Gradchanted

Chapter 146

Who’s ready to have the best night ever?” Sheridan yelled.

I smiled as I looked around. I was back, once again, at the moment it always began. I suddenly had a new appreciation for the way Sheridan started our night. It was so hopeful, after all. Maybe I should have been following his lead from the beginning—he was the one who’d had it right all along.

And so, for the first time, I took a step closer to him. “Me!” I called out. “Best night ever. Let’s go!”

Sheridan smiled at me, surprised, and gave me a nod. “That’s what we like to hear, Cass! Right on.”

“Uh, me too,” Manny said, sounding a little like his thunder had been stolen.

He lifted his phone, like he was going to take a selfie, but then just shrugged and walked away.

And to my surprise, the people who normally crashed into Bryony simply ran past—the collision never even coming close to happening in this version of things.

I shook my head as I watched them go. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to pull this off, but just knowing that I was going to try was making me feel buoyant. I felt like I was seeing this world, which had become so familiar to me, with new eyes. I took a breath, then let it out.

Tonight.

It would all happen tonight.

I’d prepped as much as I could, even though I hadn’t been able to bring any of my plans in with me.

But that was okay. They were locked firmly inside my head, and as soon as I could buy a notebook, I’d be able to write them down.

I just had to trust that things would work out, and that I’d be able to pull this off.

“So,” Bryony said, smiling at me, “what should we do first?”

“Bryony!” I pulled her into a tight hug.

“Uh. Hi, Cass,” she said, giving my back two pats. “You all right?”

I shook my head and stepped back. “No. I’m not.” Knowing what I wanted to say—and that I should have said this a long time ago—didn’t make the actual saying of it any easier. I took a breath. “I’m so sorry.”

Bryony blinked at me. “What are you talking about? Sorry for what?”

“I—My dads are moving. To Oregon. Tomorrow. And I didn’t tell you.”

“Wait.” Bryony shook her head, like she was trying to catch up. “What? You’re…moving?”

“No!” I said enthusiastically, practically yelling it. “I’m not! Isn’t that great?”

“But…you said…”

“I was going to be moving,” I clarified.

“And I know I never should have gone so far down that road without telling you. But I’m going to talk to my dads.

I’m going to tell them that I can’t go again—not when I’d be leaving so much behind.

Because I want to stay. I want us to hang out all summer and work together at the Mermaid Café—if they’ll have me.

And I don’t want us to lose touch when we go to college.

You’re my best friend. You’re so important to me.

We can make it work—I know we can. Because I’m done walking away from the things that matter the most.”

“Wow, okay,” Bryony said, looking shell-shocked. A group of laughing seniors ran past us, and we stepped to the side of the path. “Those are—some big revelations. This all just happened? Like, in the last few minutes?”

“Oh no,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s been a long time coming. Also, I’ve been stuck in a time loop. I’ve done this, like, a hundred and forty times. Give or take.”

Bryony frowned, her forehead creasing in worry. “Cass, you’re scaring me. Did you hit your head or something? Do you smell burning toast? How many fingers?”

She held up three, and I pushed them away, smiling at her. “I swear I’m fine. I’m better than fine. I just thought you should know.”

“That you’re…in a time loop.”

“Exactly!” Bryony just stared at me, so I added, “You know, like Groundhog Day.”

“I know what a time loop is,” she said faintly. “I just don’t know why you think you’re in one.”

“Because I am,” I said patiently. “It’s okay if you don’t believe me.”

“I think you need some water or something,” Bryony said, backing away. “I’m going to get Ms. Mulaney. Just stay there!”

“Not going anywhere!” I called after her cheerfully. I walked over to the bench that had become so familiar to me and sat, giving it a fond pat. To my left, I could see Amy and Carlos arguing. I let out a small sigh as I looked at them. I was going to have to talk to Amy later.

After a few moments—like I knew they would—Ms. Mulaney and Bryony came running up, Bryony carrying a bottle of water, both looking worried. I waved at them. “Hi, Ms. Mulaney!”

“Hi,” she said, coming to a stop in front of me. “What’s going on? Bryony said you’re experiencing a break with reality?” She shook her head. “Tonight’s instructions really didn’t cover that.”

