Chapter 27
Kyle
Lily: Have you already made plans for Saturday with Jeremy?
Kyle: Why? Are you jealous?
Lily: Answer the question, I'm not joking around.
Kyle: I'm working on it, relax.
Five days. That's all we had left until Valentine's Day.
These past four weeks have been extremely crazy in ways I never could have anticipated when we first arrived back in this timeline.
Between trying to gain Jeremy's trust while avoiding being suspicious about my real intentions, monitoring Oliver’s actions, keeping Lily close to me, managing my parents' deteriorating marriage, and actually being present for Aria, I felt like I was slowly drowning.
One wrong move, and everything would fall apart.
But some things had gotten better, at least. My relationship with Aria had entirely transformed over the past month.
I'd been making her breakfast every morning before school, packing her lunches with little notes that made her smile, and most importantly, just being there. Really being there, not just physically present but emotionally available in a way I'd never been the first time around.
In my past, she was just my annoying little sister.
I remember kicking her out of my room when I wanted to play video games or when I brought my friends home from school because she was in the way.
Even when Lily came over, I wouldn't let them talk much, even though she also wanted to have a friendship with my girlfriend.
As adolescents, men believe themselves to be the most independent and solitary people possible, as if that somehow makes them more manly.
Now, I knew better, and I’ve become the brother she deserved from the start. I've taken my time getting to know her. I've spent more time with her. And I realized how wonderful and intelligent she is.
"Alright, what's your deal lately?" Tom asked during lunch at the cafeteria, dropping his tray on the table with more force than necessary.
I looked up from the sandwich I'd been staring at without really seeing. "What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb," Mike chimed in. "You've been acting weird for weeks, man."
"I haven't been acting weird," I protested, but even I could hear how unconvincing it sounded. I knew I’ve been distant.
With everything that had been going on in my life, I barely had time to chill, and these guys who'd been by my side since middle school had become background characters in my mission to fix the future, and apparently, they'd noticed.
I didn't want to lose my friendship with them, but I had priorities to focus on right now.
"You don't joke around; you don't laugh at our jokes, you look distracted all the time, and you are too serious now," Jared said.
"I think you guys are exaggerating."
Jared's expression grew serious. "Look, man, we're just saying we miss hanging out with you. You're our friend, and it feels like you're here, but not really here, you know? And whatever's going on, you know you can count on us, right?"
The sincerity in his voice caught me off guard.
These guys had been my friends since middle school.
But in my focus on changing the past, I'd forgotten that I was also affecting their present.
And here I was, treating them like they didn't matter because I was too focused on changing a future they didn't even know existed.
"I know," I said quietly. "And I'm sorry I've been distant. It's just..." I paused, trying to figure out how to explain without explaining. "Things at home have been really rough lately."
"What kind of rough?" Mike asked.
I took a deep breath, deciding to give them the truth that would make sense. "I think my parents are getting a divorce."
My three friends stared at each other in silence, as if they knew what I had just said was quite serious.
And I felt a little guilty for making them feel bad with my confession.
"I don't want to worry you with my personal problems, which is why I didn't say anything.
I wanted everything to feel normal at school, at least."
"Shit, Kyle," Tom said, his expression softening immediately. "I'm sorry. That's rough."
"Are you okay?" Jared asked, "When my parents divorced, I had to go to the psychologist for six months to deal with the new life I was facing. If you feel you need help, you can ask for it. I know your parents won't say no."
"I'm dealing with it," I said, which was mostly true.
"It's just been messy at home. They fight all the time, and I'm trying to be there for Aria because she's taking it really hard.
So yeah, I've been distracted and probably not the best friend lately.
But I'm dealing with so many things right now that I don't know how to balance everything without going crazy in the process. "
"Hey, no," Mike said firmly. "You don't have to apologize for that. Family stuff is important. We get it. We just wish you had told us, so we would have been more attentive to you and not thought that you didn't want to spend time with us."
"You could have told us," Tom added. "We're here for you, you know? You don't have to go through this alone."
