By the second week of this weird time travel world, I finally settled into this new norm. I was acing my classes because I practically knew all of the lessons already, I still hung out with Pat and his whole friend group, Sasha and Mia even commented that I was back to my old self.

Everything was fine and dandy. I was acting as if I was truly myself months ago.

Well, there was one thing that changed – the thing that I was happiest about the most.

I turned my head to the side to see Leon staring disdainfully at the board, ignoring the snickers that were coming from both Sasha and Pat at his side. Those two were becoming fast friends and Sasha was getting less and less subtle with her attempts to bring Pat and I closer.

It was a miracle that the teacher hasn't called them out yet.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and kept it underneath my desk as I started tapping.

Avery Barber: You okay? You're glaring more than usual.

I watched as he jolted up, probably from the vibration of his phone, and ducked his head to look at the message I sent him. He glanced towards my way and I flashed him a small smile, waiting for him to reply.

I probably looked creepy as hell but we were going to ignore that, thank you very much.

Leon Colten: I understand nothing from this.

My hand shot up to cover my mouth in order to hide the giggles threatening to come out. So this sour expression was all because of algebra? Oh boy.

Leon had varying degrees of this annoyed expression. It ranges from his resting scowl face to outright shooting daggers with his gaze. Let me tell you, when I was dating Pat, I was on the receiving end of practically all of the levels of his glares.

Avery Barber: I can lend you my notes. Just give me until tomorrow to make them a bit more organized, it will be way easier to get the lesson.

He shot me a very subtle smirk and didn't bother with reply, only sending me a little thumbs up. He went back to listening to the teacher, but this time with his regular scowl and not his murderous one.

I tried to push my glee but it was futile, I was grinning creepily at the equations on the board that the guy sitting in front of me jumped in surprise when he glanced over his shoulder.

Just the thought that I could comfortably communicate with Leon like was enough to send me over the moon.

Once the teacher dismissed us, I stood up and packed my bag. But before I could make my way to where Mia was standing, I could see Sasha barreling towards me with one steel grip on Pat's arm.

Oh dear god.

"Avs, Patrick over here said that the soccer team is going to start their training today," she informed a bit more happily than I wanted, "Since he drives us, he was wondering if it would be alright if we could wait for him to finish."

At this point, I found no reason to deny her. Even if I knew her intentions were good, I had no plans of entering a relationship with Pat again, no matter how much I still adored him. But, I did want to remain friends and I didn't want to continuously reject him when he was making this much of an effort.

I was hoping that he would give up on his own because I have clearly stated that all I wanted was to be friends with him, nothing more and nothing less.

"Sure," I shrugged, swinging my bag onto my shoulder, "I have some notes to rewrite anyways so I'll wait in the library."

"Or!" she exclaimed, shaking Pat's arm so he could continue for her, "Or..."

"Or you girls can watch us train?" he suggested, finally getting the message.

My gaze went past them to where Leon was standing, his arms crossed as he waited impatiently for his best friend to finish whatever he was doing. I then looked at Mia, who was busy with her phone and probably had no intentions of joining whatever was Sasha's antics.

Well, that meant that I had to deal with this myself. They were looking at me so expectantly that I felt like I would be hurting two puppy dogs if ever I said no.

"I guess I can do my notes on the bleachers," I agreed, satisfying both of their plans and causing Sasha to finally release the poor boy.

Pat grinned widely at me, "Great, I'll see you there."

He turned around and started to walk away, patting Leon on the shoulder to signal him that they could go now. Once they were gone, Sasha clung to my arm and grinned triumphantly, "See? Was the so bad now?"

"Sash, as much as I want to see Patrick and Avs together too, I would rather have them develop their relationship in their own terms," Mia sighed loudly, her hands on her hips, "It's good that you're giving them an extra push but don't meddle too much."

"I told you, I'm not interested in him like that," I rolled my eyes, snatching my arm away from Sasha's grasp and going to Mia's side because at least somebody was sort of defending me, "He's very sweet but I honestly can't see us being more than friends."