“I promise I’m fine,” I said. Bryony handed me the water and I took a long drink. “You didn’t need to rush over here. But! I did have some thoughts about your novel.”

“Your what?” Bryony asked, turning to look at Ms. Mulaney, who was staring at me, open-mouthed.

“How—How did you know about my novel?” she asked, a faint blush creeping into her cheeks.

“Because I’ve read it,” I explained. “Hurricane Madison. It’s so good, but there’s an issue with the ending.”

“When did you read Ms. Mulaney’s novel?” Bryony asked, sounding baffled. “How did you even know she was writing a novel?”

“Yeah,” Ms. Mulaney said, pulling her bag a little closer. “Did you go into my computer or…”

“Of course not,” I said. “Look, I know you have that call with the agent later. I’m sorry to tell you it’s not going to go well.”

“I…What?” she asked faintly, looking gobsmacked.

“I mean, if they can’t see you’re talented based on this, you don’t want to sign with them anyway, right? But my suggestion is to tell the story in a loop. Right now it just kind of ends. But if you start with the hurricane, and then we come back around to it at the end…”

“I…just…” Ms. Mulaney looked like she was having trouble keeping up. “I mean—I could see how that would work. I guess I never thought about…” Her voice trailed off, and she shook her head, like she was trying to get herself to focus. “But I don’t understand how—”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said, even though I knew this was probably easier for me to say than for her to do. “Because it would work, right? Don’t you think?”

“It would,” she said, blinking fast. “I think it would…” She dug in her canvas bag and took out a pen, the one that I usually stole from her. She took the manuscript out of her bag and started scribbling notes on it.

“Cass,” Bryony said, pulling me a few feet away from our teacher. “What is happening?”

“I told you what’s happening,” I said, keeping my voice patient.

I remembered how hard it had been for me come to terms with it, after all.

Freddie had been on board faster—but then, I’d essentially had a cheat code for Freddie.

I felt some nervous butterflies start to swoop in my stomach as I thought about Freddie and what was—hopefully—going to happen later. If I pulled this off.

“A…time loop.” I noticed that Bryony didn’t sound quite as dismissive as she had before. Now it sounded more like she was trying to get her head around the concept of it.

I smiled at her. “Exactly. Now, I have to go take care of some things, but the Emmas are going to be here any moment.”

“The Emmas?”

“There they are!” I pointed as they came closer, Emma R. waving cheerfully, Emma J. and Emma Z. looking much more preoccupied.

“Hi, guys!” Emma R. said, joining us. She glanced over at Ms. Mulaney, who was still scribbling down notes and muttering under her breath. “Uh—hi, Ms. Mulaney.”

I pointed to Emma’s bag. “Can I see the ears you got?”

“Sure!” She pulled out the Mickey graduation ears and despite everything, I saw Bryony’s eyes light up like usual. “How did you know I got ears, though?”

“Lucky guess,” I said, giving Bryony a small smile.

“These are really cute,” Bryony said, touching the mini graduation cap and its tassel. “I might need to get some.”

“It might not be possible,” I said with a sigh. “I really tried. I swear.”

“I thought you guys just got here?” Emma R. asked, as she put on the Mickey ears. She turned to Bryony. “Are these straight?”

Bryony reached out to adjust them, and I walked over to Emma J. and Emma Z., who were both bent over Emma Z.’s phone.

“Hi, guys,” I said cheerfully. “I just wanted to tell you that you probably shouldn’t sell that picture of Tabitha Keith to DitesMoi.”

Emma Z. fumbled her phone, catching it at the last second before it hit the pavement, and Emma J. stared at me in shock. “How did you…What…”

“Who told you that?” Emma Z. asked, her eyes narrowed. “I mean—what are you talking about?”

“I know what happened,” I said patiently, even as I snuck a look at my watch.

I needed them to get on the same page as me, and fast—there wasn’t a ton of extra time.

I was suddenly glad for the bottle of water Bryony gave me, even if she’d gotten it because she was worried I was losing my grip on reality.

I had a feeling I was going to need it—there was going to be a lot of running around the park tonight.

“What do you know?” Emma Z. asked, crossing her arms. She was trying to sound tough, but she kept sneaking looks at Emma J., and I could see that they both looked rattled.

