Free Unscheduled Departure by T.M. Franklin Page A

Lindsay showed up after her last class, bearing take-out and another pile of books on cross-dimensional travel, so I poked at my Thai noodles and half-heartedly flipped through pages of Shifting Realities.
    It wasn't until early afternoon that it finally happened, and I grabbed the phone, filled with a mixture of relief and dread.
    "Hello? Finn?"
    "Ro, what the hell is happening?"
    It was embarrassing that it had only taken Finn about ten minutes in the other Rowan's company before he realized something was terribly, terribly wrong. And it had been him, not me— the other me, God, this was confusing— who'd called Lindsay and come to the same conclusion that we had. Similar to my experience, no one else in his reality could hear me over the phone, and I couldn't hear them. There was just this weird connection between Finn and me, my last tether to my own world.
    "So what do we do?" he asked.
    "You need to get . . . Rowan— the name felt thick and strange on my tongue— to the airport," I said, a rush of images filling my mind: a support column, a black scuff mark on industrial tile . . . a text message wavering before my eyes.
    A rush of dizziness that now meant so much more than I could have imagined.
    "Tell her she needs to go to the spot by the security line where she texted you when you left," I said.
    Other Finn leaned in. "How are you going to—"
    I held up a hand. "It's going to be tricky on my end," I told my Finn. "We're going to have to time this perfectly. It's almost 12:30, so, let's say two o’clock on the dot. She has to be there at two. And she has to be focused on getting home— getting home to her Finn. Her world. Her friends." But not her family. She had no family. "Call me when you're in place," I told Finn before hanging up.
    Guilt twisted in my stomach. "Should I have told Finn to tell her? That my mom is alive?"
    Lindsay shook her head sadly. "You can't, Ro. It would only make it more difficult for her."
    "But she could have seen her one last time. Said goodbye, maybe?"
    "It would only have made it harder for her to leave," Finn said.
    Lindsay nodded, reaching out to take my hand. "It's not just that," she said. "Everything I've read says we're on borrowed time, here. There's no telling how long the passage you used will even be there— if it still is."
    I knew as she said it, that Lindsay was right. Still.
    "I just feel so badly for her," I said. "It must have been horrible."
    Lindsay sighed. "It was. But Ro, she dealt with it a long time ago. She's okay, now. Don't make it worse for her out of your own guilt."
    I took a deep breath and stood up, letting Lindsay go. "Okay, then. We need to get to the airport, and I need to hang out by the security line without drawing attention to myself, or getting flagged as a potential terrorist." I looked at both of them expectantly. "Suggestions?"
     
    1:50 PM
     
    "We're in position," Finn said, his voice clearer than ever over the phone. I hoped that was a good sign. "Security's side-eying us a little, but no problems so far."
    I nodded at Lindsay in the rearview mirror as she circled the airport dropoff again. We figured it was safer than trying the parking garage. I adjusted my sunglasses and blonde wig, hoping the disguise would be enough.
    "We're on our way," I said, checking out the security guards posted at the entrances. "There, Linds." I pointed over her shoulder at an empty spot at the curb.
    She pulled over and grabbed my wrist before I could leave. "Good luck," she said.
    I nodded and hugged her over the seat. "See you soon. Thank you," I whispered.
    We got out of the car and Finn grabbed the empty suitcase we'd brought along to try and fit in. I held his hand firmly as we walked across the sidewalk and through the sliding glass doors. We both tensed as we stepped off the escalator and the ticket counters came into view. Finn squeezed my hand and we forced ourselves to smile at each other and make small talk as we passed the security guards