When I woke up, I didn't dare to open my eyes immediately because all I felt was fear.

What if I was tricked? What if I stayed in the future? What if I went back to the original past?

So I said an extremely long silent prayer to the universe, begging it to bring me where I wanted to be. I lifted my hand and felt around my chest and just like what Mr. Leon said, the other whistle was gone and all was left was the one I was first given.

Alright, here goes nothing.

My eyelids opened and I tried to rub the remainder of sleep away. What greeted me was the sight of my room, neat and tidy. The corkboard had a few pictures, but none of just Pat and I. My desk wasn't littered with junk, just schoolwork that I was doing.

The final check was my phone. When I unlocked it, not only did it show a picture of Leon and I as my wallpaper, but it also showed the correct date.

I was back the past. Not only that, this was the day after Leon and I confessed to each other, the day after the party.

It was Saturday and that meant, I had to have breakfast with Zoey.

Alright, according to Mr. Leon, she didn't get her happily ever after and let me tell you, if there was someone out there who deserved a fairytale ending, it was Zoey. So new plan – help her get ride of her crush with Christian because apparently, that was going to lead to nowhere good. Maybe, probably, perhaps, we could give her a gentle nudge towards Pat's direction.

But that wasn't set on stone yet because I didn't even know if Zoey would like Pat that way.

My bedroom door clicked open and the said girl came running in, her eyes alight with glee as she lunged onto my bed and possibly crushing my body under her, "Wake up, Avy!"

"Zo," I half grunted and half screeched, trying to push her off of me, "I'm already awake, get off!"

She rolled away but was still very much on my bed as she laughed along to my expense. While it was definitely not the wakeup call I asked for, seeing her happy and smiling made it all okay.

I couldn't get her broken expression out of my head, the one where she was just sitting on my porch in agony because I decided to give her the cold shoulder.

I would gladly spend a lifetime trying to make it up to her.

"I see you're in a happy mood," I commented, finally get up to my feet and stretching my arms over my head, "Anything good happen last night?"

She didn't reply, only humming a happy tune under breath while still keeping that joyful grin on her face. Although she was clearly ecstatic, something in my gut told me that I wasn't going to be happy with this.

"I'll talk about it later," she told me as I went to my closet to fish out an outfit, "So how was your party?"

To be completely honest, that party felt like it was ages ago because of what I've went through.

But in actuality, it was just yesterday.

Although at the end of it all, there was at least one good news that came out of it and I had no intentions on keeping it from her any longer, "Leon and I became a couple."

It took a moment for my words to sink but when it did, a her grin grew bigger and she gasped, "Congratulations!"

If you think about it, everything happened so quickly. Between the time Leon told me about the whistle and today, only two weeks have passed. Well, technically it was two weeks but again, I had a weird warped sense of time.

"I knew something will happen last night, I could feel the unresolved sexual tension in the car," she teased as I started changing out of my pajamas and into fresh clothes. I rolled my eyes at her choice of words, grabbing one of my pillows and using it to hit her right on the face.

"Yeah and we had an argument when we drove away from Lauren's house," I told her, now sitting down on my desk so I could start applying makeup.

"Why?"

Because the stubborn boy wouldn't admit right out that he liked me. He made me go through all of that trouble and frustration before I could get the words out of his mouth.

He was lucky that I love him or else I would have slapped him silly by now.

"I'll talk about it later," I told her, using her own words against her. I grabbed my small handbag and after fluffing up my hair one more time, I was ready to go, "Come on."

She shrugged and got out of my bed, straightening up her clothes before following me out of my room. We said goodbye to mom before heading out and getting into her car.

Zoey was literally there when I was born – well, that was an exaggeration but it was super close to the truth. Our families lived next to each other before either of us were brought to this world. She was a good one and a half years older than me and mom said that for the first few years of my life, she genuinely thought that I was her sister.

We really did treat each like sisters though.

If you could only imagine how devastated she was when I told her that I wasn't going to the same private middle school as her. Zoey, even when we were younger, was mature for her age so imagine everybody's surprise when she had a full blown tantrum. That was the first anybody had seen her that upset.

But I was adamant to go and besides, we didn't have the same amount of money as her family did. Like I said before, it was better this way because putting distance made most of insecurities leave during the critical time of puberty. For all the years of my childhood, everybody made me feel like a toad when I was standing next to her.

Then Sasha's words entered my head once again.

Perhaps I was really was just insecure being I was constantly comparing myself to Zoey. Sasha did have a good point when she said that there had always been a guy annoying me for attention. It would usually stop whenever I got myself a boyfriend but the moment I was single, there would always be another guy attempting to make a move.

Either way, that was no longer something I needed to think about. If there was anything that the future taught me, it was that Leon and I were for the long run. He was not only my present, but he was also my future.

Now I just had to secure my best friend's happiness.

Oh and to make up with Sasha too.

"A penny for your thoughts?" she laughed lightly once we reached our usual restaurant, "Thinking about your new boyfriend?"

