We have now reached a new point in my life that I honestly didn't know how to describe.
I expressed to Leon that I wanted to skip lunch with him and he agreed. What I failed to predict was Sasha and Mia tagging along, which meant that Ian was also there. Plus, even when Pat and Leon were in a disagreement, they were still inseparable.
The result? Here we were sitting by the school field on the bleachers, food being passed amongst us as if
Just what the hell was this?
"Are we ever going to have a conversation about what's going on?" Mia spoke, finally addressing the situation while casually munching on her bag of baby carrots, "I mean, if you don't want to then it's none of our business, I guess."
Also known as: we are fucking curious but we don't want to pry.
So how do we go about it without appearing as if Leon and I have been in a secret affair this whole time and was just waiting for Pat to break up with me so we could expose it to the world?
I am now opening up the floor for suggestions.
Why don't we go first with the main concern – Patrick. Of course he was heavily confused right now and knowing him, he wasn't confronting Leon nor I because he felt like he had no right to after what he had done.
I wanted to assure him that if he was hurt by this, then it was totally valid. If he thought the worst, then he shouldn't be guilty about it.
"Maybe later," I answered, evading the elephant in the room. They were gravely disappointed by this, but Leon gave me a small smile signifying that it was a good decision that I didn't give them what they wanted.
My eyes were still trained to Pat. This whole time, he had yet to utter a single word aside from offering his food to the others. Leading up to the break up, I have been nothing but out of it, especially with him. Now here I was giggling and being all giddy with Leon.
I should have been more considerate to him knowing that he had been nothing but kind and supportive to me.
But that was so difficult when I was trying to hard to make sense of everything and the only kind of normalcy I could have was to be the couple I've always wanted to be with Leon.
"I'm going to talk to him," I whispered to Leon, making sure only he was the only one to hear me.
He glanced towards Pat's way, his eyebrows knitting in concern at his best friend's solemn face. It was obvious Leon wanted to make up with him, even if this Pat was different from the one we grew our relationship with.
He wasn't the Pat that planned to do a grand public gesture of asking me out, causing Leon to sneak me out of the school before he could get to me. He wasn't the Pat that took my rejection in stride and still provided me the warm hearted kind of friendship. He wasn't the Pat that constantly teased us when we still weren't sure what kind of relationship we had.
But just like my gratefulness to Leon, their friendship was something that transcended any timeline. As someone who dated both Pat and Leon, even if it was in different versions of reality, their friendship was something I wanted to treasure and take care of.
"I think it's best that you do," he said back.
So when everybody stood up and started to go back into the school building, I reached out and tugged on the sleeve of Pat's sweatshirt. Mia, Sasha, and Ian were walking ahead of us so they weren't aware. However, Leon was by my side and when he saw what I did, he nodded in understanding and moved ahead.
Pat thankfully felt my light pull, causing him to stop on his tracks and slowly turn to me. I flashed him a small tightlipped smile, trying to show him that I felt no ill will towards him, "Can we talk for a little bit before class?"
His face was so broken that I wanted to reach out and embrace him.
Oh Patrick, whether I liked it or not, I loved you and I will always adore you. You have been there during my lowest and only called it quits when you can no longer deal with the toxicity.
And I would never blame him for that.
"I don't deserve an explanation, Avery," he told me, his voice completely defeated that it clenched my heart, "So it's alright."
"But you're not alright," I shot back, releasing his sleeve and shaking my head, "After we broke up yesterday, Leon came there to comfort me. Honestly, it was the first time we had a proper conversation."
Now he was puzzled, "I never told Leon that I was going to break up with you."
If I wasn't aware of what was happening, I would have been in shock. But since I did know that Leon has been jumping through time, there was an explanation how he knew exactly where I was going to be.
"Maybe he guessed it on his own," I shrugged, trying to wave that off, "To be honest, the few hours between our break up and me waking up this morning felt like it had been months. So many things took place."
And that was a complete understatement and wasn't actually far from the truth – I did live through months' worth of events.
"So you just caught feelings for him all of a sudden?"
Even I didn't believe it when he said the words out loud but I couldn't think of any other excuse. I had to reassure him that I didn't cheat and his best friend never betrayed him.
But if I did think about it, the way I truly did catch feelings for Leon was also kind of sudden. Sure, we were slowly getting closer but it was all platonic. Everything changed on the day that Pat was supposed to ask me out in the library.
From there on, it was full speed ahead. It quickly went from a small puppy crush to full on liking him. Add to that was our extraordinary circumstances of this time travel, there was no way to stop the feelings that I developed for him.
So I wasn't lying when I responded, "Yeah, I did."
It was different from Pat because from the get go, from the day I sat next to him in math class, I was attracted to him. Even when we became friends, I still liked him and wanted something more. The progression from being simple classmates to being a couple wasn't that much of a surprise to my poor heart.
But again, what we had was completely different.
