I was still barely letting this nightmare sink in when it was just the gift that keep on giving.

When we stepped out of the school, I was ready to hop on the bus and just go home, because I was honestly so tired of this day. However, I immediately stopped walking when I saw that very familiar black car parked there and if I squinted hard enough, I could see Zoey sitting right in the driver's seat.

"Oh no," I gasped, bending down in order to hide behind my two friends, "It's Zoey."

This wasn't supposed to happen. Back then, my first day extremely uneventful. In fact, aside from getting to sit next to Pat, I don't remember much from it. I just went to school, got through all the classes, and went home. Zoey being here never happened.

What happened?

"As much as we would love to hide you behind us for all eternity, you might be forgetting that she knows us," Mia pointed out with her tone dripping with sarcasm and as if on cue, Zoey lifted her head and spotted the pair. She waved before opening the door, stepping out of the vehicle.

She stuck out like a sore thumb. Her red uniform in a sea of public school causal outfits.

Nope, I'm out.

"You never saw me," I told them, turning on the my heel and sprinting back inside the school.

I didn't manage to get very far though, because halfway through this long ass hallway, I slammed into somebody.

Gosh, what is this cliché time traveling story that I suddenly gotten myself into?

"Slow down, Avery," the person chuckled, stabilizing me by putting his hands on my shoulder.

That voice.

I looked up and my eyes popped right out of their sockets when I saw Pat standing there with Leon right by his side. At this point, I have no idea whether I wanted to go back and just jump right into Zoey or stay where I was and face him after trying to avoid him the whole day.

Was there an option where the ground can swallow me up whole?

"What's the rush for?" he asked, finally releasing me.

"Pat!" I practically yelled, causing both of them to flinch in surprise. Fortunately, I caught myself, "-rick. Patrick, hey."

We weren't together yet. Scratch that, we weren't even friends yet. He hasn't told me to call him Pat yet.

He was still Patrick, not the Pat that made me fall head over heels for.

"Where are you going?" he laughed while I busied myself of trying to find a way to walk around both of their bodies. I wasn't short in comparable to most girls, but these two really were taller than me.

Just saying, I looked ridiculous swaying side to side to see if there was an opening where I could run.

These two were angels for not even commenting on this little dance I was doing.

"I..." I trailed off, trying to wrack up my brain for any excuse. I would like to point out, my brain had ran out of juice because it was doing its best to comprehend today's happenings so it wasn't in its optimum state, "Forgot something in the classroom."

Good job, girl. Sounded viable enough.

"Well, a few of us are going to eat out together, want to join?" he asked, the corners of his lips pulling into a smile, "Tell your friends to come too."

Damn it, I couldn't refuse that smile.

"Pat..." Leon trailed off, his tone bordering warningly.

I couldn't look at him the same way. Even if he was treating me the same way as he did before, I could no longer see him as my boyfriend's best friend who was constantly annoyed at me. All I could remember was him pulling me back, him sitting right beside me while I bawled my eyes out, and became that shoulder to lean on during the most unexpected time.

But that was during another future. The Leon in front of me was different.

He was the yin to Pat's yang. The eternally scowling face next to Pat's bright expression.

The Leon in front of me wasn't the one that saved me and as much as I wanted to jump in his arms and continually say thank you to him, I couldn't.

And while I knew Pat's offer was just a friendly one, something in my head screamed at me to say no.

However, it was better than just running into Zoey. Besides, it wasn't like it was just me and Pat, our other classmates will come with. I can simply not talk to him the whole time.

"Sure," I agreed, "I'll tell Sash and Mia."

The grin he flashed me after was something else. While he was happy with all of this, here I was cursing myself internally.

I was still weak to him.

"Perfect!" he said, "If you don't have a car, you can ride with us."

Sasha and Mia will be there, I just have to remind myself.

"Okay, I'll get them right now."

"Don't you have to get something from the classroom first?" Leon questioned before I can turn around.

Oh right, my pathetic excuse. I scratched my head and let out a small laugh, hoping it came out lighthearted instead of revealing how tensed I was, "Almost forgot again."

"How about we wait for you in the parking lot?" Pat suggested and I nodded because I sincerely wanted this to be over.

What felt like an eternity later, they walked around me and towards the door. My legs started to finally untighten and I took a step forward before a realization hits me.

