Jack here.
We were there for two more weeks. Two weeks of weirdness and trying not to say anything that would make us stand out.
Carmen and Miranda came in and out – they were staying in our hotel room from before. While they were gone, the two were exploring New York.
Then, one day, the two came together.
"We need to go home," said Miranda as she sat down next to me. "Could you limp between us, if you needed to?"
I nodded. "Do you have a way back?"
She shook her head.
"I think I might," offered Carmen.
Silence for a moment.
"Why didn't you mention this before?" I asked.
"Because I only thought of it this afternoon and I wanted to wait until we met to tell you. When I went on an adventure with Ivy, she told me something, about when you all were in London. She said that girl who used to go to choir with us – Sharon, wasn't it? – transported herself by touching something with energy on it and thinking about what was going on in the other universe. That's kind of how it works, doesn't it?"
"Yes," said Miranda. "We don't have anything we'd need for that. Good thinking, though."
"But we do. Rather, I do." She dug into her bag of knitting needles and yarn. "You remember I used to teach Ivy knitting? She handled a lot of these needles at one point or another, and I haven't used some of them since."
"That's brilliant!" exclaimed Miranda.
"Not bad," I said.
"Coming from you two, that means something. Thanks." She produced a small needle. "Try this one."
We all latched our hands onto it. I thought hard about that place in front of the theater, going to see Les Mis...
I hit the ground hard, suddenly.
We were outside. It was bright and sunny.
Carmen, Miranda, and I stared at each other.
"Come on," said Miranda. "Let's find your mom."
Carmen here.
Jack's mom was, I'm sure, rather surprised to find out about Ivy's powers. They did tell her – two bullet wounds are just too hard to hide, and they had no excuse.
I wasn't there to see it, though. I quietly backed away and went to see Wicked.
Two days after our trip to New York, Miranda called and asked if I wanted to go shopping for our prom dresses together. Translation: make sure I kept quiet about the whole thing.
Our friend Ariel joined us too.
"What do you think of this one?" asked Miranda, spinning around in a dark blue dress. The bright lights of the room caught the shiny stones at the empire waist.
"Nice," I said.
Ariel nodded. "Dark blue is definitely your color."
She stepped away from the mirror. "I'll put it down as a definite possibility. Unzip me, would you please?"
Ariel stepped forward and did so. She was actually going to a seamstress for her dress – very particular about her dresses, and short enough that she had some difficulty finding nice ones in her size. She'd refused to let us see it until prom, though.
"What are you thinking of?" asked Miranda. "Light blue for you? Or the purple?"
"Purple's not quite my color," I replied. "I'm not sure yet. I wish I could pull everything off, the way you do, Ariel."
"I can't pull of everything. Yellows and golds make me look like a bottle of mustard. And with my height, people would probably mistake me for one, too."
We laughed. There was a moment of silence.
"How's your head, by the way?" The tone was far too casual to actually be casual.
There it was. The question I'd been expecting.
"Miranda told me, by the way," said Ariel. "No need to hide anything from me."
"Thanks, Miranda. My head's fine. Well, as fine as can be expected. You know, I think I'll try on that other light blue one."
I stepped inside the change room for a moment and changed into it.
"This one's really nice," said Miranda. She glanced around – for the moment, we were alone.
It was very nice. A long skirt, with long, lacy sleeves. The empire waist was gathered and high, emphasizing my small waist. It was feminine and lady like, without any glitz or sparkle. "Showy dresses aren't really my style. Just say what you want to say."
"You can't tell anyone about what happened."
"Of course not. I had no intentions of doing so."
"Your parents believe that you fell?"
"Yes. I don't like lying to my parents, by the way."
"I don't think anyone does, really."
We compiled our lists, changed out of the dresses, and left. We were planning to eat lunch together and talk about it before we made any final decisions.
Jack met us outside, on crutches.
"Hey," he said, limping along beside us. "You've returned from the land of chiffon and tulle? Personally, I don't think I'd last five minutes."
Miranda snorted. "All guys have to do is get a suit. Girls have hundreds of different choices and types and we have to fit everything just so and figure out what fabric and silhouette and – "
He rolled his eyes. "Fine. Point taken. What did you pick?"
"I won't tell you yet. You'll have to wait for prom night."
"How am I supposed to get you your corsage then?"
"Probably dark blue, but I'm not sure yet."
He limped along next to us.
"So that's it? That's all?" asked Ariel. "No more visits anywhere?"
Miranda nodded. "Far as I know."
"Well, thank God for that."
I opened my mouth to say something, then closed it.
"My parents are dead because of this," said Ariel. "I wish I'd never known anything about this and I was singing in high school musicals and uploading covers to my youtube channel with only five or six viewers."
Miranda frowned. "I like your youtube covers."
"I'd give everything I got to have everything I lost back. I wish Ivy was alive still and everything was the way it was."
"I think all of us wish that."
I certainly did. A shame we couldn't get any of that back, and weren't likely to.