Pat knew whenever I was lying so he immediately realized that I was telling the truth. While it didn't make the situation any better, it did clear up whatever hurt he was bearing from the idea of being cheated on.
Now, let us touch a topic that was incredibly sore for the both of us.
"So why were you alone with Zoey yesterday?" I questioned, not even bothering to beat around the bush.
Just like with what he witnessed today, he was surprised by my inquiry. He probably thought that I didn't see, which I thanked Leon for that.
Sorry Pat, but I did see that. If I didn't go through this life changing experience, I would be standing in front of you filled with hurt, anger, and sadness.
But right now, I was just simply curious. I wasn't mad at him nor was I dwelling on it anymore. All I wanted was an answer as to why it all happened and how did it come to that.
"Well, she already has my number because I can't even count the amount of times you called her using my phone," he started to explain, "Then she called me and said you weren't picking up your phone. Before I could explain to her what happened between us, she told me that her car broke down and so I offered to drive her home."
Just like that fact that he can tell when I was lying, it went both ways. So right now, I was certain that he was being honest. Nothing really went on between them.
"And did you tell her?" I asked, not really sure what to do anymore at this point because all my belief of what happened was all been proven false, "About our break up?"
"She did ask me where you were and I told her that you were still in school. I didn't really want to make the whole drive awkward so I only said it literally seconds before she got down."
That explained why they still looked like they were getting along fine. Zoey had no idea and was just making lighthearted talk with him. That was why she rushed to me after I locked myself in my room. She wasn't there to apologize for being with Pat, but she was there to check on me after my boyfriend ended our relationship.
Maybe they weren't as giggly as I originally thought. Pat could have been uncomfortable, but was acting normally in front of her just to remain civil. However, my eyes were clouded with heartbreak that I could have easily misread their friendly conversation as flirting.
Which eventually caused me to spiral down.
Two time travels later – well, make it three if you counted the one where Leon had to go back on his own – I finally got my answer. I went through a whole expedition when this could have been easily avoided if I simply listened to Zoey before going to bed.
Although this discussion was not over yet. I was sure that a different version of Pat truly fell for her, but what about this one?
"But do you like her though?"
"What?"
"Do you like Zoey?" I clarified, my eyes staring up at him expectantly, "Just give me the truth, I won't be upset."
Especially since I hurt him by being openly flirty with Leon.
He sighed deeply, his gaze lowering to his feet and his fingers repeatedly going through his hair. The fact that he couldn't answer it straight up was all I needed.
But I didn't lie to him when I said that I wasn't going to be upset. Instead, I peacefully accepted this.
Like always though, Pat was honest and rarely backed down even when he was filled with hesitation. So he looked back up and caught my gaze so that I knew he was sincere, "I liked her but I loved you. Yes, I think she's pretty but you're the one who managed to capture my heart, Avery Barber. The thought of being with her never entered my mind because I could only see myself in a relationship with you."
Oh Patrick Vincent.
He was my world. I loved him and I always will, but I was no longer in love with him.
So just like my small speech from when I turned him down, I expressed how important he was to me, "I did love you too, Pat. Even right now after all we've been through, I don't want to imagine a world where you're not by my side. I want us to remain as friends, but only if you want to."
"Of course I want to," he automatically replied, "Sometimes, things just don't work out, do they?"
"They really don't," I agreed, taking a step closer to him, "Thank you for everything, Pat."
"Thank you, Avery," he said back, opening his arms and I stepped into them. I knew that this one was our real goodbye to our relationship and for all the times we have spent together as a couple. This was us letting go of what we had, a promise that even if we weren't boyfriend and girlfriend anymore, we would always care for each other.
It was the kind of end I think we both deserved.
And so we headed to math class. The moment we entered the classroom, Pat made a targeted run towards his best friend and before Leon could register the chain of events, Pat was already hugging him. It wasn't even the usual bro hug, it was a full on embrace.
Confusion wasn't even enough to describe the look on Leon's face.
"P, are you okay?" he mustered to ask, patting Pat awkwardly on the back. The said guy didn't respond, nor did he let him go.
"Should we ask?" Mia said, her eyebrows scrunched up as she stared at them, "What happened with you two?"
I shook my head and looked at them fondly, "We talked."
"I have no idea what's going on but I'm just so glad that you're happy," Sasha exhaled loudly, as if releasing all the worries in her body.
I wanted to do same as Pat and hug the living life out of her. I missed her even she was glaring at me at every opportune moment. Sasha was the third leg to our tripod, one of my best friends who always looked out for me. She was the type of person to drop everything whenever I needed her.
Somehow, everything went wrong and our ties were severed. Was there any chance that I can rebuild that friendship with her again?
And while I do see myself integrating back to this life, I didn't want to. This was the life that so many miserable events happened one after the other. What I desired was to go back to the past, where Pat and I never became a couple, Zoey and I didn't fight, my mother didn't worry her every waking moment because of me, and when Leon and I carefully crossed that line between friends and something more.
