A/N: I was going to write this in Amanda's PoV, but at the last minute I said, "why not try writing it in Leo's instead?" So this is Leo's PoV. Takes place after Amanda and Leo first talk to Rory in the cafeteria in Finally. Enjoy!
There's no mistaking the recognition on Rory Swenson's face when she spots Angelina behind the lunch counter. Like she's seen a ghost. Which, to be fair, is exactly what it feels like (I speak from personal experience. Well, Amanda's personal experience).
I can tell Amanda is thinking long and hard about what it means—for Rory and for us, by extension. Angelina never does anything thoughtlessly. "Why Rory, do you think?" She asks after a pensive silence, twisting her fork around in her food.
"Not sure. I only have her for one class," I admit. "She's pretty quiet. Except for, you know, when the pizza-call thing happened. Other than that I almost never notice her."
Amanda seems to mull this over. "Well," she starts, and it's almost like I can see the gears turning in her head. She secretly loves to put things together like this. And it's kinda nice being on this side of the line for once. "I don't think Rory is stuck in the same day, like we were. Even if we weren't in the loop with them I'd like to think we would recognize the behavior of someone who's going through that."
I nod. "Right, and we only got stuck because of what happened to our ancestors," I point out.
Amanda nods back, her eyes focused absently on the table. She brings them up to meet mine. "Right. I doubt Rory's family also has a history like that, too."
"So then why Rory?" I reiterate Amanda's earlier question. "What is it that Angelina sees in her that made her want to pull Rory into the inner circle?"
Amanda raise an eyebrow. "The inner circle?"
I shrug. "I mean, what else would you call it? The group of us that know about Angelina's…" I lower my voice. "capabilities." Then I glance around as if anyone might have overheard me, even though the sound-mass that is the culmination of conversations in the cafeteria is almost impossible to differentiate.
Amanda tilts her head. "Isn't it just you and me?"
"As far as we know. But what if there are others, and we've never met them?"
A beat passes, after which the deja vu finally crosses Amanda's eyes. "We asked this exact same question when we were stuck in our eleventh birthday, didn't we?"
I grin. "It's a good question."
Amanda's focus drops to her food, and I can see there's something she wants to say, but doesn't think she should. "What's the matter?" I ask gently. She meets my eyes with her stunning green ones, and I feel myself melt into her gaze a little. That's been happening more and more often, but I'm trying to ignore it. It could mean nothing, it could mean everything; either way, I'm not ready, and neither is she. Besides, there are currently more important issues at hand.
"Should we talk to Rory? Try and see if there's anything we could do to help? You know what I would have given to have someone, anyone, guide us through the time loop?"
Despite my tendency to agree with Amanda, I find myself shaking my head. "We can't interfere. It would probably mess up whatever Angelina's trying to accomplish."
Guiltily, Amanda shakes her head. "You're right," she concedes. "Okay, we won't say anything. Nice performance, earlier, by the way. In the lunch line."
I thank her and pretend to bow, which is awkward since I'm sitting down. Amanda still laughs. "Same to you. You almost had me believing you didn't know Angelina!"
Amanda laughs again. It's a pretty sound. I missed it during the year we didn't speak. Now, whenever she does it, I savor it.
"I don't think you need to be reminded that she's very hard to forget."
