Page 49 of Her Second Chance

I wake up surrounded by my comforter with no recollection of how I got home last night. My head is fuzzy. The last time I woke up feeling like this I–

I jerk upright in bed, pulling the comforter off my head. My heart rate slows when I realize I’m in my dorm room. Still in the past. As much as I want to get back to my life, I’m relieved to be here. I have too much unfinished business. I know I’m running out of time, but I can’t leave. Not yet. I have to fix things with Brock.

“Grace,” I hiss, needing my bestie.

She groans. “God, Hannah. Why are you always waking me up like this? Why aren’t you still sleeping?”

“How did we get home last night?”

She sits up. “You don’t remember?”

I shake my head no, immediately regretting the movement as my hungover brain bounces off the inside of my skull.

“That Hunter dude brought us home. You threw up on his shoes and called him a bastard.”

“Hunter?”

“Yeah. He seemed really nice, but you kept yelling at him about tequila and time travel. I’m pretty sure you lost any chance at starting something with him. He seemed really concerned about your well-being. If he’s not into you, then I bet Brock asked him to watch out for you.”

I roll my eyes. “Hunter is a dick.”

“So you said last night,” she laughs. “Repeatedly.” She grabs the water bottle next to her bed and takes a long gulp. “How do you even know him?”

“I was engaged to him in the future.”

Her eyes widen. “He was the dude who dumped you and sent you back in time?”

“Well, he dumped me. I’m not sure how I ended up here in the past. I still think Jason is the one who brought me back here.”

Grace’s normally smiling face is more serious than I’ve seen. “You know I love you, right?”

“What?” My head throbs as her words fill me with dread.

“I’m not saying I don’t believe you because you’re my best friend, and if you say this happened, I’m sure you believe it happened. But maybe it’s time to talk to a counselor or something. You’re starting to worry me, Hannah. It’s like you’ve created this fake world in your mind to protect yourself. Something isn’t adding up, and I don’t think I know how to help you.”

“I’m not crazy, Grace,” I hiss.

She moves to sit next to me on my bed. “I didn’t say you were. I just think you’re confused. Like your brain is trying to keep you safe from something. I’ve heard about things like this happening before. Maybe it’s PTSD.”

“From what? Why would my brain make me thirty-one when I’m really eighteen? Why would I have all these memories with Jason and Hunter? Why would I make up that you and I stopped being friends? My future is real.” Isn’t it? I think of how my memories all feel like they’re behind a foggy window. Well, all of them except for the ones with Brock. Those feel real. In fact, he and Grace are the only things that feel real about this experience.

She holds up her hands in surrender. “I don’t know. That’s why I think you should see a professional. We need to figure out what’s going on. And if you really are here from the future, maybe that will give us clues on how to get you back.” She pulls me into a side hug.

I close my eyes, trying to not cry. I’ve grieved the loss of Grace on and off over the last decade whenever something triggers a memory of our time together. Getting over losing her was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, far harder than getting over Jason was. Maybe that’s because my memories of Jason aren’t real. “If I go back to the future, and we’re still estranged, I don’t think I can take losing you again,” I whisper.

She rests her head on mine. “Hannah, I don’t know why we were stupid in your past, but I’m telling you right now. Nothing’s ever going to come between us. Not even death could tear us apart. You’re my best friend forever. Emphasis on the forever part.”

“I love you, Grace.”

“Duh. Of course you love me, and I love you. We’re sisters.”

For the first time since waking up in this dorm room eleven years in my past, I feel ready to go back home. It’s as if everything is settled.

Almost.

Chapter 26

Hannah

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