I'd figure something out for Sasha and us to reconcile, but I'd rather have that burden than carry all of the ones that I've had here.
But for now, I just needed to get through this day and pray that when I wake up, we'd be back to the past.
Oh and I had to deal with one more thing before I went home.
Fast forward to all six of us sitting in one of the empty classrooms after our last class. I explained everything to Mia, Sasha, and Ian. Well, the same kind of explanation I offered Pat that is.
"Wait, so you two are a thing now?" Sasha gaped as her finger pointed between Leon and I, before turning to Pat, "And you're okay with this?"
"We're not dating," I told her and while it wasn't the truth, I wanted to make sure our explanation was as believable as possible. If I said to them that I immediately started going out with Leon the day after Pat and I ended our relationship, that didn't sound too good.
And I knew Leon wasn't going to be a prissy and throw a tantrum if I denied that we were a couple.
"Avs and I weren't working out anymore," Pat said though there was a bit of strain in his voice. All of which was completely understandable, "Who she wants to date is completely up to her."
This was definitely getting weird and uncomfortable.
"Okay, can we go home now?" I suddenly piped in, trying to break off this very compromising conversation.
I think everybody came to that agreement that if this dragged on for any longer, it was going to end up in a very awkward situation, and so all of us filed out. We all went to our different cars and as I buckled myself into the passenger seat of Leon's car, I breathed a sigh relief.
"Finally!" I yelled, stretching my arms out, "We made it through the school day."
Now we just had to sleep and this nightmare would be over, right?
Please tell me I'm right.
"One more thing," Leon said, causing me to turn my head towards his direction. He quickly leaned towards me and placed a small peck on my lips. It was less than a second and it only registered in my mind when he had already straightened himself up and put on his seatbelt.
But that didn't make me any less flustered.
"Hey!" I protested, my stomach erupting into butterflies.
He chuckled and once he managed to back away out of the school's parking lot, he took my hand settled our joined hands on the top of my thigh.
Bliss.
"So what's our game plan?" I asked.
"I'll blow on the whistle tonight and you make sure that you're wearing yours when you go to sleep," he instructed, "I'm never sure where the whistle takes us, it usually dictates it on its own, but hopefully, we'll end up where were."
While the whistle always had its own plans, the letter alluded that it would only take its effects once it has been blown. But neither Leon or I blew on it before we woke up to this present, so what happened?
All the mysteries kept piling up.
"I just want this to be all over," I frowned, lacing our fingers together, "So we could at least go on our first official date together."
His soft laughter entered my ears, causing me to relax and in my seat and hum internally in satisfaction. Whatever happens, I know we could get through it.
Well, hopefully.
As my house came to view, something caught my attention causing me sit up in alert. I squinted my eyes to get a better look and my heart fell when I saw the figure sitting there on my porch.
It was Zoey and she looked worse for wear.
Oh no.
"Babe," I called out quietly, my gaze glued on her, "I'll see you tomorrow."
He knew that this was something I needed to do alone so he nodded, making a full stop right in front of the house. I saw as Zoey looked up from staring at her feet, her eyes bloodshot red with bags underneath them. Her hair, those golden locks that were always perfect, was slipping out of the bun she haphazardly put it in.
"Good luck," he murmured and I kissed his cheek once more before I got out of the vehicle.
She was probably confused who the car belonged to or who drove me home, but explaining that to her was the least of my problems. Because as Leon drove away, I wanted to fall to my knees and beg for her forgiveness.
I was her best friend, we were like sisters, and yet I was the one to cause her this much pain and worry when all she wanted was to comfort me.
Mom's car wasn't here yet so that meant the house was still locked. Instead of waiting inside her home, she stayed outside so she wouldn't miss me.
Yesterday must have been a nightmare for her. I could picture her frantically running up the stairs of my house after Pat broke the news, knocking on my door with her panicked expression because she knew how horrible my mental health was.
"Avy," she managed to say, carefully pushing herself up to her feet. I was glued to my spot because I didn't know what to do, I felt so ashamed.
But for Zoey, that didn't matter. She ran up to me and pulled me into her arms, "I'm so glad you're okay."
That was all I needed for me to break into tears.
I hugged her just as tight, burying my face onto her shoulder and sobbing loudly. I was dampening her cardigan but she didn't care because she was starting to cry just as hard as I was.
There were no words exchanged between us. We just knew as we stood there on my driveway, both of us weeping in each other's arms, that whatever happened was behind us. We didn't need to talk about it because we just understood each other like that.
I love my Zoey and she loves me too.
That was enough.
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Did I completely forget to update? Oh yes I did. I'm so sorry about that!
But anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Since we managed to trim the loose end of Pat and Zoey fiasco that we found during the prologue, are going to go back to the past or are we going to stay here?
You're going to find out next chapter and I think you guys are going to really going to like it because we're going to deal with another loose end in the story.
Again, apologies for the later update, I just got really busy with school works this evening. Please don't forget to vote, comment, and follow. See you next chapter!