And no, it wasn't the numbing kind that I felt when I figured out that I time traveled this morning. This was the one that felt like it slapped me right across the face.

Pat was going to where Zoey was. They were going to meet once again.

That image of him and her sitting inside his car flashed in my memory. That pain once again stabbed me and I felt like the air started to escape my lungs. Before I could fall into a heap on the floor, I saw Leon coming back to me.

"Your friends asked us to get you and Pat practically shooed me away from there," he said in an extremely exasperated tone.

Alarm bells were ringing – no, screeching – in my head.

"Was there someone with Sasha and Mia?" I dared to ask because what other reason would Pat not want to go with him?

To my relief, he shook his head, "No."

Whatever those two did to ward off Zoey, I owed them big time.

"So you got the thing you forgot?"

Well, not really since that was all rouse, "Yup."

When he turned around so we could both walk out, it took every ounce of self-control not to reach out and grab him, whether it be the hand or the arm, anything really. I didn't want him to speak to me as he normally would to anybody.

It was actually painful to act like we were nothing more than classmates.

As we got out, we saw our friends. The three of them were in a deep conversation, Sasha had this ear to ear grin while Pat spoke, Mia was patting him on the back.

Alright, what was happening?

Sasha spotted me and she immediately straightened out, taming that grin on her face, "Avs!"

"What are you talking about?" I questioned, eyeing them suspiciously when they all straightened up their postures and cleared their throats.

"Just about the teachers we got this year," was Mia's quick response.

I sincerely doubt it, but you just have to admire how fast she could think of that. They've been dealing with my bullshit all day and even got me out of a Zoey situation so I was going to let this slide for now, "Okay."

The two boys occupied the front seats with Leon driving. All three of us were at the back, exchanging glances. Again, we've been sharing classes since freshman year so of course we were familiar with one another but this was the first time we will actually hung out.

All I could think about was how this was the perfect excuse not to meet Zoey yet. In her mind, she did nothing. Which, she really didn't.

Or at least, not yet.

But it was like with Leon. No matter how flat his expression was right now, I couldn't get that panicked face when he begged me in the classroom or the look of pure concern in the car out of my mind.

This Leon didn't know a thing, but I became aware that there was something kind in him.

When I wake up, will I still be in this timeline? Will I have to repeat August 24 until I stop whatever was happening?

Or will I have to live everyday knowing exactly what happened in the past and still have to live normally like they never happened yet?

I don't know which was the worst one.

We pulled up into this burger joint and we filed inside where some of our classmates were already there. They waved us over, the boys went ahead towards them but before Sasha and Mia could follow, I grabbed an arm from each and pulled them back to my sides, "Explain what happened when I left."

"Obviously, she was looking for you," Sasha started off, "But I told her that you had to talk with your teacher about something and when she said that she will wait for you, we then made up that we already had plans for dinner."

"Which turned up being true because literally as her car pulled out of the parking lot, Leon and Pat came and told us that you agreed to this," Mia added, gesturing to our surroundings.

So in the end, Pat and Zoey never met. They missed each other literally by seconds. Why did I feel so happy about that?

"Thank you girls," I said, releasing them, "I'm just not ready to talk to her yet."

Mia sent a small encouraging smile, looping her arm around mine and urging us to walked towards our other classmates, "I know, you'll patch things up in your own terms."

We got to the table and before I could even say a single word, my two so-called friends shoved right onto the seat next to Pat. My eyebrows shot up and I had to actively stop myself from gaping at their betrayal.

I've already told them that I wasn't interested.

They took the chairs right across from us and I was honestly debating whether to smack them or not.

Being out in public be damned.

"I ordered you girls some chocolate milkshakes," he smiled, subtly glancing towards the other two for approval.

My favorite. Sasha and Mia knew that. Originally, Pat correctly guessed it on his own.

"Oh, I would have preferred strawberry but thank you," I muttered out a little more harshly than I initially intended.

Whatever bait they were trying to dangle in front of me, I wasn't going to bite.

"But you love chocolate!" Sasha practically whined.

While I would love to glare at her, she did have to endure my weird self today so I held back. Instead, I tried to act nonchalant, "Yeah, but I'm in a mood strawberry. Besides, I always have chocolate, it's time to try something else."

Try something else. Get that in your own head, Avery. You have to exclude Pat from your life's equation.

