Zander's POV
I slowly open my eyes, dreading what I'm about to see. But wait. The walls are the wrong colour. My spirits rise as I see the creamy white walls of my past room instead of the purple ones in the future. That could only mean one thing. I'm back!
I joyfully leap out of bed and look around my room, marvelling in the fact that I'm finally home. But then I think, Wait—it's light outside! I'm late for school! My parents probably turned my alarm off.
Wait, what am I going to tell everyone? Then I shake myself. Get ready first, come up with something later.
I hurry through my morning routine. Obviously the bus left a few hours ago, so I have to walk. I run almost all the way there, taking short breaks in between. When I get there, I realize I've missed almost all of my morning classes and am in the middle of the last one before lunch.
When I enter the classroom, I can feel everyone's eyes on me. "Zander," Ms. Clozy says pleasantly. "Come sit there." She points to a desk right next to Jake.
"Where were you?" He whispers. "Everyone's been looking for you!"
I shoot him a glare and tilt my head towards the front of the classroom. Not now. We're in the middle of class, doofus. He shuts up, but continues looking at me curiously. I sigh. This is going to be fun to explain at lunch.
The bell rings earlier than I expect, due to arriving late. I hurry towards the lunchroom, excited to see everyone and dreading having to answer all their questions.
When I come over to the table we usually sit at, I feel arms wrap around my waist energetically. "Hey, Milly," I say.
She lets go and demands, "Where were you?! We were so worried!"
"Uh...I'll explain when everyone's here." I say nervously, buying myself some more time.
"Zander?" I turn around to see Hailey standing behind me.
"Hailey!" She hugs me, and I hug her back for a little before pulling away and looking at her.
I've gotten used to her future self, so she looks younger now, and...happier. I realize how hard it must've been for her to watch the club fall apart after working so hard to keep it together.
"What happened to you?" She asks worriedly. "It's been a whole week!"
"I'll explain when everyone arrives," I repeat. "So, what happened while I was gone?"
"Not much," she answers.
"Zander? Is that you?"
I turn at the familiar voice and my heart leaps when I recognize him. "Luke!" We hug each other fiercely.
This is what I missed most when I was in the future. I missed seeing him everyday, walking home together, and being friends. I hated not being able to talk to him—how could my future self bear it?
Once everyone is at the table and joyful greetings have been exchanged, Hailey asks, "So...are you going to tell us where you were, and what happened to you?" Everyone looks at me.
I gulp. I don't want to lie to them, but the truth is way too crazy to believe. So what do I say?
Then I remember telling future Hailey about my situation and her believing me. I think I can tell them the truth.
I clear my throat. "Okay. So I know this sounds crazy, but please believe me. I promise I'm telling the truth."
All of them look at me curiously and I take a deep breath. "So it all started when I fell asleep in the music room a week ago..."
Future Hailey's POV
In the morning, I wake up and get ready for school. "Zander, come on!" I call from the front door. "You don't want to be late for school, do you?"
"I'm coming!" He shouts back. "Jeez, Hailey, wait thirty more seconds, will you?"
He comes down the stairs and my eyes widen. He looks older. Does that mean...?
"Hailey! Let's go!" He says. "Who's the slow one now, huh?" I hurry out the door, deep in thought.
On the bus I ask tentatively, "Um, Zander...what song did we play at the competition?"
"Tonight," he answers. "Don't you remember? We almost won."
"Right, of course," I say. The only way he would know that is if he was there, since I didn't tell past Zander that. Which means he went back to the past. I close my eyes. I hope you can find a happier future than this, Zander. Good luck.
Zander's POV
The next day.
This is it. I'm finally going to confess to Luke.
After seeing what the future looks like without him, I don't think I would be able to bear it if it actually happened without me doing anything to stop it. My heart is pounding a thousand miles a minute and I can't stop thinking about it. Does he love me back? Or is he going to reject me?
Does this lead to the future I saw or away from it?
I guess I'll just have to find out.
All I can think about for the remainder of the day is that every second, every moment is getting closer to my confession.
I'm planning on doing it while we walk home, but I'm not sure. I'm really nervous, and just thinking about all the things that could go wrong makes me want to back out.
No! I have to do this. Our future is at stake. This could be the key to fixing our relationship. I just have to say three words to my best friend I've known my whole life.
I sigh in frustration. It sounds so simple. So why does it have to be so hard?