The genuine care in their voices made my throat tight.
I'd spent so much time viewing this whole situation through the lens of missions and goals and things to fix that I'd forgotten the simple comfort of having friends who cared about you.
"Thanks, guys, I appreciate it. And I promise I'll try to be more present. "
Oliver arrived with his food and sat between Jared and me.
"Well, good timing then, because I have the perfect solution to get you out of your head.
My parents will be out of town this weekend, and I'm throwing the most epic pool party you've ever seen in your shorts lives.
Pretty much everyone's invited. It's going to be legendary. "
What Oliver didn't know is that this precise event is what is making me too worried. But I tried to play cool. "Really? I have to see if my agenda is free."
"Of course, you'll have to ask Jeremy if he's planning on keeping you away from us on Saturday, too. Right?" Oliver said, teasing me. "I don't think you should keep hanging out with that weirdo. He and his best friend Leo are the worst."
I felt awful about what he said, especially because Oliver doesn’t really know Jeremy.
In another scenario, like when I was younger, I would have laughed or gone along with his response.
We all had that inner need to please him in some way or another, and he knew no bounds when it came to making hurtful comments.
But now, the way he spoke or acted just didn't seem right to me.
"Chill out, or I'll think you're jealous," I replied, making everyone at the table laugh. "I just want to confirm that I won't be needed at the hospital or have any university visits scheduled that day, that's all."
"You can't miss it," Oliver continued enthusiastically, ignoring my response. "It'll be just like old times."
I felt trapped. If I didn't go, I'd disappoint my friends and potentially make Oliver suspicious. But if I did go, I'd be walking straight into the disaster we were trying to prevent. They had just told me they missed me, and here I am thinking about pushing them away again.
What should I do? Should I try to avoid the party that ruined my life, or go anyway, knowing all the bad things that could happen just to please my friends?
Even though the answer looked obvious, I didn’t know the correct path.
"Yeah, definitely," I heard myself saying. "Sounds great."
Maybe I could go to the party after making sure Jeremy would be away from it entirely.
I can find a way to exhaust Jeremy through social interactions, then go spend time with my friends.
Then, I could monitor the situation from the inside while making sure he was safely elsewhere.
It wasn't ideal, but it might be the only way to make everyone happy.
Oliver grinned, clapping me on the shoulder. "That's what I'm talking about! The whole crew is back together."
After class, I found Jeremy at his locker. I approached him, trying to sound casual. "Hey, want to hang out on Saturday? We could catch a movie at my house or something."
"Can't," he said without looking up from his books. "I already have plans."
"What kind of plans? Maybe I could join you."
Jeremy shot me a look, trying to act annoyed, but I knew deep down my interest in being with him amused him. "Hell no. Why are you so interested in my weekend plans anyway?"
I tried to think of a reasonable explanation that wouldn't sound stalkerish. "I just thought it would be fun to hang out. There's this movie I've been wanting to see, and I thought maybe—"
"Look, if you must know," Jeremy said, closing his locker with a sigh, "I have piano lessons all afternoon. And maybe dinner with some friends from my music program afterward."
Piano lessons. That was new information.
Had Jeremy had these plans the first time around?
Or have things changed now? In my memory, Jeremy had shown up at the party out of nowhere, already angry about something.
But what if he'd had plans that got canceled?
What if something had happened to make him change his mind and go to Oliver's house instead?
Not being able to control all these variables stressed me out more than I wanted to admit.
"Okay, but if anything happens, promise me you'll call me first," I said, probably sounding more intense than I intended.
Jeremy raised an eyebrow. "Why would anything happen? Relax, you sound like my dad now."
I forced myself to laugh. "Sorry, just being a good friend. You know, making sure you're not getting into trouble."
"With piano lessons?" Jeremy laughed. "The wildest thing that might happen is my teacher yelling at me for not practicing enough. Which, to be fair, is pretty likely."
"Well, okay. Just... try to let me know if your plans change, alright?"