My Saturday mornings has always been reserved for Zoey, even when Pat and I started dating. Sometimes, he would join us but looking back, I regret letting him tag along. The mystery of why they were in the car together was still in the back of my mind.

The bigger mystery was if I would ever know why.

"I swear, all I could hear from every teacher of every subject is college this and college that," she rambled, her frustrations obvious from her voice, "As if I don't get enough pressure from mom and dad."

She was going to go and do amazing things, even if she didn't know it yet. Princeton University. Ivy League. Economics Major.

Because there wasn't a single thing she was bad at.

"So how about you?" she asked, picking up her mug of coffee, "Any eventful thing that happened during your first week back?"

I traveled through time? Was that too much for an opening line?

Alright, let's dial it down and go on with the whole fiasco of my ex-boyfriend who hasn't become my boyfriend yet and is somehow trying to have me date him. Oh did I mention that my two best friends want me to go out with him even if I explicitly said that I didn't want to?

Did that sound complicated? Well, welcome to the reality I was living in.

"Well, there's this guy..." I trailed off, first wondering if I should even continue on and tell her about Pat because we all knew what happened the first time I mentioned them both to each other.

However, there was no going back now because she gasped excitedly, "And then?"

"We just started to become friends. We've been classmate for years but now we're getting closer," I explained, poking the scrambled eggs on my plate, "I did ask him to be just friends for now."

"I haven't heard you talk about a guy in months," she said with a grin, "So this is refreshing."

Well, that was because after the last guy I dated, I cooled myself off from relationships for a while. Of course, Pat entered the scene eventually. In fact, after our first date, we were ready to make it official instantly. It helped that we have been flirting for some time before that happened.

Now the timeline that I had been used to got all messed up so I don't know how to pace all of this. Everything about this has been completely unpredictable.

"How about you?" I questioned, trying to steer the conversation away from my pending doom. By that, I meant Pat's interest on me, "Anybody caught your eye yet?"

"Heavens no," she laughed, waving me off, "I've been single all my life and I'm honestly tired of it."

Here was one thing I figured out from the future – she did like someone. No, it wasn't Pat or at least I think it wasn't. But I could almost hear the restraint in her voice as I kept on asking her if there was a special somebody as the months flew by.

And I gathered it before I even introduced her to Pat so that was the reason why I saw no red flags.

I never got to find out who was the guy that she liked.

She had crushes, that was for sure. Even when we were younger, I had to pry that sort of information from her. As open as I was about my love life to her, she was incredibly secretive about hers.

"By the way, that's a cute whistle," she commented, pointing with the pinky of the hand that was holding her coffee mug, "It's the first time I've seen you wear one."

Because I was a hundred percent positive that I wasn't going to see Leon today, I wore it out of my shirt. I've worn it every single day, only taking it off when I go take a shower or go to sleep.

"Thank you," I murmured, not even bothering to go into a deeper explanation because that was practically useless and probably more question might arise from that.

As we've gathered from the recent events, the universe just loves fucking me over.

And because I've been having such fantastic luck, the said original owner of this whistle strutted right through those glass doors. My eyes popped right out of their sockets and I consequently dropped the fork I was holding, causing it to hit the plate loudly.

Zoey jolted up at the sudden sound and blinked at my dumbfounded expression, "What's wrong?"

"Restroom," was my one-worded reply as I bolted up to my feet and sprinted away. I rushed into the ladies' room and immediately placed the whistle under my clothes.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror, watching as how remaining color from my face drained itself. I didn't bother with makeup today because I didn't plan to do anything adventurous with Zoey, literally just have breakfast out.

At least Leon was alone, I couldn't fathom what would happen if Pat was with him. That would be too many stressful moments in one week and let me tell you, I've certainly reached my quota.

I took a deep breath, slapping my cheeks to return some sort of tint on them, and then finally exiting the restroom. And the universe, who wasn't done playing with me yet, placed the one person I didn't want to encounter right across the door.

Leon looked up from his phone, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise, "Hello?"

"H-hey," I managed to say out loud, my heart beating right out of my chest as I looked at him. Unlike Pat, I didn't have a long history with him. Whatever memories I valued of him were literally the last few hours before I time travelled.

And yet, seeing him look at me with those cold eyes made my heart ache more than I thought it would. It was almost akin to the pain I felt when I sat next to Pat in his car for the first time again.

