Cassandra in Reverse

Cassie confronts Artemis, who insists that they finally “have this all out” (277). She says she’s exhausted, a feeling Cassie shares. They sit, Cassie realizing she needs answers. As she assesses her sister’s emotions, she realizes betrayal is absent, so Artemis doesn’t know about Cassie’s connection with Will. Cassie realizes that the difference between this timeline and the original is that the night Artemis waited on the flat’s doorstep, Derek initially ignored her, and in this timeline, he flirted with her and told her where Cassie worked. Cassie tries again to leave, but Artemis eventually convinces her to give her two hours’ conversation in the pub.

Artemis describes her past decade, which has included ill-fated adventures such as a silent monastery in India and an ayahuasca ceremony in Peru, punctuated by time in England and repeated attempts to contact Cassie. Cassie finds it hard to believe the decade has been the same amount of time for them both, considering how much less she feels she’s done than her sister. Artemis makes her laugh, then tells her sister she thought about her constantly. Cassie begins to wonder if she was actually at fault, having been “so rigid, so focused, so unyielding” (291), that she couldn’t allow for the fact that her sister had made a mistake. Barry calls, and Cassie tells him she’s not okay and that she’ll need to take time off work. Artemis panics as she realizes her time is almost up, but Cassie turns her watch back two hours, thinking “there’s more than one way to time travel” (293), and they continue talking.

Artemis and Cassie are thrown out of the pub for philosophizing on the concept of time, including closing time. They let themselves into Cassie’s office so that she can collect her favorite mug (which was a gift from Artemis) before her break from work, since she has never gone more than two days without it. Artemis is delighted that Cassie missed her, though the latter denies it. Artemis starts telling Cassie about Will, worried that she’s already messed it up because she told him at the photography exhibit that her name was Diana, but that she thinks “he might be the first nice guy I’ve ever liked” (299). Cassie is surprised to find that she doesn’t feel jealous and tells her sister that she should just tell him the truth and he’ll likely understand, but doesn’t mention their connection.

Cassie tells Artemis that she can time travel, to which her sister replies “Cool […] I love that for you” (301), and is surprised to find that Artemis believes her. She gives her more detail, and Artemis is appalled and amused at the fact that Cassie has been using a magical gift primarily to circumvent awkward social interactions.

During Cassie’s three days off work, she and Artemis travel to Cornwall to play, argue, and enjoy the time as if “no time has passed between us at all” (305). Artemis receives repeated texts from Will, and Cassie describes watching her fall in love. Will calls, and as they talk, Artemis mentions Cassie’s name, then her surname, and both realize their connection through Cassie. Before Artemis can confront her, she time travels to before Artemis answered the phone. Cassie attempts to buy some time by telling Artemis she should wait to reveal her real name to Will and decides she’ll need to come up with a plan to tell them when it’s less awkward. Their holiday ends, and the sisters go their separate ways, but when Artemis tells Cassie she still has important things to say, Cassie tells her she doesn’t need to and that she loves her.

Overstimulated and ready for time alone, Cassie returns to her flat but soon receives a text from Sophie asking what she’s wearing to the gala. After “genuinely considering erasing the entire last month of [her] life just to get out of this one social event” (316), Cassie tries to decide what to wear. Eventually she decides to wear something she already hates so that she doesn’t ruin something she loves. She asks Sal if she can borrow a dress Cassie gave her a few weeks ago after realizing she disliked it. Sal says she shouldn’t wear something she already hates, but that she’ll lend Cassie something, and Cassie is touched at her level of understanding. While Sal is finding something, Derek comes home and begins hitting on Cassie. This time, she sees it for what it is and confronts him assertively, rejecting his statements about just trying to be friendly. Sal asks what happened, and Cassie tells her before Derek begins denying it and accusing Cassie of misunderstanding.

Sal ignores him, asking which dress Cassie prefers. When Cassie is confused, Sal apologizes for Derek’s behavior and tells her that “I’m just about to go into the bedroom and throw Derek’s belongings out of the window, but I thought before I did that we should probably decide on your outfit” (321). Sal proceeds to ask him to leave the flat.

Outside the gala, Jack sees Sophie and makes a condescending comment about a prom dress, and she asserts that she hasn’t needed her first-class honors degrees in mathematics and physics while working on the SharkSkin account. Cassie is proud of her and awed at the connections Sophie has already made with the other members of the SharkSkin team. Cassie sits beside Ronald, who in this timeline has just started at the PR firm and whose name is actually Cameron (Cassie had incorrectly lengthened his “Ron” to the wrong origin). Cassie realizes she’s attracted to him, and they bond over disliking such events and using noise cancelling headphones constantly. Jack makes a toast to Cassie, which she almost doesn’t hear as she revels in happiness.

Sophie calls for Cassie to make a speech, and she does, declaring, “I hate this job […] so I quit” (332). She makes a dramatic exit, realizing that she’s finished with hiding who she is. She sees Artemis waiting for her outside the gala and realizes why she couldn’t travel back to 10 years ago: She’s been stuck there in some way the whole time.

The narrative returns to the funeral for Cassie and Art’s parents, 10 years earlier. Artemis stands, drunk, to make her speech. She suggests that there hasn’t been enough attention to what she views as the cause of their death—that they were slightly late for Cassie’s graduation ceremony, which prompted her to call “fifteen times, and somewhere in all of that obsessive, relentless, batshit crazy ringing, they got distracted and crashed the bloody car” (338)—then declares that Cassie is a monster.

Back in the present, Artemis tells Cassie that she couldn’t go home and that they need to talk about what happened. Cassie agrees, and Artemis apologizes, explaining that she didn’t mean any of it and that she’d later found out that the phone had been on silent in the back of the car anyway. Describing the story of Zeus and Metis, who got literally inside Zeus’s head, Cassie tells Artemis about the Greek chorus of voices she hears—other people’s observations about her—and that she was so upset at Art’s outburst at the funeral because it meant she lost the last of the only three people who didn’t judge her.

They both apologize and talk in turns about how many of the rigid rules that Artemis resented were set by their mother, not Cassie. Cassie asks why Artemis came back more persistently this time, going “full throttle with the stalking” (344). Art tells her that, thinking of selling the house, she found a folder in the attic, which contained notes about an autism diagnosis their mother received six months before her death. The last page of the file includes a note handwritten by their mother saying, “and Cassandra.” Cassie initially rejects this news, as she thinks she would have known, but eventually feels validated in why she’s constantly exhausted. Cassie asks Artemis not to sell the house, announcing that she’s going to move home and study Greek mythology.

Opening the chapter with thoughts on the arbitrary nature of where a story ends, Cassie notes that she’s decided to end hers with a night in a quiet pub, “surrounded by more people than I have ever had in my life” (350): Sal, Sophie, Barry (though Cassie isn’t sure why), Gareth, Ron, and Artemis having gathered for her leaving party. Cassie has applied to Cambridge and returned to her family home. She is planning to take a short trip to Athens with Artemis, who will move to Cassie’s room in Sal’s flat while she plans her next move.

Will arrives, and Cassie realizes she’s forgotten to tell him and Artemis about their connection. After Will sees Cassie and Artemis confesses that she lied about her name, he declares that he’s leaving. Cassie prepares to time travel again, and Artemis begs her not to, because of everything she’ll lose, or to at least do it for herself, to end up with Will. Cassie disagrees, as she plans to go to the British Museum, where she knows Artemis will be, to tell her sister she loves her instead going to the café where she meets Will. She plans to suggest that they go to the photography exhibition and vows to “keep giving fate a nudge” for Will and Artemis to meet if she needs to (359).