Epitome

Chapter 14

Tyler just overheard us. Whether it was on purpose or not, I am pissed. And a little scared. My mind is racing as I try to find excuses, jokes, anything to convince Tyler that we weren't just talking about being murdered and reincarnated.
"Do you want to join us, Tyler?" I ask, but it was more of a demand. Gemma is holding onto her shirt again, a habit I'm not sure she knows she has.
Tyler looks wary, but only for a moment before his usual smirk is back. "Can't get enough of me, can you Endors?" He chuckles. I know he's putting on an act. Only a couple of hours ago we were hardly speaking. Clearly he doesn't want to be dragged into this whole reincarnation mess. If he didn't want to be a part of it, he shouldn't have eavesdropped. He sits down next to Gemma at the booth. I lean forward and place my hands next to each other on the table.
"What did you hear?" I ask.
Tyler's smirk falters. "Not much. Nothing, actually. I heard nothing." I hear Gemma snort facetiously, so I turn my attention to her.
"What is it, Gemma?" I ask.
She shifts her eyes from me to Tyler, then back to me. Then she smiles sarcastically. "Tyler's never been a very good liar. You see how he keeps touching his nose? That means he is lying. Always has."
I look back at Tyler just as he takes his hand away from his nose. He looks guilty, and his smirk is gone. "Don't lie, Tyler. What did you hear?"
He sighs and looks at Gemma. "You think you're reincarnated? How does that even make sense? You and Delaney are clearly perfect for each other. You're both crazy. This is crazy."
Gemma sits a bit straighter, making her just three inches shorter than Tyler. She leans into him and raises her voice. "Excuse me? How could you be so arrogant? Here I was thinking that maybe you would understand; maybe you could help me and Delaney. But no-you jump to conclusions, like always!" Her eyes grow wide, and she looks vicious. Tyler opens his mouth to speak but Gemma cuts him off, "have you ever thought maybe there was something bigger than yourself out there? Maybe you can't comprehend this, but there are things out there that you don't know about yet. Things that have happened, things that will happen. And maybe what has happened to Lanes and I is some form of magic. I don't know. All I know is that now you're in on it, and either you help us or you stay out of our way."
Tyler is silent. Gemma is silent, they both stare at each other.
Suddenly, my phone begins to ring. I check it and say "Oh! It's four! I have an interview! See you later." Their staring match continues, but Gemma gives me a little wave. I walk up to the counter, "Hey, I'm Delaney. I'm here for an interview."

I feel pretty confident about the interview. I was confident, thanks to Delaney. I head home as soon as I'm done. Tyler and Gemma had already gone home, I guess. I get inside my house and my mom is waiting for me in the entryway. "Hey! How was your weekend?" She asks, and I don't feel like telling her about the party anymore.
"Fine. How was yours?"
"Wonderful! I had a fancy dinner for work. You would have loved it! I was going to invite you but you were already off having fun by the time I got around to it. Shame." She smiled.
I smile back. "It's the thought that counts." I say before heading up to my room.

I text Gemma. "You alright?" I ask. I sit down on my bed and open up a science textbook that I see on my night stand. I read about chemical formulas.

Gemma: Yeah. I explained everything to Tyler. We don't have proof that we aren't lying, though.
Me: He thinks we're crazy?
Gemma: Probably.

An hour passes and I get a message from Tyler.
Tyler: meet me by the grindstone cafe in ten minutes.

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