Page 36 of A Thousand Second Chances

seventeen

Chris

Dinner sucks. And that’ssaying something, considering how much this entire day has blown.

The hospital was an even bigger bust than walking the streets. I’d take the shops and crowds over waiting rooms, needles, and doctors any day. And the worst part is that we’ll never even get to reap the fruit of our labor. Either today will reset on us again, erasing all our hard work…or it won’t, and that work won’t matter anyway.

The later it gets, the more anxious I become at the possibility of another reset. Are we really trapped in the same day on repeat, or was today all some cosmic fluke? We’d spent the day proceeding as though our time loop hypothesis was true, but the longer it drags on, the more I’ve started to doubt myself.

Maybe Percy and Ididsomehow dream the whole thing up—some kind of shared hallucination brought on by our past trauma. Even if we hadn’t, we could wake up tomorrow free and clear through no effort of our own. Hell, for all we know, bytrying to fix a hypothetical time loop, we’ve already altered our futures enough to render the loop null and void.

So my thoughts go, around and around in circles. I suspect Percy’s follow a similar vein given his glum expression. Only Quinn remains her usual cheerful self. She’s the one who’d insisted we eat dinner, even though neither Percy nor I were particularly hungry.

She keeps up a steady stream of chatter as I pick at my cheeseburger until, without warning, she slams her hand on the table, rattling our glasses. I startle, jumping in my seat, and a few of the nearby patrons eyeball her, but she doesn’t seem to notice. She’s too busy glaring at us.

“Okay, moping quotas achieved. You’re both acting ridiculous.”

“I think a little moping’s warranted after this shit day,” I mutter, chomping on a cold fry. “It’s been a total bust! We’re no closer to figuring anything out than we were this morning.” Quinn opens her mouth, and I narrow my eyes, jabbing another fry toward her. “And don’t you dare start in about how ‘no time spent investigating is wasted’ or some such bullshit. Itiswhen we’ve still turned up no hint of an explanation for what happened to us or how to go about fixing it. So,excuseme if I’m not exactly hopping up and down with joy right now.”

“Chris is right,” Percy says quietly. My eyes dart to him in surprise. He sits slumped in his seat, staring at the paper wrapper from his straw as he shreds it into little pieces. “Today’s been one failure after another. Maybe we should call it a night and head back to the Royal Lilac.”

“I can’t believe I’m hearing this,” Quinn says. Her rainbow dreads lash from side to side as she shakes her head. “Here you are, blessed with this incredible opportunity, and all you can do is sit around and feel sad for yourselves!”

“Opportunity?” I scoff. “More like a curse.”

“Do you know how many people wouldkillfor the chance at a do-over? To be able to repeat a day with the knowledge of foresight and make better choices?”

I huff out a weak laugh. “I mean, I guess I could’ve gone for a better sandwich at lunch. That turkey panini was only so-so.”

She doesn’t bite at my weak attempt at humor. Instead, she levels me with a glare. “I mean it. And even setting aside the wasted opportunity, how can you already be ready to quit? I thought you said this was the first time today has repeated for you.”

“It is,” Percy ventures hesitantly. I don’t blame him for his reluctance to speak. Quinn can be scary when she’s riled up like this.

“So, let me get this straight,” Quinn says. “You might have literally aninfinitenumber of days to try anything and everything to break free—assuming there’s even anything to break freefrom—and you’re both ready to give up afterone lousy day?”

I deflate as her words sink in, a hot flush of shame creeping up the back of my neck. She’s right—for all our bluster this morning about solving this mystery, we’d performed a half-assed investigation downtown, submitted to an afternoon of pointless tests at a hospital, and then immediately thrown in the towel. When you put it like that, itdoessound pretty pathetic.

After the disaster that had been my coming out, when I felt like I’d hit rock bottom, there’d been a couple dark days where I’d thought about taking what seemed like the easy way out. But I hadn’t, and I’d sworn to myself I never would—that, no matter what happened, I’d keep fighting. This feels an awful lot like breaking that promise.

Percy shifts beside me, and I glance over, meeting his crystal blue gaze. His unruly mop of hair tumbles over his face as he straightens his back, and I can’t help but wonder if it’s as softas I remember. I tear my gaze away to face Quinn, clearing my throat.

“Maybe you have a point,” I say, my voice coming out a bit hoarse. I pray no one notices.

Percy mutely nods in agreement.

“Of course, I do,” Quinn says. She settles back in her seat. “Now, if you’re both ready to get your heads out of your asses, all that’s left is to decide what to do next. It’s not even seven yet—the night is still young.”

Percy glances at me. “Well, Quinn and I have each proposed a plan. Seems to me like it’s your turn.”

My turn.I shove down the inappropriate images that phrase conjures coming from Percy. And seriously, what thehellis wrong with me? When I first saw him on that ferry, I wanted nothing to do with him. Istilldon’t. Yet somehow, he’s crept under my skin without me even realizing it. He’s still the boy who broke my heart. So why can’t I keep my attention off him?

Maybe because of how kind he was to that kid Emmett who needed a friend. Or because being around him reminds you of the good ol’ days. Or maybe because, for a moment there in the hospital, he looked like he felt as sad and broken as you do…

Shaking away the uncomfortable thought, I focus back on the topic at hand. Both Quinn and Percy are staring at me, awaiting my verdict. “My turn, huh?” I rack my brain for ideas. Plenty of crazy ones spring to mind, but those seem best saved for another time. So far, we’d canvassed the general populace and sought medical diagnoses. Logic and science. What else did that leave?

I grin as I recall one of the people we’d run into this morning. My nascent plan seems as unlikely to pan out as everything else we’ve done today. Still, it might at least offer some fun.

“Ooo, I know that look,” Quinn exclaims, matching my grin with one of her own. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”