stand on. Stephanie isn’t the type of woman to stand behind a man; she wants to be right next to me, sharing the burden instead of watching from the sidelines.
When I ring the doorbell, Nancy answers the door.
"Oh, Nick! I didn’t expect you. Come in!" She’s cheerful as she greets me and even smiles as Stephanie follows me in. "I’ll go get Tina."
"That’s okay, Mom," Tina says from the top of the stairs. "I’m here." She looks at Stephanie for a few seconds, her mouth tight, before looking back to me. "I wasn’t expecting you either, and by the look on your face, I can guess why you brought Stephanie, or is it Stacy? I can’t tell you two apart." This last bit is directed at my girlfriend, sharp and defensive.
I’m not aware of any look on my face, thinking I’d kept my features calm, but I guess Tina knows me too well to be fooled. She always has.
"I’m Stephanie," she says evenly, "and I actually made him bring me. I want to talk to you, if you don’t mind."
I can see the hurt in Tina’s eyes, and it hurts me too, more than I want to admit. She’s always known that we aren’t right for one another. At least, that’s what I tell myself. Am I making a mistake with Stephanie? Only time will tell, and even then, only if I defeat the demons waiting on the horizon.
Tina shrugs her shoulders despondently before turning around to head to her room, and Stephanie follows. When I step after her, Stephanie stops me with a hand to my chest.
"You stay and keep Tina’s mom company. This is girl talk."
"Be nice to her," I say, knowing full well how hollow that sounds. She arches an eyebrow at me while batting her long lashes. I don’t buy the innocent look for a second.
"Why, whatever do you think I’m going to talk to her about?" she asks me innocently, far too innocently for my taste. When I grumble incoherently, she laughs and quotes her favorite line. "You know nothing, Jon Snow." She pats my cheek and hurries up the stairs.
"Can I offer you some tea?" Nancy asks. I turn around, wondering for a second why she doesn’t seem bothered by the tension surrounding her daughter. Then I remember the switches I’d made in her forever ago. After our trip to my mom’s house, I realize her contentment switch applies to anything I do, and I guess, by extension, that applies to Stephanie too.
I accept the tea, even though I doubt I’ll taste it.
I only hope Stephanie goes easy on Tina.