There was only one restroom so I knew he was waiting for me to step aside so he could use it. I did so, walking towards the sink to wash my hands while he passed me and got inside. I heard the lock click and I sighed heavily.

I wanted Leon to look at me with that same gentle gaze he did when he was comforting me. I wanted to feel his kindness once again.

So I didn't leave. I might have looked incredibly creepy but I waited until he got out of the restroom.

Honestly, Avery, I think we have completely forgotten how to function properly.

He bolted up when he opened the door and saw me staring intently at him. He looked around, behind him, and side to side – checking if there was something or somebody else I was looking at – before pointing towards the toilet, "Need to go again?"

"No!" I said louder than I originally intended, shocking him once again. I gasped and covered my mouth immediately. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if he just left on the spot because I've literally been acting weird all week and this might just be the final nail in the coffin for him.

A man cleared his throat, causing both of us to switch our gaze to him. He gestured towards the restroom with an impatient expression and Leon stepped away so he could get in. I was a tiny bit thankful that he somewhat broke the tension because I didn't know how to move forward following that outburst.

"Anything wrong?" Leon asked once the door closed behind him.

"Can I have your number?" I blurted out, throwing whatever shame I had left right out of the window.

Fantastic, Barber, fucking fantastic.

"What?" he questioned, slowly inching away from me.

I'm sorry but at this point, I really have nothing else to lose. Absolutely nothing.

Reaching out, I grabbed his arm and almost pleaded, "Please, can I have your number?"

"While I'm fine with it, what's up with you, Avery?"

My name felt immaculate coming from him. I wanted to sincerely embrace him because in my mind, he was my last link to the timeline I came from. From the future that brought me so much devastation. I wanted to cling onto him like he was my life buoy from this mess I got into.

"I want to be friends with you," I explained and for what felt like forever, I wasn't hiding behind lies and excuses. I truly wanted to be friends with him because I caught a glimpse of what it would be like if he cared.

And I wanted him to look at me, smile at me, without the disdain that he used to show. I want to sit next to him without all the unspoken questions if he truly hated me. I wanted to talk to him without our topics being restricted to things about Pat.

I wanted to be Leon Colten's friend.

"Okay," he replied shortly, opening up his palm, "Give me your phone."

Well, that was relatively easier than I thought. It was a miracle he hasn't walked away yet.

He saved his number and before I could react happily, he then handed me his phone, "Give me yours too."

I punched it in and when we exchanged back our phones, I grinned from ear to ear, staring at his name in my contacts, "Thank you!"

He watched my over dramatics before releasing an amused chuckle, "You wanted to be friends that bad?"

"Yeah," I said with every single ounce of honesty in my body. He had no idea what I've been through and nothing would be more comforting than knowing that he was there, "Thank you so much, Leon."

You know that look when I first said thank you to him? Like that true thank you after I ran out of my house just seconds before I saw Zoey and Pat together. The same way his gaze softened back then was a clone of the way it did now. Also how my insides instantly warmed up was the same, its effects never wavered.

The corners of his lips turned up to a smile and if the heavens could only open up and angels could sing in the background, it would.

"There you are!" Zoey cut in, "What's taking you so long?"

Her eyes then switched to Leon then to both of our phones almost side by side as we held them close to each other. I watched as her eyebrows went higher and I know from the expression that she was desperately trying to contain whatever enthusiasm was building up within her.

This is the part where we pray that she doesn't get the wrong idea.

Oh who was I kidding?

"And who's this?" she smiled, her hand practically shaking with excitement as she raised it, "I'm Zoey, nice to meet you."

I slapped her hand away, rolling my eyes at her, "Zoey, this is Leon. He's my classmate."

In all honesty, I expected him to be starstruck as well just like anybody I introduce to Zoey to for the first time. But to my surprise, he simply nodded his head in acknowledgement, that gentle smile that he showed me slipping away and returning back to his resting scowl face, "Hello."

It's not even a resting bitch face with Leon, it was a full on scowl.

"Alright, we better get back to our food," I clapped my hands so that we could easily move on from this situation, "Leon, I'm really happy that we bumped into each other. I'll see you on Monday!"

He lifted a hand a goodbye as I started to push my best friend away. Once we were out of earshot, Zoey was on the brink of squealing, "Was he the one you were talking about?"

"No," I hastily denied, "He's just a..."

A paused for a moment, going back to our conversation. Unknowingly, my shoulders relaxed and I slowly shook my head once again, my voice now way calmer, "He's a friend."

