The hand Cy had reached across the table was now a fist, and he pounded it on the table. “Why won’t you let me get through to you?”
I leaned forward, whispering forceful words, “Because you’re not saying anything! As usual, when you’re not being vague, you’re asking questions!”
“I have no choice,” he said, a defeated tone in his voice.
“But you expect me to. Oh, the irony.”
He sighed, holding his hand out again. “Please. What if I say please? Stay away from precarious situations and people you know nothing about.”
“Like you?”
Recognition lit Cyrus’s eyes.
“I know more about Benji than I know about you,” I said, shooting him an accusatory look.
“The difference is that I actually care about you. I’m not your friend to gain an objective. But I can’t help you if you won’t help yourself. I have no choice and even less time.” He turned to the waitress, and with a hand gesture, he asked for the check.
I hoped he was spouting so much nonsense because he was jealous, but deep down, I knew it was something more.
“Do you ever get tired of speaking in riddles?”
Cy watched the waitress make her way to our table. “I admit, it’s frustrating trying to help someone when you can’t explain your motives. My sincere apologies. This isn’t the way I wanted this to go.”
“We’re leaving?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” I realized that whatever this meal was, we’d both just ruined it, and it was time to let my guard down. “You win. I’m sorry. What do you want to know?”
“Everything,” Cy said, pulling out a fifty-dollar bill. He threw it on the table and then stood. “Unfortunately, our time has run out. We have a full day and night’s work ahead of us, Rory. We must go now.”
“Why is this so important to you?”
“What do you mean?”
“The rock belongs to Dr. Z. You act as if it’s yours.”
Cy laughed once and shook his head. “No. I know it’s not mine. That’s ridiculous.”
“Are you trying to take the assistant spot from me?”
Cy’s expression morphed from irritation to surprise to sadness. “No. No, of course not. You deserve the spot, Rory. And Dr. Zorba cares very much for you.”
“Then, why do you work so hard?”
Cy sat without offering a response, and I knew exactly why. He didn’t lie. He also didn’t want to tell me the truth, but I knew what I wanted him to say. Despite every wall I’d formed over the last few years, despite everything I had tried so hard to become, and despite the feelings I was beginning to have for Benji, I wanted Cy to say it was because of me. That him joining a class that he clearly didn’t need, the research assistant job, and all this time we were putting into recording the data wasn’t because of some fabled government agency or an alien rock, but that it was all for me.
I needed the weird feelings I had for Cy to make sense, and the explanation I kept coming back to was that I was kept on this earth for a purpose, and Cy would somehow connect the dots.
I decided to be brave, and I reached for Cy’s fingers, feeling the warmth of them between my own. Cy squirmed, but he didn’t pull away.
“Tell me what your connection is to the research,” I said. “Why is it so important to you?”
“It’s my fault Dr. Zorba carries this burden,” he said quietly. “Please, Rory. We really should hurry.”
It might be irrational for me to want Cy to give me some answer from the cosmos, but he was keeping something from me, and it was pissing me off.
“What do you mean, it’s a burden?”
He shook his head.
“What if I don’t want to go back to the lab? What if I decide to stay here until you start giving me real answers?” I crossed my arms across my stomach. Childish, but this was the weirdest, creepiest, most intriguing conversation I’d ever had. After hearing Cy recount things no one else knew about me, I knew most people would have called the police to report a stalker or at the very least run away, but I guessed Cy was right. I was attracted to risk.
“I can’t do this without you, Rory. And I wouldn’t want to, even if I could.”
And I was attracted to him.
Cyrus took my arm and escorted me from the café quickly. It was then that I saw Benji’s orange Mustang pull around the corner and park in the back of the café.
“What is he doing here? He’s supposed to be with his family.”
“Odd, isn’t it?” He continued to keep his hand on my arm and pull me away from the café.
“Is that why you were in such a hurry to leave? Did you know he was coming?” I asked as we walked. “How do you know all these things?”
“I just do,” he said, taking my backpack and swinging it over his shoulder. “Need anything else? It’s going to be a long day.”
I felt for my cell phone in my back pocket, wondering if I should text Benji. “Maybe we can order pizza later, and you can actually answer my questions.”
Cy made a face.
“Just kidding…about the pizza.”
When we arrived back on campus, Benji was already on the front steps of the Fitz, waiting for me.
Cy glared at him as he passed. Benji wasn’t fazed.
“Hey,” I said, stopping next to him. Cy continued to the door, and held it open, waiting for me. “What are you doing here?”
“I had to see you,” he said, glancing quickly at Cy.
“Benji,” I said, smiling nervously, “what’s going on? Is there something you’re not telling me?”
He held out a small white bag—Gigi’s takeout.
I smiled. “I thought you’d be on your way home by now.”
“Change of plans.”
“Your family decided not to get together for Thanksgiving?” I said as my eyebrows pinched together.
“They called before I got halfway home. Dad was called in to work. My sister works for the same company, so she had to go in, too. Mom wanted to go to her parents’. I wanted to see you.”
“Oh. Well,” I said, looking down at the sack, “I already had breakfast. But I’ll be working all day, so I can eat it later. Thank you.”
Benji handed over the sack but seemed tense. “I don’t suppose I can talk you into spending Thanksgiving with me? Surely, Dr. Zorba will give you today off.”