Red String Theory by Lauren Kung Jessen

Author:Lauren Kung Jessen [KUNG JESSEN, LAUREN]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2024-01-03T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

JACK

Rooney’s staring into the open jaws of a T. rex. Her head is angled, like she’s trying to figure out something.

“He could’ve put his entire mouth around my head and plucked it off like a grape,” she says.

“Add a little cheese and salami, and that dinosaur’s got himself a nice afternoon. Okay, we should probably give the ID to the Lost and Found,” I say, analyzing the map to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. “Olivia said Lucy has been on vacation for the past week but she’s back today. We passed the Help Desk on the way in but if we go back—”

“We love trying to understand where we came from,” Rooney says, clasping her hands behind her back. She’s clearly ignoring our mission. Which should be okay. That’s the point. To see where each Fate Test takes us.

I nod. “It helps us understand where we’re going.”

“Does it, though? How can we really know? Doesn’t all of this,” she says, gesturing around us, “feel like we’re trying to have control over something that we can’t? All we can do is let whatever’s meant to happen happen and then try to understand the meaning of it after the fact.”

I shake my head. “I don’t subscribe to the belief that we should be passive in life. If we want something, we have the power to go get it. To make it happen.”

Rooney reads a placard in front of a triceratops. “Sometimes things in life happen without us having to try very hard,” she says. “I think it’s those outcomes that are the most meaningful. We don’t even see them coming, like the dinosaurs. Not that I want their fate.”

“Between the volcanoes and asteroids, they certainly didn’t have it easy,” I say.

Rooney purses her lips. “Maybe it all happened as it was supposed to, and we were meant to be here.”

I cross around to the side of the assembled dinosaur skeleton. “Fate implies that it was intended to happen. That was another result of gravity.”

“We already have so many awful things to deal with as it is on Earth. Now we have to be on the lookout for asteroids?” Rooney asks with concern.

“Don’t worry,” I say with a tone of reassurance. “At NASA, we track near-Earth objects that pose a risk.”

“You can’t stand the thought of being out of control, can you?” she says with a grin.

I narrow my eyes at her. “Just like you can’t stand the thought of being in control.”

“We have different thoughts on how the world works. Try keeping your eyes open for the signs, Jack. That’s what I’m trying to do. That’s where the inspiration will come from,” she says, pulling her extra-long sleeves over her hands. It’s cool in the museum but eighty degrees outside. And yet, she’s still in a red sweater, though this one looks like it’s made of cotton. I’ve learned during our time together that she runs cold. She’s either wearing a sweater or carrying one with her, just in case.

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