That was a lie because I've already seen it, I've already experienced it. While the beginning stages of relationship were beautiful, the latter parts were just a scary film that kept on unfolding. He will always hold a special place in my heart, but the circumstances I've been through and the ending of our relationship was something I didn't want to relive.

But I couldn't tell them that. I couldn't say that Pat would eventually be the cause of a severe breakdown that the only person that managed to pull me back to reality would be his quiet best friend.

And my goal wasn't to expertly avoid Pat's advances – I mean, it kind of was but it wasn't the main thing I was striving for – but it was to befriend Leon. Because there was a reality when he didn't snark at me, when he didn't think I was a nuisance, and I wanted to live in it.

I got a glimpse of what it was like just from the way he comforted me on the day before I traveled to the past. Then I craved it, I wanted to stand next to him without the anxiety that he might have hated me.

Even so, we kept our promise with Pat. We eventually found ourselves on the bleachers as the soccer team kept on with their training on the field. This used to be an everyday thing for me. I dragged Sasha and Mia with me all the time and they rarely minded because even back then, Pat drove us daily.

This was how I also got along with the girlfriends of the other team members. We would bond while watching the boys practice.

But for now, I had no plans of interacting with anybody.

I pulled out my notebook from my bag and a notepad, getting to work with copying the notes and making sure they were neat and far from the scribbly mess that it originally was because I wrote them lazily in class.

I also put in shortcuts that Mia taught me. Math was her strong suit and I used to struggle with the subjects so she eventually taught me some techniques to make solving easier. At least I didn't forget them when I traveled through time.

"You were never the organized reviewer kind of girl," Mia commented when she saw what I was doing, "What's up?"

They would definitely be weirded out if I told them who this was for. These two had never seen us interact and I had never expressed an interest in him so this would definitely raise suspicions.

"I just wanted to clean up my notes," I defended, shooing her away when she reached out take one of the finished pages.

But alas, she managed to steal one. She read over them and raised a brow, "You even managed to figure out the shortcuts, our teacher didn't discuss these."

"Hey, I can be good at math too when I put my mind to it," I huffed, snatching back the paper.

That was a complete lie and she knew it. Math was the subject where they never heard the end of my complaints. I considered myself I relatively good student but equations just messes up my average every single year.

"Patrick scored!" Sasha squealed excitedly, slapping me on the shoulder to make me look up. I was quite thankful that it managed to shift the topic quickly, "Avery, look."

And I did. My eyes immediately found him, even with the size of the field and the amount of boys training down there.

He was smiling and pumping his fist in the air while his teammates patted him on the back as a congratulations. He looked around before settling his gaze towards where we were sitting. More specifically, I knew he was looking at me. So I released my pen and did a clapping motion, showing that I was impressed with what he did.

He had always been good at the sport. Even during middle school, he was in the soccer team. When we became a couple, I showed up to his games all dressed up and ready to cheer for him. When training, he didn't care if it was rain or shine, he will be there on the field.

And I was the supportive girlfriend always watching him. If there would be rain, I would sit there with an umbrella. If it was blazing hot, I made sure that I had a thermos with me so that he never ran out of cold water to drink.

I admit that Pat's dedication was one of the main reasons why I fell for him so hard in the first place. There was just something about this passionate attitude that gravitated me towards him.

His smile widened when I did the clap and he started jogging to join where his other teammates were standing. I went back to my notes, ignoring my two friends' knowing looks.

When their practice ended, I also managed to finish rewriting the notes at the same time. Pat climbed up to where we were, practically hopping on the bleacher steps, and stopped in front of us while still puffing for air, "We're just going to head to the lockers real quick. You girls can wait in the car if you want."

He then held up his car keys, staring at me expectantly to get them.

I wasn't going to prolong it anymore so I took it and nodded. He jogged back down and followed the rest of the team as they headed for the lockers.

"Shall we?" Mia asked, pushing herself up to her feet.

Sasha and I nodded as I opened my bag so I could pack my things. However, when I took the pile of notes into my hand so I could slide them into one of my folders, I stopped.

