“Wow, that was close,” Bryony said, shaking her head. Then she leaned forward to look at me, her brow furrowing. “Cass, are you okay?”
“Bryony,” I said, my voice catching in my throat. Did the fact that she’d found me here mean that we could move past everything somehow? “I’m so sorry about our fight, and I know I shouldn’t have left things like that—”
“Fight?” Bryony’s eyebrows flew up, disappearing behind her bangs. “What are you talking about?”
“You know…” My voice faltered as I searched her expression, trying to figure out what was currently happening. Was Bryony trying to say she just wanted to forget about our argument, all the things we’d said, and pretend it had never happened? As far as I was concerned, that would beamazing.
Bryony shook her head. “We didn’t have a fight. I’m pretty sure I would have remembered.”
“But…we did,” I said, even though I was tempted to just go along with what she was saying. I ?took a deep breath—which was when I noticed my dress.
It was perfect.
Fresh and unwrinkled, and totally free from orange soda stains. “What?” I gasped. I pulled the fabric away to get a closer look. “What theheck?”
“Cass,” Bryony said, her eyes wide as she looked at me. “I’m getting a little worried.”
“Me too,” I admitted. I saw a bench nearby—the same one that Bryony had sat on after getting knocked over. The same one Amy had been sitting on when she told me she and Carlos had broken up…My thoughts were swimming. Feeling like my legs might not be up to the job of keeping me standing for much longer, I made my way over to the bench and sank down on it.
“You look really pale,” Bryony said, frowning. “Are you sick?”
“I…” I took a shaky breath, trying to get my spiraling thoughts under control. “Maybe? I’m not sure….”
“I’m going to get you some water, okay?” Bryony asked, already backing away. “Don’t move!”
I nodded, and she hustled off, leaving me alone. I looked around, trying to understand what I was seeing. Crowds of people were pouring through the door, talking and yelling and laughing with their friends. It didn’t look at all like this when I’d left, when the area was practically deserted.
Instead, it was exactly the way things had looked when we’d first arrived.Exactly.
It was almost like…
“No,” I said out loud, shaking my head at the absurdity of it, trying to banish the very thought. “It’s notpossible.” I knew that sitting alone, talking to myself on a bench wasn’t the best look, but it felt like I had to work this out. And if I just kept in my head, I’d keep going in circles. I pulled out my phone, reasoning that maybe I could get my thoughts down in my Notes app, or something. The lock screen lit up, showing the picture of me and my dads at a roadside In-N-Out. But I couldn’t even take in the photo right now, because my eyes were fixed on the time.
9:29 p.m.
I locked the screen for a moment, thinking maybe it just needed to reboot or something. Because I’d just looked at the time before I’d headed out, and it was 12:20 a.m. Which meant that now, it should be closer to 12:30 a.m. I waited another moment, then tapped the screen again—9:30 p.m., the numbers clear as anything.
Had I…traveled back in time? But only by two and a half hours? No—of course I hadn’t. My phone was malfunctioning, that was all. Maybe when the orange soda hit me? My phone must have gotten wet and short-circuited.
I looked back down at my dress, which had clearly never encountered an orange soda in its life. But there was some explanation. There justhadto be.
“Hey, Cass!”
I looked over to see Amy and Carlos, arms around each other, walking toward me. I felt my heart lift a little at the sight. They were AmyandCarlos again! This was proof that at least part of the world was still making sense. “Hi,” I said, smiling at them, and hearing the relief in my voice. “You guys made up! I’m so happy to see it.”
They shot a glance at each other, then looked back at me. “Made up?” Amy echoed. “Why would we need to make up?”
“Because…you broke up. We had a whole conversation about it. Right here.”
“Is that a joke?” Carlos asked. “It’s not funny, Cass.”
“Not at all,” Amy said, looking at me with wide, hurt eyes. “Why would you say that? Like why even bring that idea into the universe?”
“Seriously. Knock wood!” Carlos said, knocking on his own head. I could have sworn I saw a flicker of irritation cross Amy’s face, but then it was gone a second later like it had never been there.
“Sorry,” I said, rubbing my hand across my eyes, trying to understand this. What happened after I left through the door might have been fuzzy, but I could recall my conversation with Amy perfectly—probably because it hadjust happened. She had been crying on the bench, she’d told me about the breakup?…I looked up at them, arms around each other, so clearly a unit, and felt my confidence weaken a little. “Um, what time do you guys have?”
Amy pulled out her phone. “Nine thirty-four.”
