Free Unravel by Imogen Howson Page B

doesn’t react like ordinary people, you know that.”
    â€œYeah. But this—it’s so beyond the usual ‘not ordinary’ you have to get used to with her. This is my mind , and she just . . .”
    â€œReached into it. I get you.” Cadan laid the fork carefully along the middle of the scraped-clean plate, then began to roll the plate up around it, activating the process that made the cellular structure of both plate and fork collapse, pushing the air out from between each cell so that it became a pencilslim cylinder, ready for disposal.
    â€œDo you think she sees it like that, though? Like your mind and hers, totally separate?” He glanced down at the quill of compressed material in his hand. “I mean, if she sees it as one structure, and you see it as still a plate and a fork, all separate . . .”
    His eyes met hers, and a trace of self-consciousness slid over his expression. “Okay, so that’s not the neatest analogy.”
    â€œIt makes sense, though. Kind of. But she did know it was wrong—she said sorry .”
    â€œWell, it’s not like I think she didn’t know it would piss you off. But, you know, if you and I were living in a halfway normalworld, if we were dating like normal people, I’d say sorry if I knew I was going to break a date. But it wouldn’t be the same sort of sorry I’d say if I was—” He broke off. “Okay, this is definitely not a good analogy. I was going to say if I was going to cheat on you, but I wouldn’t cheat on you, so I wouldn’t need to say sorry in the first place.” A flush spread across his face. “Yeah, I’m saying this all wrong. I think I’ll stop.”
    Elissa’s stomach did a little flip. It wasn’t often that Cadan looked vulnerable—he was pretty good at being Mr. Calm-and-in-Charge whatever the situation. “I get your point,” she said, the corners of her mouth curling upward as her eyes met his.
    â€œJeez, well, I’m glad you do.”
    The sand was becoming cold as the heat of the day withdrew from it. Elissa shifted position, moving to her knees, pulling her hoodie around her so she could zip it up. “So, to Lin, doing that might have been breaking-a-date sorry, but to me it was saying sorry and then . . .”
    She dragged the hoodie closer still, tugged the zipper right up to her neck. “And all the same . . . Cadan, it’s still kind of terrifying. If she really thinks of us—me and her—as, like, one mind that’s just sort of split into two halves . . . it gives her the right to do anything —”
    â€œShe’s like a child, though, isn’t she? In some ways, at least. She has to be taught things. I mean”—he laughed—“don’t think I haven’t noticed you teaching her just plain good manners.”
    Elissa found herself laughing too, leaning against him as he moved so he could put his arm around her again. Whereas her skin was cold, his was still warm, and under his sleeve his arm was warm too.
    She’s like a child. . . . If all Lin’s abilities had made Cadan value her more than he did Elissa, he wouldn’t talk about her like that, would he? Okay , so it was petty to even be thinking about that now, with so many bigger issues to worry about, but all the same . . .
    â€œYeah, I do do that,” she said. “I mean, I feel like I’m nagging her or something, but I just think, if you’re going to live on this planet—or on any planet where that kind of thing matters—you have to learn , right? Otherwise you’re always going to stand out as the weird one. And if some people struggle with even seeing you as human  . . .”
    â€œNo, I’m with you. I get it.”
    The crook of his neck, where his collar ended, before the roughness of evening stubble began, was