As the end of the school day draws to a close, I'm in a state of near panic. I'm starting to seriously doubt my decision.
You have to do it! Think of the future if you don't!
But what if he rejects me? This could be the reason it happens.
Future Hailey didn't say that. She said that you two drifted apart. You'll both be happier if you do this!
Will we, though? He's probably better off with Stacy than me.
You'll never know if you don't try! He turned to her because he had no one else he felt he could turn to. If you do this now, you'll be able to help him through it, and the future you saw won't happen! You just have to work up the courage to tell him.
I take a deep breath. All right. I will.
Luke comes up to me. "Ready to go, Zander?"
"Oh! Uh, yeah, I'm ready." I reply, feeling my cheeks turn pink.
We start walking home in silence. I have to do it soon. "Luke-" I start.
"Zander, you can't even imagine how much I missed you," he blurts. Pink blossoms in his cheeks, but he keeps going. "It was awful. I had no idea...what's the future like?"
"It's horrible. The whole club splits up—we're not friends anymore. Especially you and I. We barely talk to each other. Jake and Hailey, too. And Jake rejoins Drew's group. The one silver lining is that they don't taunt us as much anymore because we split up and are no longer considered 'music freaks'."
"Wow," he says softly. "That sounds so sad."
"It is," I say. "Hailey is the only club member that's friendly to me. I actually ran into the future you on the first day there, thinking you were walking home with me. But you walk home with Stacy instead."
"Wow, really?" He asks, wide eyed. "That's so different. So I hang out with her instead of you guys?"
"Yeah," I confirm dejectedly. Maybe I shouldn't do this. He probably likes her better anyway.
"Hey," he says. "Look at me." I slowly raise my head and gaze into his deep yellow eyes. I could get lost in them for days.
"I don't know how my future self could live with being separated from you guys," he says sincerely. "You're my family. Stacy might be pretty cool, I don't know. What I do know is that I will always enjoy being with you guys. No one can measure up to you."
My breath catches as I look up into his gorgeous face. His soft brown hair, his stunning yellow eyes, his charming smile. I blush a bit after I realize I've just been staring at him, but I can't help it.
"L-Luke," I say, "um, I...I need to tell you something."
He looks at me curiously. "Yes?"
"Um, I...I love you! I have for a really long time." It all comes rushing out. "I just didn't want to tell you because I was worried you didn't feel the same way but after seeing the future without you I realized I had to tell you or else it could ruin everything between us. But you probably love someone else, don't you? I mean, why would you love me? I-"
I hadn't noticed him getting closer, but now he cuts me off with a kiss. At first I'm shocked, but then I relax, the butterflies in my stomach fluttering madly. We pull apart and I look into his eyes again.
"Zander...I love you too." He confesses, and my heart skips a beat. "I wrote that song about you because I didn't know how else to convey my feelings. I didn't want to ruin our friendship."
I'm usually not a very affectionate person, but suddenly something comes over me and I hug him tightly. He seems surprised, and for a moment I'm worried I did the wrong thing, but then he hugs me back and we lean into each other.
For the rest of the walk we talk, laugh and hold hands, both feeling relieved that something we've kept silent for so long has finally been revealed. I feel so light I could lift off the ground and float all the way home.
When we get to my house I ask, "So does this mean we're dating?"
"If you want to be," he replies, hugging me from behind and making me turn bright red.
"I'd like that," I mumble, and he kisses my forehead.
"Alright, let's go inside. If...if you're okay with me being here."
"Yeah, of course," I tell him, looking up at him.
We head inside together, fingers intertwined.
Luke's POV
Hailey is thrilled when we tell her we're dating. "FINALLY!" She exclaims. "Took you idiots long enough!"
Zander blushes and rolls his eyes. I just laugh. It feels so good to finally have those feelings off of my chest, after holding them in for so long.
I call my parents and spend the night at Zander's house. He lays down and I nudge up beside him, wrapping my arms around his waist.
I can practically feel his face heating up with embarrassment. "Luke!" He scolds softly.
"What?" I ask innocently. "Aren't I allowed to cuddle with my boyfriend?" My heart jumps at the words 'my boyfriend'.
He sighs, but doesn't protest any more. "You loon," he says affectionately.
I smile and lean against him, and we fall asleep next to each other.
This is right where I'm supposed to be, I think before drifting off into sleep.