I don't care what he thinks, we were friends in my book.

"Okay then," she sang, twirling on her heel and walked all the way back to our table while I could only groan and follow her. Not before I looked over to see Leon stealing a glance towards my way and so I sent him a small smile before finally joining Zoey once again.

Somehow, the whistle hanging around my neck became ten times lighter.

You know, I didn't care if she had the wrong idea. I was too elated with how smoothly everything went with my first actually conversation with the Leon since the time travel fiasco that I was even humming a happy tune as I continued with my meal.

Somehow the sun was brighter, the food tasted better, and I finally felt like it was going to be a good day.

When I was in the middle of my meal, Zoey piped in again, "You know, I don't care who he is. I already like him for you, friend or not."

"What?" I questioned, stopping midway from cutting my food.

She smiled, this one no longer having that level of extreme excitement as earlier, "You've been looking stressed and agitated the whole week, Avy. This is actually the first time that you have that peaceful expression on your face."

My went up to touch my cheek as if I would actually feel whatever she was talking about. While it was true that I have been nothing but stressed, I thought that I didn't make it that obvious by the third day. In the end, I was wrong.

That obvious concern was what made me appreciate her. Zoey always treated me well, she has never failed to make me feel that I could always depend.

"I had a dream, Zo," I sighed, opting to at least open the subject. While I wasn't going to straight out tell her that I came from the future, I think I just needed to tell somebody about it or else I would go mad, "I dreamt that I was from the future."

"Oh," she blinked, now slowly placing down her cutlery and looking at me expectantly, waiting for me to continue with my story.

"It was a weird future. The person in the mirror didn't even look like me, I was so sad and anxious all the time," I explained, looking down onto my hands, "Not at all like who I am right now."

Avery Barber of mid-August was still full of life, easy-going and all of that. Avery Barber of the future had panic attacks at random times and she felt like she can't do anything about it.

I even felt sorry for Zoey because I know she tried her best to be there for me. But I continuously pushed her away or during the times I actually felt normal, I refused to talk about my feelings. I pretended that everything was fine.

I know she missed her best friend just as much as I missed my former self.

Yet I cannot comprehend why she went in that car with Pat. She knew I was already having relationship problems, she knew that I was struggling to be open with him. She was even aware of how scared I was that he would break up with me at any second – which he did, mind you.

So why?

"And then what happened?" she asked, referring to my dream.

I looked back up at her attentive features, finding it hard to believe that she would ever betray me. Perhaps I got the wrong idea – no, I knew I had the wrong idea. In my defense, I just planned to cool off for a while because that day was too much on me and then eventually, I would talk to her.

Obviously, time travel was not on my agenda.

"I had a boyfriend and everything, but he broke up with me," I persevered with this, even if I felt like I was stabbing myself in the chest with each word. Saying it out loud made it more painful than I thought, "Then, when I thought the whole nightmare was over, I saw you two together."

Her eyes widened in shock, "Was that the reason you avoided me during Monday?"

I nodded slowly and I knew Zoey, she wouldn't get upset over something like that or would wave it off as some overthinking. She was always understanding, "Oh Avy, I'm sorry if I was too pushy back that day."

Perfect and kind Zoey. I wouldn't put it past Pat to fall in love with her.

"It was my fault for being dramatic over a dream."

She shook her head, reaching out and squeezing my hand reassuringly, "No, it's not. If it makes you feel better, I promise that nothing like that will ever happen in real life."

"Thanks, Zo," I forced out a smile, squeezing her hand back.

Unfortunately, it really did happen in real life.

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I've actually managed to create a cover that I'm happy with. What do you guys think? 

Now I've always tried to make my account and all of my stories a safe space for everyone. Right now, the world is in chaos. I'm going to leave an external link to a carrd that will lead you to a lot more other links for  where you can find information, sign petitions, and donate to help bring justice and peace to everything that has been happening, which includes the BLM movement. If you can't find the external link, I will put it up as an announcement so you can find it pinned on my message board or you can PM me. 

But I also want to shed light what is happening in my own home country, the Philippines. There is a law that is currently on its way to being passed called the Anti-Terrorism Act. Basically, anybody who will criticize the government can be wrongfully jailed. They will tag activism and activists as terrorists. This is basically stripping people of their right of freedom of speech. Please, please, please sign the petition within the carrd. I love my country with all of my heart so it's paining me to see it suffering more than it already has in the hands of an incompetent government.