"I'm actually thinking about your love life," I piped in, getting out of the car and waiting for her lock the doors before we could go inside, "You must have some guy you like."

You know, she was pretty good at waving the topic off and being nonchalant about all of that. However, for the first time ever, I saw her blush at the mention of a love life. When I saw her reaction, something fell in the pit of my stomach.

That was when I knew that my hunch earlier was correct – I wouldn't like this.

"Well, since you talked about you and Leon getting into a relationship, I'll tell you about mine..." she trailed off and giddiness was very much evident in her voice. All the while dread was coming over my body, "Christian kissed me last night."

She was positively radiant with joy and she was even squeezing my hands in excitement. I was a hundred percent sure that if we weren't in public, she would be squealing loudly right about now. I wanted to be happy for her, I really did, but I couldn't find it in me.

Her future with Christian wasn't going to end well. He was going to hurt her and worse, he was going to ruin her friendship with Lauren.

Not on my watch.

"Christian, Lauren's brother," I pointed towards her, still in disbelief, "Kissed you?"

She nodded, that pretty little grin still on her face. Look at that, I found myself in a rather sticky situation and this time, I didn't have to lift a finger to get into it.

Now the age old question – what do I do now?

I really had to thank Zoey's observant nature during times like these. I was a hair length away from breaking down because I was so stuck with how to go forward with this topic.

When she saw my disappointed face, she figured it out immediately. So even if it broke my heart to see her upset, I watched on as that smile slipped away, "Is there anything wrong?"

Yeah, that guy will hurt you. That guy will be the reason why you and Lauren will no longer speak to each other. That guy will continuously cheat on you.

I wasn't going to let that happen.

"It's just that..." I trailed off, looking frantically around the room as if it would give me a hint on what to say next because honestly, my mind was blank.

'Oh hey Zoey, by the way, I don't like this Christian guy so can you please distance yourself from him. Thank you very much.'

The possibility of me saying that out loud was nonexistent.

She was still staring at me, waiting patiently for me to continue. So I spouted the only thing my pathetic brain could think of, "I don't like his vibes."

"His vibes?" she repeated questioningly, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion, "You don't like Christian's vibes?"

That didn't sound like something Avery Barber will say in a million years. It was ridiculous, even for my standards.

But I've already started digging this hole, might as well keep it up, "Yes."

"Can you please explain?" she blinked, still not completely sure what I meant. Heck, I didn't know what I meant and I was the one who said it.

Alright, Avery. You can get through this, you have to save you best friend from a doomed future. At this point, nothing was impossible because you have literally seen it all.

"Zoey, I love you so much and you know that your happiness is of outmost importance to me," I started off and I was mentally patting myself on the back. So far, so good, "But I just have this gut feeling that he isn't the one for you. You told me that he kissed you and I really want to be here squealing and being happy for you, but I could see how he looked at you when we dropped off the gift. There were no sparks in his eyes and I don't want somebody like that for you."

I might have gone on a tangent by the very end but I prayed that I have gotten my message across. If recalled correctly, he really didn't look at her like she was anything special – and this was Zoey we were talking about.

I've often teased Zoey for being completely oblivious to her many admirers. Even if somebody was practically drooling in front of her, she wouldn't blink an eye and would think nothing of it. So more often than not, I was in charge of telling her if somebody did like her.

But Christian showed no signs of that. Even the tiniest hint of a crush, there was none.

Did he really like Zoey or did he just go out with her because she was seen as someone unattainable by many? He did have an advantage being her best friend's brother and she had already developed feelings for him.

"Oh Avy," she drawled out and I dreaded that I wasn't very convincing, "Not everyone can get a fairytal like you did. I admit that I'm a little jealous because I saw how Leon looked at you when you introduced me to him – he was falling head over heels for you.."

No, no, no! My point was completely missed.

"Although I try to shake away any distraction coming from the love department, I also want to experience all of the relationship stuff."

This was the exact moment I wanted to bang my head onto the table in frustration. She was the one living a fairytale life, she was the one having boys falling in love with her at first sight, she was the one who should have no trouble with the relationship stuff.

Again, I love this girl like a sister but holy shit.

"A lot of guys like you, Zo," I told her, my tone became insistent and borderline desperate, "All you have to do is open your eyes."

Even right now, I could still some people stealing a quick glance towards our table. She didn't have to do anything but sit there and she would attract admirers.

But then again, I wasn't much to talk.

Between my last boyfriend and Pat, there were a lot of other guys who tried to make a move. All of which I either turned down straight up or gave a hundred hints that I wasn't interested. According to Sasha, there were more that I wasn't aware of.

"I like him, Avy," she said softly and that was when I knew that I was losing a battle. Never in all my years that I've known Zoey, which was basically my whole life, I have never heard her admit so clearly to me that she liked someone.

Shall we go back to the question? What the hell do I do now?

