"Thanks for the ride you guys," I said to Leon and Pat. Sasha and Mia's houses were closer to the burger joint that we went to so they got down before I did.

"No problem," Pat smiled, before nudging his best friend. I turned to Leon expectantly, my hands practically gripping the sides of the their seats.

Leon rolled his eyes, but spoke nonetheless, "You're welcome."

For now, I knew that was all I was going to get from him. Although I was hoping for quite more, I was already pleased that he at least talked to me.

I opened the door and stepped out, waving them goodbye as the car drove away. From my peripheral vision, I saw it. The curtain in Zoey's room moved and instead of rushing into my house, I waited for her. I stood there as the door of her home opened and she came running out, her blonde hair up in a bun that was threatening to fall.

"Hey Zo," I opted to greet her first. If I was able to act normally with Pat then surely, I could pretend like nothing happened with her. I think she was honestly thinking that I would put up more of a fight but when I didn't, she momentarily paused while I continued on, "Sorry I wasn't able to come over for dinner, a few people from my class decided to eat out."

She blinked a few times, those blue eyes portraying wonder and confusion. Probably because how I was seemingly avoiding, which wasn't wrong, she thought that I would start a disagreement with her. Then, out of nowhere, tears started to well up in those eyes and she lunged forward to hug, "I thought you were upset with me."

I was.

"I'm not," I shushed, rubbing comforting circles on her back, "Sorry, today was just a little stressful."

I felt her nod, but still not letting me go.

Perfect Zoey. Golden hair, golden heart.

It was difficult not to be insecure when standing next to her. As children, both boys and girls preferred to play with her. She, being the good friend that she was, often made me tag-along and made me feel included. As we started to grow up, we took different directions in life.

Her parents enrolled her in a private all-girls school while I opted to attend public schooling.

Let me just say, that helped my self-esteem so much. It gave everybody less material to compare us with. With that our friendship became even tighter, I told her everything and that went both ways.

So why? Why was she in the car with him?

"You still have that cornbread?" I managed to question, trying to lighten up the mood.

She pulled back, her eyes swollen and nose all red. She nodded and wiped away the remaining tears, "Yeah, we saved them for you and mom bought a lot so why don't you bring home some."

It really was hard to be angry with her.

Mom wasn't back yet when I came home with a tupperware full of cornbread. I left it on the kitchen counter and headed upstairs into my room. When I was getting comfier clothes to change into, I blinked at the whistle sitting on my bedside table where I left it there after getting out of the shower.

My phone wasn't with me when I fell asleep, thus it reverted back to its state in the past. The clothes I was wearing were those that I already owned prior to the first day of the school year so it was understandable why they still existed in this timeline.

But that whistle – it was the only thing that I have right now that wasn't.

I was wearing it, it was on my body, which was the reason why I managed to keep it. Now I'm curious if Leon from this time has his.

But first things first, I had to disinfect it because from all the ruckus that was happening, I think I really needed something to destress me.

I looked through the internet on ways to clean the whistle and while I was in the middle of drying it while sat on one of the stools by the kitchen island, I heard the door click open.

"Avery, I'm home," mom called out.

"I'm in the kitchen," I hollered, examining my handy work and scrunching the paper towel I was using. She walked in, her purse on the crook of her arm and the blazer she was wearing clutched on one of her hands, "How was your day?"

"Same old, same old," she sighed, grabbing the sides of my face and placing a kiss on my forehead, "And how did your first day go?"

"I ate out with some friends," I said, slipping on the whistle and feeling its weight on my neck, "Oh by the way, Zoey's mom gave us cornbread."

"That's very nice of them," she spoke, taking off her shoes, "And that's pretty whistle. Where did you get it from?"

My fingers went up and I felt the metal against my skin. This whistle wasn't just any ordinary one, it was basically my extension to the past. It was who I was before I woke up this morning, everything that I've been through intertwined with this whistle.

The fact that it was with me, the fact that my mother was unfamiliar with it, made it more unique.

But the person who gave it made it precious.

"A friend," a muttered and for once, I wasn't lying.

