Tam? Tam! Sophie called with her thoughts. She pushed her thoughts out further, searching for the smallest hint of thoughts. She remembered his whispery voice from his shadow whispering and searched for that. She stretched farther, and farther . . . nothing.
"Sorry, Linh," Sophie said, feeling terrible. "Tomorrow, I'll try with Fitz, maybe it'll work then . . . but I can't guarantee anything . . ." Linh's eyes welled up with tears.
Sophie hesitated for a second but reached over and wrapped her in a hug. "We're going to rescue Tam," Sophie whispered to her, "I promise." Linh squeezed her hand, as if to say, thank you.
**********
Sophie and Linh sat awkwardly in her room, waiting for Fitz to arrive, so they could contact Tam.
"So . . . Linh, how have you been doing?" Sophie asked awkwardly, breaking the silence. Linh had shadows under her eyes. They weren't huge, you would only notice it if you were looking closely. Linh sighed.
"The considerate part of me, that would lie, so you don't worry, would say I'm doing fine . . . but really, I'm not. Tam is my twin, I just, you would think we would hate each other, we're so different, but really, he's one of the most reliable people I know. He was the world to me . . . and I'm just floating in space. I'm sorry, I shouldn't worry you, it's just . . ." Linh trailed off, staring at the ground.
Sophie took Linh's hand. Linh looked up at her, and Sophie looked into her grey-blue eyes as she said, "Linh, it's not fair to yourself to stuff your feelings down. They'll just build up inside of you. I understand not wanting to worry people, or draw attention to yourself, just . . . if you need to talk, you can always come to me. I promise."
"Um . . . am I interrupting something?" Fitz said awkwardly from the doorway. Sophie whipped her head around, and blushed. How much had he heard?
"No, no . . . we were just waiting for you," Sophie said. "So, let's try to find Tam." Sophie released Linh's hand. Fitz came and sat down on the bed, on Sophie's other side.
"You ready?" He asked, his teal eyes looking straight into hers. Sophie nodded. She closed her eyes.
Okay, I'm in, Fitz transmitted, meaning he had gotten past her blocking, and was in her head. Sophie tried her best not to think about the matchmaking disaster. She wasn't going to deal with that right now. Right now, she was helping Linh.
Okay, I'm going to try and transmit, Sophie thought, can you give me a boost?
Sure, Fitz replied. She felt a rush of energy, and used it to transmit, as loud as possible.
TAM! TAM? TAM!? She looked over at Fitz as he cringed.
That literally hurt my ears, he said.
Sorry! Sophie continued transmitting, TAM!!! TAM!!!!
Sophie? A voice responded. It's Tam! Is Linh— His voice was cut off.
