Page 75 (1/2)

"Sounds good" If Paul’s a physics student at Cae, even if I haven’t met him yet, my parents must have "Have you seen Paul Markov lately?"

My hter "Have you seen him around?"

"I--uh, no I haven’t"

"Oh, sweetheart" She scoots closer to put her hands on my shoulders "Are you still upset? I don’t blame you"

Upset? "I’ after Paul, if you really were" Moent measures, but the university code is as clear as it is lenient Technically, he’d broken no university rules So we couldn’t expel hiram I almost e hadn’t already canceled the Firebird project, so we could’ve had the satisfaction of tossing him out of that, at least But other professors are supposed to be working with Paul from now on! They should have kept hiht" It’s beyond weird to seeabout Paul without a trace of affection, or even grudging respect

What I see in her eyes is pure loathing

She rubs uerite--I absolutely proain Never"

Just when I think I’ain

28

THIS TIME I GO THROUGH THE BEDROOM LIKE A FORENSICS tea a crime scene Her closet is emptied out across the bed, every pocket in every coat or pair of jeans searched through Each and every drawer gets inspected The spines of each book on this Marguerite’s shelf, and the titles of all the ones in her e-reader, are reviewed I learn a few things about her--she’s confident wearing heels, she shares er fan of the surrealists than I am But I don’t find the stuff that would tellNo journal I don’t keep those at home either, but why couldn’t this have been another way she’s different from me? The various apps on her phone show me the photos she’s shared, her latest updates; all of it looks much the way it does on my own phone at ho photos

When I scroll all the way back to January, I finally see a picture of Paul In it, he’s sitting on our red sofa, Ringo happily in his lap Paul looks completely at ease At hohtly heated by the exertion of ripping up this Marguerite’s bedroom, I push up the sleeves of my sweater When I do, beneath ht ar tricks on me because the ache has returned

Well, if I can’t find out anything else about this world’s Paul, I can at least learn how to contact him

A little time on her tablet turns up Paul’s contact information without tooand his email address, at least his school account With a flick of ers, I open a rite to hie--the sauy they practically adopted in at least a dozen dimensions Anytime my parents and Paul have wound up at odds, Paul was the one who drew the line between them

The fourth and final splinter of my Paul is here, sheathed within the body of this other Paul Markov No matter what he’s done, or what he’s capable of, I have to face him We have to be alone

Until then, I refuse to worry During h the diunpoint, bombed from the air, nearly crushed in a submarine, exposed to the Russian winter until I nearly died of hypother ether Every time, I survived

Whatever happens next, I have to believe I can handle it For Paul, I will