"Sasha? Mia?"

I shook my head, "No. We've known each other for a long time but we only became friends recently."

"Well, sounds like an eventful first day," she laughed and I wanted to scream out loud that that was complete understatement, "Now if you'll excuse me, sweetheart, I think I'm going to bed early."

"I think I'll follow soon," I said, hopping off the stool and throwing the paper towel I used, "Good night, mom."

She hummed before leaving the room, probably to go upstairs and into her room. When I was sure that she was gone, I walked towards the kitchen cabinet and swung it open. I stared at it intently, really checking if the pills weren't there.

It hasn't happened yet. I didn't need them yet. If I played my cards right, I won't be in the situation where I would need them again.

"Looks like it's just you and me," I whispered to the whistle. For now, it was my only companion from where I originally came from.

I went upstairs back into my room and that was the only time I truly took in what it looked like. My desk that was littered with papers and notes was clean, because there were no homeworks or tests to study for yet. The pictures I pinned on my corkboard only had those of Sasha, Mia, and Zoey or group photos with other people I knew – no couple photos with Pat yet.

It was still tidy, I managed to keep it clean as opposed to the big mess I allowed it to be.

My life was still in order.

And it honestly made me feel sick in the stomach. The time that I came from and that of right now were only apart by a few months – not even a full year. And yet, I couldn't remember me being so carefree, so put together. In just a few months, my life will be turned upside down. A few weeks from that, my boyfriend will break up with me. A few minutes from there, I'll be contemplating on jumping from the school building.

I was here to possibly relive all of that pain once again.

It made me feel this ache of loneliness. It wasn't like I could tell anybody, they will all think I grew a second head.

My vision started to get blurry with tears and I felt the wetness dripping down my cheeks. I had no idea what to do or why was I here in the first place.

Avery Barber of this time was different from the Avery from the future, completely different.

Safe to say, I did not get good night's sleep. In fact, I think if my brain wasn't so drained from thinking too hard and too much, I wouldn't sleep at all. For now, I was running with an hour's rest.

I checked my phone the first thing when I woke up, cursing the date it displayed.

August 25. I was still in the past.

When I got into the kitchen, I immediately went for the coffee machine, pouring myself a mug. Black, the strongest it could possibly be because I needed all the caffeine I could get.

Concealer was god's gift to man.

"We're having chili tonight by your request," mom said, placing her own mug into the sink after she had finished her coffee fix. Oh right, the chicken and chili fiasco yesterday.

At least mom still remembers. That means that everything didn't reset from what happened yesterday.

Today I was leaving way earlier than yesterday because a mini-freak out wasn't necessary. However, can you imagine what went through my brain when I got out of the front door and there was a car, which was definitely wasn't mom's, was parked right in front of the house.

And I knew that car anywhere – it was Pat's.

My eyes switched rapidly around me, hoping and wishing that this was some elaborate prank.

"Avery!" I heard him exclaim, going out of the vehicle and jogging towards me, "Thank god I didn't miss you."

"What?" I blinked at him multiple times as if he was an illusion.

You know, with everything that has been happening I would definitely not rule hallucination out of the equation.

"Well, Sasha mentioned that you girls commute to school so I thought it might be good to drive you three instead," he said with that innocent smile, "I was so worried that you might leave before I got here."

"Oh," was all I managed to say. My mind at this point was completely empty. He grabbed my bag and gestured dramatically to his car.

The same thing I last saw him in with my best friend. Speaking of which, Zoey's car was nowhere to be seen so I could assume that she already went to school. At least I had that going for me.

However, my feet were stuck to the ground, I couldn't even fathom going inside it anymore. Yes, I agreed not to let his future self to justify my bitterness with him but you can't expect me to not react this way.

Even if it was in another timeline, my heartbreak transcended through it.

My mouth was dry which was a shocker due to the amount of coffee I just drank. And while I stood there frozen, I could see the smile slowly slipping off his face. Well, I was basically rejecting him by my refusal to move.

"We're still going to pick up Sasha and Mia," he tried to make the situation a little bit more assuring by mentioning them, but my tongue was glued.

