Three days later, Tuesday came.
Chapter ThirteenSomething Quiet
Day 4 A.L.
In the time loop, Amie’s dreams were often very mundane. She’d just be going about her day, either in her apartment or walking down the street. Most times she’d be alone, but sometimes she’d be with her parents, or David, or Ziya, or a random acquaintance from high school dredged up from the depths of her subconscious. Then, almost always, she’d have a sudden moment of realization that things were different, and that she was no longer stuck in the time loop. She’d laugh at herself for taking so long to notice, and celebrate her freedom.
Then Amie would wake up. And she would still be in the time loop.
She’d cried the first few times. Eventually, she’d learned to move past it and on with her day without a second thought.
This dream was the opposite of that. Amie was back in the time loop, and she recognized it immediately, somehow, as soon as she sat up in bed. She felt it. She just knew.
After a brief moment of panic, Amie remembered Savannah. Savannah was going to die that day.
Hope sparked within her. She’d wanted this, hadn’t she? This was a blessing, not a curse. She could use the time loop to save Savannah. This had been Amie’s purpose all along. She was just getting a second chance to fulfill it, now that she knew what she had to do. She wouldn’t be stuck for long; she just had to save Savannah.
Amie ran out of her bedroom and into the lobby of her building. She walked outside, down the street and around the corner to the bookshop. It didn’t matter the time of day, or that she wasn’t at all prepared to stop a murderer from killing Savannah. She just knew that she had to get to the bookshop.
She pushed open the door to Shelf Starter and entered her bedroom. No, that wasn’t right. She had to get to Savannah. She was running out of time. She ran out of her bedroom and into the lobby, out the door and down the street, into the bookstore and back into her room. Into the lobby and out the door and down the street and through the door into her bedroom and into the lobby and out the door and down the street and through the door into her bedroom and into the lobby and out the door and down the street and through the door into her bedroom and into the lobby and out the door and down the street and through the door into her bedroom and into the
There was a sick feeling in Amie’s chest as she awoke with a shudder. The room was dark and silent. There was a warm weight on her right hand, and she turned her head to see Ziya, face squished into the pillow in a way that made Amie wonder how she was able to breathe. Her hand was resting on Amie’s open palm, gently gripping it, even in sleep.
Amie’s heart squeezed. She’d spent so many friend dates with Ziya wondering if there was still the possibility of a future together if the time loop ever ended. And there she was, out of the loop, lying next to a woman she loved so much it scared her to thinkabout. She didn’t want to ruin it again. She would do anything to keep things the same as they were before.
“Z,” Amie whispered. It was so quiet; the sound hardly passed through her lips. But Ziya’s eyes fluttered open, her long lashes brushing the pillow as she moved her head to receive air through both nostrils instead of just the one.
“Hm?” she asked sleepily. Her hand on Amie’s tightened as she settled into a new position.
“I …” Amie had so many things to say. She had nothing to say. What should she say? “I had a bad dream.”
“Mmm,” Ziya groaned sympathetically, blinking as she grew more awake. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Yes. No. I don’t really know how.”
“What happened?”
“I was … in the time loop.” She gave Ziya a timid glance. “Remember how I told you about the time loop?”
“Yeah,” Ziya said. “Not a time traveler, a time homebody.”
Amie huffed a nervous laugh. “Right.” She studied Ziya’s face. “I know it’s hard to believe, but—”
She stopped as Ziya gasped.
“That’show you memorized the podcast.” Ziya propped herself up on her forearm, the teasing humor draining from her expression.
Amie nodded wordlessly. She felt like she could cry with relief to see Ziya, eyes bright, finally believing her.
“Oh my god.” Ziya’s eyes flickered across Amie’s face. “You were in a time loop.”
“I didn’t want to lie to you,” Amie said, her voice soft. “I wanted to tell you about it so badly. But you didn’t believe me the first time, and I didn’t want to scare you off by—”
“Amie.” Ziya shifted over, resting her head on Amie’s shoulder as she pulled Amie’s arm around her waist. “You should know by now that I’m not so easily scared.”
Amie gave her a gentle squeeze. “I know.”
I’m the one who’s scared, she thought.
