“Julia.” There’s a warning in Camilla’s voice.
“No, Mama,” she replies, marching into the dining room. “He needs to hear this.”
“Doesshe?” Camilla asks. “Hazel’s our guest and a lovely one at that.”
I feel grateful for the smile Camilla gives me, but if there’s a genuine reason for Julia to be upset, if we’ve done something wrong, I want to know. I’m not one to break rules, and I definitely don’t want to get Cosmos in trouble.
“I shouldn’t be here,” I whisper.
Julia comes up short, and her face pales a little. “Oh, no. No, Hazel, it’s not you. Look, you seem great, and I’m sure you two would be really good together, but your mom just got out of the hospital.You’re in a fragile place, and my brother, well, he tends to…”
Julia’s words from before sink like a weight in my stomach.You always do this.Has he made a move on someone at the hospital before? Multiple times before?
“I mean, Cosmos, isn’t trying to take advantage of you or anything, he’s got a great heart, but he falls hard and fast, and always with some sign from the universe that he’s found hissoulmate,” she says putting emphasis on the last word like she thinks it’s a joke. “What was it last time? She wore the same color as you four days in a row?” Julia barks out a laugh. “Two weeks in, he figured out the girl wearing the same color as him every day was a Flat Earther and decided it was just a coincidence.”
“That never made sense to me,” Cecelia says. “How does someone get through pre-med and still think the earth is flat?”
“She didn’t think the earth was flat. She thought the moon landing was fake,” Cosmos corrects.
“I don’t think the moon landing was fake,” I squeak, not even sure why I’m chiming in. Clearly, the moon landing isn’t the point. The point is Cosmos has fallen for people before because of some sign from the universe, and then he’s dumped them. Just like he’ll dump me.
Julia’s right. I’m too fragile for that right now.
I hug my arms around myself and stand up. “I think I should go.”
Julia’s face softens, while Camilla’s hardens. “No,Hazel, you stay. I think I need to have a talk with my daughter.”
Camilla takes Julia’s elbow and leads her upstairs. Cosmos tugs my hand, urging me to sit down. But I don’t. I thought this thing with Cosmos was special, but now I don’t know what to think. Have his signs from the universe ever been this big before? For all I know, he’s stopped time with someone else and this isn’t anything special at all.
Is he assuming that our stopping time means something more than it does? Does he think this means we’re fated to be together, or soulmates, or something? What if it’s just some fluke of nature? What happens when he discovers my flaws? Will he ditch me like he ditched the other girls? My thoughts are a rolling ocean, and I’m sinking fast.
“What’s it like to stop time?” Riley asks. Her question slams my churning thoughts to a stop. Any lingering uncertainty I had about whether Cosmos’ family knew our secret vanishes.
I look at the man in question, but he’s avoiding my eyes. Irritation swirls with all the other feelings churning inside me. The least he can do is look at me and explain himself.
“Um…” I don’t know how to answer her question. “What do you mean?”
“What’s it like to stop time?” Cecelia repeats her niece’s question word for word, and I can’t tell if she’s mocking me or serious. She looks serious, like someone asking a clinical research question.
I almost lie and say I don’t know what they’retalking about, but Riley’s looking at me with a wide-eyed intensity that’s both terrifying and endearing. “It’s like pushing pause on a movie,” I whisper. “Except the movie is everything and everyone around you.”
Her little eyebrows squeeze together like she’s trying to imagine it.
“Is there a physical sensation that goes along with it?” Cecelia asks.
“Wait… you all really believe this?”
Cecelia tilts her head as if she’s studying a specimen under glass. “He hasn’t told you.”
Hasn’t told me what? I want to scream at someone to explain what’s going on, but my brain has gone numb again. My body is shaking with a nervousness I can’t describe, but also can’t seem to hold inside.
Cecelia polishes off the last of her wine and bumps her niece’s shoulder. “Come on, Riley, let’s clear the table and give them time to talk.”
“But I want to hear more about time stopping.” Riley protests. “Did you do it tonight? Have you frozen me?”
“We don’t freeze anyone, pipsqueak. We stop time. There’s a difference.” Cosmos’ expression is serious and tense. He’s making an effort for his niece, but he still won’t look at me. “Now, help your aunt. I’m gonna show Hazel the butterflies.”
I’m certain we won’t find any butterflies outside at this time of night, but when he holds out his hand, I take it automatically. I owe him a chance to explain, and I don’t really know what else to do.
