Farah Naz Rishi - It All Comes Back to You

To Kid Me, who spent most of Sunday school

daydreaming of love stories with Muslim characters...

and to Godsorry about that.

Devynius Foxx: totally random but

Devynius Foxx: you ever think about how being on this game, playing together here, in a virtual world

Devynius Foxx: is basically equivalent to being a parallel universe?

Kasia Coribund: lol

Kasia Coribund: and here I thought we were staying away from revealing real-world details about ourselves

Kasia Coribund: but now I know the real-life Foxx is 420 friendly

Kasia Coribund: good to know

Devynius Foxx: ha ha.

Devynius Foxx: no but seriously

Devynius Foxx: In class the other day

Devynius Foxx: we were talking about parallel universes, alternate realities

Devynius Foxx: How scientists are trying to prove the theory of the multiverse and all that BS

Devynius Foxx: I dunno, I was barely paying attention in class tbh

Kasia Coribund: wait wait wait

Kasia Coribund: now I know youre a student!

Devynius Foxx: oh come on

Devynius Foxx: that doesnt tell you anything about me

Devynius Foxx: I could be a third grader for all you know

Kasia Coribund: true

Kasia Coribund: You definitely act like one sometimes

Devynius Foxx: damn Ms. Kasia, thats cold

Devynius Foxx: ANYWAY, it occurred to me

Devynius Foxx: What a waste of time, trying to prove parallel universes

Devynius Foxx: I got one right here, in Cambria

Devynius Foxx: Like, in real life, we lead vastly different lives, right

Devynius Foxx: Wholly separate from each other

Devynius Foxx: In real life, I could be a famous actor

Kasia Coribund: Or a third grader

Devynius Foxx: and in real life, you could be a hot nurse.

Kasia Coribund: or a hot doctor

Devynius Foxx: Two strangers who have no way of ever knowing who the other is, or ever meeting

Devynius Foxx: But here, weve made a parallel universe of our own

Devynius Foxx: Where Im a level 50 rogue,

Devynius Foxx: who talks to you, a level 50 warrior, almost every night

Devynius Foxx: no frills, no bullshit, no weight of real-world obligations

Devynius Foxx: a place we can just throw open our trench coats and reveal the bare-naked truth of ourselves

Kasia Coribund:... okay but why did you have to make us sound like two flashers competing over territory

Devynius Foxx: and that, my dear Kasia

Devynius Foxx: is why I love this parallel universe so damn much.

Friday, June 4

I FIND AMIRA SITTING ALONE at a table, huddled in the back corner of a Joe Coffee on the Upper West Side. Even with her head half-buried in a booksome brick of a fantasy novelI can tell its her: the familiar way her oversized glasses perch crookedly on her nose, the way her long, straight dark hair rests perfectly around her heart-shaped face. Shes wearing an impeccably stylish floral shirt dress, and there are at least two different guys checking her out, including the barista, who keeps gazing longingly at the back of her head.

Sorry Im late! I splutter, nearly tripping over my feet to reach her. Dance practice went overtime. And I was up late playing Cambria, my favorite online role-playing game, with my friend Foxxbut I dont tell her that part.

Amira looks up from her book, round doe eyes blinking in surprise behind her glasses. I can only imagine how horrible I look. Im in my baggy Greenville School T-shirt and leggings (since its too hot for my usual sweatpants) and Im huffing loudly, dripping sweat from every orifice imaginable, made worse by the fact that Im wearing a backpack.

I dont think Amira even has sweat glands.

I move to shove my damp bangs off my face when she leaps off her chair and envelops me in a hug. Im glad you made it, she says. I can barely hear her over the upbeat jazz in the background, and the clatter of forks and ceramic mugs. But I dont need to. Her hug says it all.

As much as Im excited to see herits been weeks since we last saw each otherI always dread coming to visit my sister in New York. I hate leaving Philadelphia, for one thing. And the Chinatown Bus, the only method of transportation I can afford without a summer job, is a mobile metal monstrosity designed to torture its passengers for the entire three-hour trip with a two-pronged attack of mediocre leg room and fart inhalation. Then theres the city itself, currently swallowed by a shroud of sticky rain, all stony browns and metal grays and muted disinterest. Sometimes I imagine New York as a person: one who smokes lime-flavored vape, who wears an easy, shit-eating grin even though their coffee-and-sweat-stained shirt is on backward with the tag showing. As soon as the bus pokes its head out from the Lincoln Tunnel, I can feel this threatening energy humming beneath the streets, wild movement around me like erratic breathing. The city looking at me with a dare in its eyes. I took your sister and theres nothing you can do about it.

I hug Amira back tightly. Screw you, New York. Just a few more months, and Ill get her back.

I think this is probably the first time Ive ever seen you late for something, Amira asks, once we settle at the table. How was the trip in?

Good. Great, I lie. I wave my arms a little to let my armpits breathe and gesture toward the spare cup of coffee in front of me. This mine?

Amira grins. Yep. Latte, one sugar.

I hide my smile with my cup, and sip. Its lukewarm. The subway system here is so bad. Did you know how bad it is?

She snorts. Yes. We all know. Thats why whenever I have an appointment I have to give myself an extra half hour of travel time. And then another, to account for desi time.

I make a face. More reason to hate it here, I guess.

I sound bitter, but three years without her hasnt been easy. Of course, I know its not like she wanted to leave me alone with my parents. It was just that her idol, Dr. Margaret Klinethe foremost expert on teen incarcerationhappened to teach at Columbia Law, and ran a superinfluential clinic there that worked directly with teens. Amira had always dreamed of working with her, ever since she turned fourteen and decided to become a lawyer. Between the two of us, Amira was always the sweeter, quieter onebut when Amira decides to do something, theres no stopping her. Youre better off trying to wrangle gale-force winds with your bare fists.

But its not like she couldve known what would happen after she left.