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Margo turned to me, squeezing my hand tight. “So you were going to, what? Ask my parents for their permission to see me? Like I’m a—”
“I’m going to go,” I said, incredibly tired. “I’m trying to keep the peace. If it’s not helping then there’s no point in me being here.” I made to move, but Margo held on tighter.
Mr Harding slapped my arm. “Stay, and we’ll order some pizza.”
I glanced at Margo who looked at me pleadingly. “Do you want me to go?” I asked her.
She shook her head. “Stay.”
“I’ll stay for a bit,” I told her. She brought me into the living room. We shared a single chair, squished together. “I’m sorry if me showing up like this made things awkward. I don’t want your parents to hate me.”
“I’m glad you came over. We argued, too, so you helped smooth it over.” She winced. “How was it after we left?”
“Weird,” I said. “Amelia started with me, so Perdita got mad.”
“She needs to be careful.”
“So do you,” I reminded her.
“I know.” She sighed. “It's not like I enjoy the side-effects. It’s frustrating knowing there’s something inside of me, but everybody wants me to ignore it. As if it’s going to go away.”
“I’m not saying to ignore it. Wouldn’t it be better if we knew more about it first though?”
“Agreed,” Mr Harding said, entering the room with his wife and a tray of cups of tea. “This isn’t about shaming you, Margo. It’s about making sure you’re as safe as possible.”
Margo grabbed a cup then slipped into another chair. We chatted together like normal people for a while, ignoring certain subjects, until the pizza arrived.
We had barely started eating when Margo dropped the half-eaten remainder of a slice from her hand, her back unnaturally straight. The chill hit me first, then the awareness that her eyes were blue.
“Margo?” I rushed to her side. “What is it?”
“I have to go.” Her face went slack, as though she had been replaced by something else.
She rose to her feet, but her mother clung to her. “Stop,” she cried. “Don’t go. Please, don’t go.”
“It’s already almost too late,” Margo said, her voice emotionless. She brushed off her mother as if she weighed nothing.
I steadied Mrs Harding on her feet and tried to sound reassuring. “I’ll go with her.”
“Me, too,” Mr Harding said. “Hon, stay here, maybe warm up some hot water bottles, just in case. We’ll see where she goes, see if there’s anything we can do.”
His wife hugged him. “Protect her. Stay safe.”
“I will,” he promised.
Margo was already out the door. I followed in a hurry, Mr Harding not long after me. I called Nathan as I caught up to my girlfriend. “It’s happening again,” I told him. “Margo’s leading me and her dad somewhere.”
“Keep me posted,” Nathan said. “I’ll get ready to leave. Let me know where to go.”
“Will do, thanks.” I ended the call, upping my pace as Margo broke into a jog. Mr Harding struggled to keep up. “Nathan’s ready to join us if we need him.”
Mr Harding was already panting. “Is this what she’s usually like?”
“Sort of,” I said. “Sometimes she goes in and out of a trance, in and out of awareness.”
“She’s different now,” the older man gasped. “Before, she wouldn’t respond to us at all. She was always determined to go wherever she needed to be, but she never seemed to be aware of us.”
“This is better. It’s less scary for her.”
