A nostalgic warmth filled her to the brim as a memory flooded every one of her senses: her pops kneeling at her feet, dusting off a graze when she’d fallen from her first bike. The smell of the grass from her scratched hands. His voice just as soft and tender now as it had been all those years ago. “I’m fine. Just a little distracted.” Ade squinted into the distance for any signs of her sister and Dad. “Where are those two? They should’ve looped back toward us by now with a plan.”
“You know them. Your dad will have found an interpretation board of Roman artifacts to memorize. He’ll entertain us all afternoon and evening with his facts and figures.” Her pops pointed at two figures leaning over the viaduct, waving enthusiastically. He cupped his hands around his mouth. “Hey, you two.”
Ade’s dad gave half a salute in the distance, while Steph waved like she was on a landing strip.
As Ade was pulled toward the other half of her family like the magnetic north, she couldn’t help but wonder what Sylvie was up to. She would’ve loved for her to have joined them on their day trip, if only to fill in the gaps in both her local and historical knowledge.
But it was enough that she’d spared time for a family lunch. Once they’d gotten over her dad’s interrogation of her academic credentials, both her parents had shown her a warm welcome, and Ade loved them for it. As for Sylvie, she’d been perfect. Sophisticated, unfazed, confident. Everything that Ade wasn’t. Sylvie’s ease with the world smoothed over Ade’s flaws like a polishing cloth, and Ade was better for it. Sylvie celebrated her difference like it was a good thing, but it was hard to believe someone could see how she fit with the world, when she felt like a jigsaw piece in the wrong box most of the time.
Steph raised a glass. “Today was so much fun. But I’m glad that Dad and Pops went back to their hotel and left us to it. We haven’t been able to hit the bars in forever.”
“It hasn’t been forever. It’s been weeks.” Ade crossed her arms.
“You know what I mean, know-it-all.” Steph flashed her big grin.
Given the choice, Ade would’ve retreated back to her dads’ hotel room for a cup of cocoa and an early night, but Steph had been verbally and physically persuasive, practically dragging Ade into the old town for early drinks. She could only hope that they wouldn’t be going onto another bar.
“You had a good few days?” Steph asked, picking out the umbrella in her glass.
“I really did. It’s been great to see Dad and Pops.”
“I think so too.” Steph circled the rim of her glass. “You and Dad seem to be getting on better this afternoon.”
“What do you mean?”
Steph shrugged. “You just seemed less prickly with him is all.”
Ade mirrored the gesture. “Pops told me he was just worried about us both.”
“He needn’t worry about me. I’ve got my job all wrapped up for me when I get back. I just need to wring a little more fun from this trip before I head home and start adulting for real.”
“At least you have a job to go back to.” Ade stirred her Diet Coke with a straw.
“Don’t start. You’re finishing your PhD when you get back. Dad wouldn’t cut you off.”
“And what if I wanted to stay?”
“What the fuck?” Steph coughed and held her chest. “Where’d that come from?”
“I don’t know, really. I just keep going over that casual job offer at the center. I have people here now?—”
“You have one person: Sylvie.” Steph tipped her head back and laughed. “Is that what’s got you all worked up?”
Ade closed her eyes, wanting to form the most accurate answer possible. “Maybe it is.”
“Wow. I was not expecting that, little sister.” Steph smiled like some kind of proud godmother. “Then you have to do what your heart wants. Is it your heart?”
Ade froze. She had no idea where the idea had come from. It had entered her head and slipped from her lips. But had it come via her heart? It seemed ridiculous to think that. “I’m confused now. All I know is that I feel more comfortable here with Sylvie, in the real world. I’m more myself than I ever felt back home. That’s why I retreated to the lab most days: to avoid people and get away from the endless interactions.”
Steph turned her around and gripped her shoulders. “I love Sylvie. She’s fantastic and I’m really pleased you’ve found a friend in her. But it might be that you’re growing in confidence all by yourself. Try talking to some other people. See how that makes youfeel.” Steph looked around the bar. “There’s a couple of folks over there; let’s go hang out.”
Dread collected in Ade’s gut. She didn’t want to talk to strangers. She’d had enough interactions since she’d arrived in Montpellier to know that her entire personality hadn’t morphed into something more neurotypical. It was Sylvie who brought out the most relaxed, unmasked version of herself. If Steph couldn’t see that yet, then so be it. But she knew it, here in her heart.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The cool airrushed at Sylvie’s cheeks as she disembarked the high-speed train at the Gare de Lyon. “Welcome to Paris.” She grinned at Isa and took her duffel bag.
“Delighted to be here, especially with a local to show me the best sights and sounds.” Isa made a jazz hand motion. She’d made it clear for the past three hours that dragging herself all the way north on the train was a chore. “Let’s get this over with.”
