Chapter Saturday, June 10th
Who had the best night ever?” Sheridan yelled.
I blinked as I looked around.
I was on the other side of the doors.
I whirled around to look behind me. I could see people walking past, I could see the park on the other side—but I was out. I was through.
Time was moving forward.
“Oh my god!” I yelled to Bryony, who rushed up to me.
“It worked!” she yelled, and I pulled her into a hug.
“It worked,” I said. My heart was pounding hard, and relief flooded through me.
I was now on the same page as everyone else.
I wouldn’t have the cheat codes. I wouldn’t know how every situation would turn out.
I’d have to go through life figuring things out—or not—the first time around, with no do-overs.
But I could keep going. People would remember conversations we’d had, and Freddie…
My mind snagged on the thought. Freddie.
“What worked?” Bruce asked, sounding baffled. “We just…walked through the doors.”
“It’s a big deal,” I promised him.
“Very,” Bryony agreed.
“I think I missed something,” he said to Bryony, who laughed.
“Bruce has to get his bus,” she said to me, “so we were going to go say goodbye. I’ll meet you on ours?”
I nodded, still getting my head around the fact that I no longer had a script for the night—that we were moving in real time now. And if I messed up, I’d only have one shot—just like everyone else.
Bruce waved goodbye and then they were off. I stood there for just a moment, my thoughts whirling.
“Hi, there.” I looked over to see Freddie jogging up. He pulled me into a hug, and I hugged him back. We stood there together for just a moment, and I just let myself enjoy it—how right it felt. How natural. He stepped back, smiling wide. “You made it!” he said. “You’re out!”
I smiled back at him. “I am. It finally worked.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Good. A little overwhelmed.”
“Well, that’s understandable. How many loops did you do? You must have been there a while.”
“Almost a hundred and fifty? I think?” Freddie’s eyes widened.
“Wow. That—that is a lot.”
“Wait,” I said, remembering. “What happened with the manager?”
Freddie’s face broke into an excited, hopeful smile. “It went really well. She said she liked my stage presence—and especially the new song. She wants me to work on it. Nothing’s official yet, but we’re going to meet next week. It’s looking good, I think?”
“Oh my gosh—that’s amazing!” This was what I’d wanted for him, all those times I was trying to figure out how to prevent disaster—this happy ending.
“Yeah, it’s really exciting,” he said, shaking his head. “I can’t thank you enough. Without you, none of this would be happening.”
“You did it,” I pointed out. “I just helped get rid of some of the obstacles, that’s all.”
“So I was thinking, maybe next weekend, if you’re free, we could meet up? I’d love to take you on a proper date. Maybe dinner? Just not—”
“Pizza,” I finished for him. “Because you had that disastrous first date at the Pizza Express. And ever since then, you’ve been superstitious about it.”
“Uh, right.” Freddie nodded, but he looked taken aback. “I guess…we talked about a lot, huh?”
“Yeah.” I could feel the smile fading from my face. “We really did.” I looked up at him—at the face that was so familiar to me—then glanced away again.
“So—something other than pizza,” Freddie said, his voice sounding like he was trying to make it cheerful. “What do you think?”
“I think…” I said slowly. I took a breath.
“I think that I meant it when I said that it felt like we’d had thirty first dates already.
Because that’s how it is for me. I’ve spent all this time with you, and you’ve told me all these stories.
I know you really well. And for you—I’m someone you met three hours ago. ”
Freddie took a step closer to me, his forehead creasing in confusion. “I mean, technically that’s true. But…what are you saying?”
I shook my head. “I’m saying that doesn’t seem fair, you know? I literally have a list full of facts about you. It’s like I have the cheat codes. And I don’t know if we can…start anything with that kind of imbalance.”
Freddie shook his head, even as I could tell he was processing this. “I don’t…That’s not…”
“I really like you,” I said. “But that’s because I know you. And you don’t know me at all.” I knew this was the truth the moment I said it—it hit me somewhere deep inside.
“I’m sure we can figure it out, right?” Freddie asked. But there wasn’t a ton of conviction in his voice, and I could see that he’d come to the same realization that I had.
“I don’t think so.” I felt the weight of these words land as I spoke them.
“Cass, let’s go!” I looked over and saw Ms. Mulaney walking past. She tapped her watch. “Bus is going to leave soon.”
“Okay,” I called back. “Be right there.”
I looked at Freddie, and he gave me a sad smile. I stepped forward and gave him a hug. He hugged me back, and I let myself breathe him in for just a moment—the last time I’d get to do this.
Then I broke away and looked up at him. “Take care, okay?”
He nodded, his smile trying to mask the disappointment in his eyes. “You too, Cass.”
I gave him one last look, then turned and hurried across the parking lot, ready to rejoin my class, and get on the bus—the one that would, at last, take me home.