There was tension and Mia quickly jumped in to diffuse it, "Don't worry, you don't have to pay for it. Consider it a treat from us two since you've been having a bad day."

"You've been having a bad day?" Pat piped in from my side after being shut down by my strawberry shake comment.

Okay, sitting through dinner with Zoey was starting to become the wiser choice.

I wanted to snap at him, but that was going to come out as incredibly rude. He didn't do anything wrong, I was just being a total bitch to him.

"There's a claw machine over there," he said, pointing towards the said thing, "How about I win you a prize and brighten up that mood."

I opened my mouth to deny him but before I could, Sasha jumped in, "That's an amazing idea. Go with him, Avery."

My gaze switched to Leon as if expecting him to be my saving grace again. Instead of tuning into the conversation, he was already happily munching on the fries that was placed on the middle of the table for sharing.

Don't tell me that we were back to not getting along. I was silently praying that we could actually be friends this time.

You know what? Fuck this, I'll just go with whatever because at this point, I was so tired. I already have no clue what I will wake up to tomorrow anyways.

"Okay," I sighed in defeat, pushing myself up to my feet and following Pat who was grinning victoriously as he walked towards the claw machine.

"We've been in the same class since sixth grade and this is the only time I really talked to you," he commented, slotting a coin into the machine, "Well, out of school work that is."

This conversation never happened before. Did simply not taking a seat next to him during that math class already changed the whole future?

He was concentrating hard, his eye set on one of the stuffed animals on top of the pile on the other side of the glass. I bet if I walked away right now, he wouldn't even noticed.

But that was what I adored about Pat, he gave it his all to everything that he did. There was no such thing as half-assing to him. I sometimes joked that I was a mistress to his relationship with soccer, but I was never really angry with the fact that he spent more time training than he did with me.

That was his passion and it was my job to cheer him on.

"Sorry I've been a bitch since we got here," I found myself apologizing.

It wasn't his fault, he was thinking of the now while I was thinking of months later. We weren't even sure if the future I have been from was the one that was going to happen. The situation we were in right now never occurred during my original timeline.

"I'm the one who ordered without asking you first," he said, no annoyance or anger in his tone, "So it's pretty understandable."

Nice. That was what he was. If somebody asked me to describe him with one word, I would say nice.

"It's just one of those days," I exhaled loudly, slowly lifting a hand to massage my temples, "Thank you for making an effort though."

That was the only time he tore his eyes from the prize in order to look at me. Those brown eyes, it pierced right through and made me bleed with the same kind of love that I felt for him. I tried to tattoo his face into my memory – from his soft jaw to his damn beautiful eyes.

"Avery..." he trailed off, his voice dying down after he said my name.

There were many things that I felt about Pat. Well, the Pat from my future. One, it was hurt because he literally just broke up with me. Two, it was anger and that one was pretty obvious. Third, it was guilt since I never became the proper girlfriend to him after the incident.

And fourth? It was love.

Even after what we've been through, I was still madly in love with him. No matter what distance I try to place between us, I couldn't deny that I loved him.

"You don't have to win me a prize," I told him, my tone gentler than it has ever been since I ran into him, "You trying is enough to cheer me up."

"Then can I tell you secret?" he said in a hushed voice, gesturing me to come closer. Me, being the stupid idiot that I was, did. My face instantly heated up when I noticed our close proximity but I tried my best to calm my beating heart, "I'm really bad at this but I made a really cocky move so I have to go back there with a prize."

And that was it. I finally cracked a smile, a ghost of a laugh leaving my lips.

"Not if I pull you back," I grinned, grabbing his wrist, causing him to shoot up in surprise. I tried to shove whatever feeling I felt and dragged him with me.

I made it appear like he had no other choice. I sat down and allowed him to take the chair next to me. I allowed him to continuously talk to me. I ignored Sasha and Mia's triumphant looks.

Because at this point, I really could do nothing else.

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

Are you scared that there's going to be a love triangle? Dear Trina is going ease all of your worries because I think it's pretty obvious from the prologue itself. BUT our precious Avery did go through a lot and she's going to be awfully confused so let's be patient. 

(btw is that too much of a spoiler? Should I take that out of the A/N?)

Question: Do you think Avery will give Pat another chance?

Please don't forget to vote, comment, and follow! I'll see you guys next chapter.