But I couldn't help but soften up to the way she looked so sincere, so afraid of what more I would say against the guy she liked. She was probably on cloud nine before I went ahead and popped that bubble by acting so disappointed.

Maybe for now, even for the shortest while, I will let her be, "If you really truly like him, then I'm happy for you."

Then that smile once again showed up on her face and I forced one of my own. There was no point in trying to push away the ball of anxiety within me because it was so clear that this wasn't going to end well, not at all.

So midway through our breakfast, I shot Leon a text if we could meet up. This was a war I couldn't handle on my own and who better person to help me than the guy that I shared this whole time travel shebang with?

When we finished up our meals and walked out of the restaurant, he was right there waiting. Standing next to his car, he looked up from his phone and smiled warmly towards me.

Okay, time to recharge my battery.

My feet sped up until I managed to reach him and wrapped my arms around him, relaxing immediately when I did. I heard Zoey laugh behind me, also walking up towards him, "Good morning, Leon."

"Morning," he returned the greeting, "Where are you off to now?"

"Well, it's either I go home or I can text Lauren so we can hang out at her house," she shrugged and it was a good thing I had my back turned to her or else she would have seen how quickly my eyes widened in horror.

Nope, not good.

I spun around and smiled widely in my attempt to look incredibly inviting, although I think it came out more as creepy than anything, "Why don't you hang out with us instead?"

She eyed me carefully and then switched her gaze to Leon. She looked apprehensive and I understood why – she didn't want to be a third wheel. Since I was desperate to make sure she did not go anywhere near Christian, I nudged Leon harshly with my elbow, "Leon's going to call Pat, I'm going to call Mia, and you can invite Lauren. How about we all go out together and have some fun?"

If I told her that it was only Pat that was going to be added to our little party, she might be uncomfortable. I didn't want to wish that upon her, especially since I've been in that kind of situation before where my friends were practically forcing me to hang out with a guy I clearly did not like in that way.

Still rubbing the spot where I hit him, Leon tried to sound as enthusiastic as I did but like always with him, it came out flat, "Yeah."

Now it sounded like I was holding him against his will.

"We can go to that mini golf course," he suggested and my face instantly lit up.

Could I possibly love this man even more?

I tried to stare at her eagerly, trying to play with my ammunition. I know that she would say yes if I was this enthusiastic about something and to my relief, she agreed, "Alright, that sounds fun."

Hallelujah, at least this day wasn't going to be a total disaster.

I decided to go into her car so we can go pick up Mia on the way there and Leon could go get Pat first, then we promised to all meet up at the golf place. Lauren, on the other hand, agreed but wanted to go there with her own car.

If you could only imagine the text thread between me and Mia.

Avery: Are you up? Want to go mini golfing? Please say yes.

Mia: Sure! When?

Avery: Now.

Mia: Now? NOW?

Avery: Now. We're on the way to your house.

Mia: Why is this super random?

Avery: I'll explain later but Leon, Pat, and Zoey will all be there too. Get ready, we're going to war!

Mia: What war?

While she was being sarcastic, she was still onboard. I had no concrete plan of action but at least I steered her away from meeting Christian once again.

But of course, the universe had other plans for me. I was no longer surprised at this point because it just loved fucking me over.

Standing next to Lauren when we arrived at the mini golf place was her brother. You know, the same guy I was trying to avoid.

Although from the way Zoey's eyes lit up, we had very different sentiments about these turn of events.

Now, if you think that was the end of it – no it wasn't.

Because my life was just so fucking fantastic, I somewhat forgot that Pat could barely string a comprehensible sentence in my best friend's presence. So when he got out of the car with Leon, he was reduced to a bumbling mess with his gaze permanently glued on Zoey. She, on the other hand, was busy staring in full on admiration at Christian.

You know, I was hyper aware of Pat's crush but in the time travel back to the future I came from, the one where he loved me and not her, it slipped my mind how smitten he actually was in this timeline.

So Lauren, oblivious to the whole thing, greeted all of us enthusiastically and started chatting happily with Zoey – completely ignorant of how she couldn't even concentrate on anything else except for Christian.

But thank you heavens above that Mia was more observant because she immediately caught on what was happening. She turned to Leon and I – somehow, the only sensible people in this whole situation, which was a first – and questioned in a soft whisper, "Was this the war you were talking about?"

I scratched the side of my head and nodded stupidly because I was truly stumped, "Yeah."

Alright, mini golfing extravaganza, let's get this over with.

You know, I was starting to think going back to the future wasn't such a bad idea.

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

I am extremely sleep deprived so this chapter would probably have more mistakes than the previous so feel free to point them out to me.

Anyways, I hoped you guys had a wonderful week. We are a few chapters away from the end so we are about to wrap up a lot of loose threads. Starting of course, with our very beautiful Zoey.

Question: Should she give Christian a chance?

Technically, everything about this timeline is different so maybe Christian will be different.  Cue word here is "maybe".

I love you guys and thank you so much for reading. Please don't forget to vote, comment, and follow. I'll see you next chapter.