“Everything. I know you were over by Cars Land, by the people taking pictures with Mater. And I know that Emma Z. got AirDropped a picture of Tabitha Keith and her friends.” They exchanged a glance, then turned back to me, both looking increasingly freaked out.

“It was an accident,” I explained, taking them through what I’d finally put together.

“One of Tabitha’s friends—the other girl in the picture—is named Em.

It was just a matter of AirDropping to the wrong person—and your phone must have been close enough.

It could happen to anyone. But selling the pictures to a gossip site is not an accident. ”

“We haven’t done anything yet!” Emma J. protested, and Emma Z. shot her a sharp look, one that clearly said shut up.

“But you’re thinking about it, right?” I asked, looking between the two of them. “I mean, I get it.” I glanced at Emma Z, remembering her scholarship that had fallen through. “I’m sure you have your reasons, and maybe you’ve even convinced yourself it’s okay.”

I saw them exchange a quick, unsettled look. I took a breath and went on.

“If you do it, it’s going to ruin Tabitha’s night—and probably beyond tonight.

She’s going to think her friends betrayed her, when all they were guilty of was bad AirDropping.

And I promise, it’s not going to make you any happier.

It’ll ruin your night, too.” I glanced down at my phone and realized I was already behind schedule.

“Look,” I said, taking a step away. “I can’t make you do anything.

I can only tell you that I know how this turns out, and it’s bad—for everyone. So why do that, you know?”

I waited for a response, but they just stared at me, both still looking incredibly flustered.

Which I could understand. If someone seemed to know everything about what I was doing—including what I was only thinking about doing—it would really freak me out, too.

I waited one moment longer, and when it was clear nothing was forthcoming, I just nodded.

“Okay, good talk.” I left them behind, hurrying over to where Bryony was standing with Emma R. “So here’s the thing. I have to run….”

“Run where?” Emma asked.

“I just have to…take care of some things.”

“At Grad Nite?” Emma asked, sounding baffled. “What kind of things?”

“I can’t really explain right now.” I met Bryony’s eye. It was one thing to tell my best friend that I was in a time-loop situation—but I wasn’t sure I wanted to go around telling everyone. At the very least, I simply didn’t have the time to keep explaining it.

“This is…super weird, Cass,” Bryony said.

“I know. But like they say on Cereal—that’s the way the crackle pops.”

Bryony’s eyebrows flew up. “Since when do you listen to Cereal?”

“I’ve listened to all of it. It’s so good! You were right.”

“I always am,” she said automatically, giving me a smile.

I checked the time again. “I have to run, but can you meet me at Radiator Springs Racers at ten fifteen?” Even though Bryony still looked confused, she nodded, and I gave her a smile. “Okay, cool. See you then!”

I turned and started running, knowing I was a few minutes later than I’d wanted to be.

I glanced behind me at the other two Emmas for just a moment before they were blocked from view by the crowds.

I had no idea what they were going to do with the picture they’d accidentally been AirDropped, but I’d done everything I could to try to convince them to do the right thing. It was out of my hands now.

Ten minutes later, I’d stopped at one of the bigger souvenir stores—for what I required, Johnny’s merch kiosk just wouldn’t suffice.

I’d picked up a notebook and a pen, too.

I needed to write something that I should have written a long time ago.

And then I wanted to write out the Freddie list, and his lyrics.

If everything went according to plan—which I was very aware was a long shot—he would need them.

I checked the time and then hustled over to Cars Land.

As I speed-walked, occasionally breaking into a short jog when I could do it without bumping into people, I reflected on how much better this was—not having to worry about running into anyone.

Not hiding from my mistakes and the girl I’d been when I made them.

But out in the open, head up, looking around, on my way to try and make things better.

I made it to the Cozy Cone, with its snack options, and was relieved to see that the one I needed wasn’t too crowded yet.

I got in line and started writing the Freddie list. At this point, I knew the list like the back of my hand.

It was because I’d memorized him—because I knew him.

It wasn’t just a series of facts. They were the facets that added up to him—to Freddie Sharma.

I was almost done writing out the lyrics when the person in front of me placed their order, and I stepped up to the window. “Hi,” I said, dropping the notebook back in my bag. “Could I have twelve churros, please?”