Page 33 of Time Loops & Meet Cutes
I guess Cam isn’t my true love.
Of course, he still could be. There’s no reason this time-loop curse should be broken by true love’s kiss, just because it broke Sleeping Beauty’s curse.
I’m shaking my head at my silly thoughts when I get a text.
AVERY: I woke up next to Joe. Goddammit.
AVERY: Are you still in the loop with me?
ME: Yeah. I’m still here.
ME: Want to meet up in a few hours?
Avery dumps a bunch of sugar into her coffee. We head to the patio at the coffee shop, managing to snag a table under an umbrella.
“I really thought that might work,” she says. “For both of us. You kissed Cam, I broke up with Joe—and spoke my mind, unlike before. Or maybe it was more that I desperately hoped it would work.” She sips her coffee. “How did I not realize that Joe sees me as beneath him? That he thinks he’s the one who settled? Now I have to live through yet another disappointing birthday, and…” She leans closer and lowers her voice. “Is it your period?”
I wasn’t expecting this change in topic. “Uh, no.”
I haven’t gotten my period since I started this time loop, and Iknowit’s not because I’m pregnant. Sure, unlikely things are happening to me now, but immaculate conception seems a step too far.
“My body completely resets each morning,” Avery says. “It’salwaysmy period.”
My eyes widen in horror. She definitely has it worse than I do.
“On the plus side, I never run out of tampons.” She chuckles ruefully. “The ones I use reappear each morning.”
I take a peek around the patio, making sure that no one is listening to the very bizarre conversation we’re having.
“There must be some way to escape the loop. I can’t keep doing this. Ican’t,” Avery practically wails, and I cover her hand with mine.
“We’ll get out of it,” I say, with more confidence than I feel. I quickly try to think of ideas. “What about travel? Neither of us has had a real vacation in a long time, right? Maybe that’s what we most need.”
“So we’ll spend all day on a flight to Rome, check into the hotel, then wake up in our own beds?”
That does seem likely, but…
“What if the time loop only happens if we’re in the Toronto area? Our hypothesis is that it’s worldwide, but we should doan experiment to test that. We’ll go somewhere closer than Europe, so we don’t spend all day in transit.”
Avery nods slowly. “I suppose that makes sense.”
“What about New York? Do you have a passport?”
“Yeah. And I’ve never been to New York.”
“Perfect!” I inject enthusiasm into my voice, in an attempt to cheer up my friend. “There are lots of flights to New York, which is good because we can’t buy a ticket in advance. How about we meet at the island airport tomorrow around nine? With any luck, we’ll be out of Toronto by noon.”
“Worth a try,” Avery says.
“Yeah, I think so.”
“If this is the thing that ends the loop, we’ll both get out of it.” She pauses. “I’m glad we’re in this together.”
“Me too.”
I spend a few hours researching what we can do in our presumably limited time in New York. I went once before—with my mother and Madison—but it’s been years.
Around dinnertime, I return to the market. There are still lots of vendors that I haven’t tried. I purchase some dry pho and sit on the bench beside the man and his young son, and…
