I looked around until I saw Bryony in the crowd, standing with the Emmas, and felt a wave of guilt hit me. I’d needed to get things on track with the band, but doing that had meant I wasn’t getting to spend time with my best friend—and on the last night we’d get to hang out. But surely it was for the greater good. Right?
I walked through the crowd, keeping my eyes fixed on her, trying not to lose her in the shifting group of people—and also keeping my eyes peeled for Bruce, who I would really prefer not to run into right now.
I saw Bryony’s eyes widen as she saw me, and I waved at her, closing the distance between us. “Hi!” I called as I got close enough for her to hear me.
“Where have you been? I texted you,” Bryony said.
“Oh, sorry,” I said, pulling out my phone. “I was kind of distracted. How were the roller coasters?”
“It was all your idea! I didn’t even want to do it!” Emma J. was yelling at Emma Z. Emma R. walked up to us, her expression worried as she glanced back at her friends.
“They’re still at it,” she said to Bryony, shaking her head. Then she smiled as she saw me. “Hey, Cass! How’s it going?”
“Good.” I glanced back at the other two Emmas, who were huddled together, having a whisper-fight, both of them looking beyond stressed out. “What’s going on with them?”
“We have no idea,” Bryony said, exchanging a look with Emma R.
“But it’s been happening all night,” Emma R. said, frowning. “And I keep asking, but they keep telling me it’s nothing. But it’ssomething. They started being weird when we saw Mater in his graduation cap. And—”
Before she could continue, the announcer’s voice crackled over the loudspeakers. “Disney Grad Nite seniors and chaperones! Please welcome—all the way from jolly olde England—Eton Mess!”
Everyone cheered, and the band strode out, wearing their prep-school outfits. I saw Niall and Freddie laughing together as they walked. Like before, they were both holding their bottles of water, and Niall slapped Freddie on the back as they took their places on stage.
Freddie caught my eye and waved as he picked up his guitar and lifted it over his head. I smiled back at him, and it felt like everyone in the crowd turned to look at me—including Bryony and the Emmas.
“Did the cute bass player just wave at you?” Emma R. asked. She gave me an impressed thumbs-up. “Nicely done.”
I felt my cheeks get hot. “I mean—kind of?”
“How do you know the bass player?” Bryony asked.
“Well—”
“Oh my god, Cass, tell me everything!”
I laughed, but as I did, I felt a little guilty twist in my stomach. Iwantedto tell her about Freddie, about the boy I’d met, about how cute and nice he was. Because I always talked to Bryony about the things that mattered. Things didn’t seem real until I got to discuss them with her.
But assuming I’d fixed the issue with the band, the time loop was about to end. And then I’d just…never see her again? The plan that had seemed so clear earlier tonight was starting to get murky. I shook my head, trying to clear it. “I just—”
“Hey there, seniors! Congratulations on graduating!” Niall yelled. Everyone around me erupted in cheers. “Are you having fun at Grad Nite?” Freddie took a drink of his water, then set the bottle down at his feet. He met my eye again, and I made myself smile at him, even though my thoughts were spinning.
“Chuffed to hear it,” Niall said. He was back to using his posh British accent, all traces of his Scottish brogue gone. “We’re Eton Mess, and we’re—”
?Just as he said this, Alfie groaned and clutched his stomach. Freddie stared at him in alarm, then looked at me. “No,” I whispered, shaking my head, not quite able to believe what I was seeing. How had we not fixed it? But then—just like before—Alfie tried to run backstage. ?He didn’t quite make it though, throwing up on the stage as Tristram/Doug scrambled out of the way.
The crowd all around me yelledEwwwww!and everyone started to pull out their phones—eager to record and document this car crash.
“How is this happening?” I asked, raking my hands through my hair.
“Seriously,” Emma R. said, looking nauseated. Even the other Emmas had stopped fighting long enough to stare, open-mouthed at the spectacle.
“This isn’t supposed to happen again!” I said, shaking my head.
“What does that mean?” Bryony asked, frowning at me.
“It’s just—I thought we fixed it.”
“Fixed what? Who’swe?”