Something in me urged myself to go.

"You guys go ahead," I said, tossing Sasha the keys and zipping my bag close without putting in the notes, "I'll be right with you."

"Where are you going?" she asked.

I shot up on my feet and hastily went down the bleachers, "Locker room."

She was more than contented with that answer, because in her head, I was on my way to see Pat. In fact, she looped her arm around Mia and happily started on their way to the parking lot. I took out my phone and started texting as I went to the locker room.

Avery Barber: Come out of the locker room, I have your notes.

Leon Colten: I thought you were going to Pat's car.

Avery Barber: I'll be there soon. I just want to give it to you now so you can look over them tonight and tell me what you still don't understand tomorrow.

There wasn't a quick response after that. I stood in front of the door, my heart stammering in my chest because there was this slight fear that Pat would be the one to come out first and see me. As much as I was okay with him, I wanted to see Leon.

And I had an idea how he would react if he learned that I came for his best friend, and not for him.

For once, the universe granted me a gift. The door opened ever so slightly and Leon squeezed himself out.

"Here you go," I grinned, handing him proudly my handiwork, "I've also covered the previous lessons. If you want, I can keep making those for you."

"You don't have to do that," he murmured, his fingers flicking the different pages, "But thank you so much for this."

"It will be no trouble at all if I do those. I make own notes so rewriting them is actually like studying them again."

I was full on grinning at this point, my hands clasped in front of me just waiting enthusiastically for his approval. However, he paused from browsing the papers I gave him and inhaled deeply, staring down at me with those curious eyes, "Why are you doing this?"

Because I want to help you, even in the tiniest ways because I feel like it would take me a lifetime just to express the gratitude I have for you. You may have no idea about it yet, but you are my literal saving grace.

"We're friends, right?" I spoke, my fingers fidgeting under his gaze. It was as if a small part of me was scared that he didn't think that we were.

"We are but..." he started off and then he stopped, as if he caught himself about to say something he shouldn't.

I knew what he was thinking. But Pat likes me and he could get the wrong idea.

I stopped caring about people getting the wrong idea the moment Zoey caught us talking in that restaurant. If he gets the wrong idea, then so be it. It might make things awkward but it was a risk that I was willing to make.

Yet that could not erase the immense joy I felt when he did confirm that we were friends. He didn't deny it and I truly wanted to do a happy dance in the middle of this hallway.

"But nothing!" I pretended not to know what he was supposed to say, "I want to help you."

"Leon?" we both heard Pat call from the inside.

His eyes switched from the door then to me and I could practically hear the gears turning in his head on how to avoid a compromising situation. Just to ease him of the panic, I slowly stepped away, "I'll go to the car and I'll see you tomorrow."

He nodded, probably thanking the heavens. I waved before heading my way to the parking lot, leaving him to deal with his best friend. When I got to Pat's car, my two friends were situated on the backseat, leaving the passenger side free for me.

"How was it?" they asked simultaneously.

"Good," I shrugged, feigning nonchalance.

In truth, it went better than I thought. I imagined that befriending Leon would be a one step forward, two steps back kind of thing but it wasn't.

Leon Colten, I will gladly do anything to help you because the future you will be the one to pull me at the right moment.

------------------------------

Alright, if you haven't noticed, I tried to establish a little update sched. For the past couple of updates, I always posted on Friday, 8pm Philippine time. So I think I'll stick with it for now but if I'm a little late, just know that there is a guaranteed  update every Friday.

Question: How do you think Pat will find out if he learns about Leon and Avery?

And before I go, Happy Independence to my country. Maligayang araw ng kalayaan, Pilipinas kong mahal. Tuloy ang laban para sa ating bansa!

If you haven't been my reader for long, I'm bilingual. English is actually my second language and not my first, but I'm fluent in it. More fun facts about me on my profile, also follow me as well while you're there! Don't forget to vote and comment (I literally have the people who comment on the chapters memorized so even if I don't reply, just know that I appreciate you but I also love my silent readers, don't worry). See you guys next chapter!