I would rather walk all the way to school than go inside that car.

The door behind me opened and I prayed that mom would do something to get me out of this situation. In her mind, I was still that rather carefree teenager, not the shell of a person that I had become. This was not the first time a boy came to our house, I've dated a reasonable amount before. She wasn't the kind of parent to ban me from ever touching the opposite gender until college, in fact she was rather amused by my teenage love life.

So I had this huge hunch that she will not hesitate to let me go with him. But if I subtly point out to her that I was uncomfortable, she might just help me.

"Oh who's this?" I heard her ask, locking the door.

Pat instantly turned on that charm, flashing her that wonderful smile and holding up a hand for her to shake, "Hello ma'am, I'm Patrick, her classmate. I'm here to pick up Avery."

"Really?" she said and I saw that grin starting to form as she shook his hand.

Mother, please no.

"Yup, we hung out last night and Sasha mentioned that the girls commute to school so I offered to drive them instead."

"That's such a nice gesture," at this point, she was positively beaming, "You must be the one who gave the whistle."

Safe to say, all color drained from my face. I was relatively tanned but in that very moment, I was sure that I was as pale as a sheet of paper. The whistle was tucked under my shirt, I could even feel it on my skin. I wanted to hide it for now, because I was afraid that Leon might still have his and that would end up in a very awkward conversation.

"Whistle?" Pat echoed, his tone questioning.

Then there was this shot of adrenaline. Whether because I did not want a long explanation on where and who I got this whistle from or simply because I did not want him to realize that I had the same whistle as his best friend.

I finally felt my body moving, my mind running, "Look at the time, we need to get going. We still have to pick up Sasha and Mia."

I waved to my mom goodbye as I pushed him towards his car. He tried to let out a coherent goodbye to mom but I practically shoved him into the vehicle and climbed into the passenger side, releasing a deep sigh once I closed the door next to me.

The poor guy looked absolutely flabbergasted at the sudden turn of events. He didn't immediately drive, only sitting there with his hands on the steering while his mouth continuously opened and closed like a freaking guppy.

Small space, only the two of us.

Oh no.

Now let us put ourselves in a different headspace. I wasn't simply sixteen, in fact, I was already seventeen from where I came from. I wasn't just a normal high school student sitting inside a car with her classmate that she assumed had a crush on her. No, I was with my ex-boyfriend from another kind of future.

That has slowly sunk into me. What I need to constantly remind myself was that the people around me were different. They were living day by day with no idea what was going to happen.

And alright, I can be the cutesy and bashful girl that will be a little bit giggly so a guy would like her or I can simply be forward and get this out of the way.

Let me choose the latter because there was nothing more I can lose.

"Look, I'm not really sure what's going on in your head right now," I voiced out, cutting the silence, "But whatever it is, I really want us to be friends right now."

I wanted to give myself a pat on the back for just managing to let that sentence out without wavering a single bit.

What I didn't expect was him being forward just as I was, "Just friends?"

I adored him. Yeah, stupid ol' me, I get it. But I still liked him, nothing could erase that fact. There was a reason why I got so heartbroken, it was because of my feelings for him.

So when he popped that question, there was nothing I could do to stop my erratic heartbeat or the blush creeping up my cheeks. Because while I do have my memories of the break up intact, I felt the same rush I did when I first started to like him.

It was like we were back to our days when he was slowly trying to hint that he liked me.

But I was determined. I faked a huff and clicked my seatbelt, facing the street in front of us, "Friends."

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So, my indecisive ass is still not happy with the cover so I'm just going to let you vote. If you're still not happy with any of them, just tell me and I'll change it because at this point, even I'm not sure what I really want.

Just tell me which you guys prefer (1-5). Number 1 is the one where the girl is hugging the guy from behind and 5 is the one where they're kissing with the river/bridge/tree(idk) in the background.

Anyways, exam season is about to start for me but don't worry, I've written a lot of chapters already when I had free time so you wouldn't be neglected of updates. Please comment, vote, and give me a follow if you want. See you next chapter!