“I think I don’t like you being in my last period.” I quickly texted Abigail I was going to be too busy to walk home with her. As I clicked through each letter, Fox walked up the steps to the office building.

“You were supposed to come in the other morning. It’s not my fault you’ve been avoiding this place.” And he’d been avoiding my question on whether or not Kade was meant to be the star of this story. I knew he wasn’t supposed to directly interfere, but I was entirely unsure of what I was doing at any given moment. It didn’t help Abigail had ended the last conversation on the note she had.

I snapped my phone shut and shoved it back into my backpack. I caught Fox eyeing the collection of charms that hung off of it, “…I just really don’t want to be here.”

“You don’t think we noticed?” On this third day of observing Fox, I realized the looks I’d thought of as sharp were possibly a poor attempt at comfort. He was always explaining things whenever I asked, and he was keeping a look out for me. Whenever he gave me those looks, it was like he was trying to dissect what would upset me the least.

…I think.

It was nicer to see it that way, compared to how I’d been seeing him previously, “Is it really alright for me to bother him more?”

“It is. And if you can’t bother him, I’m always willing to answer whatever other questions you have. Actually—” Before I knew what he was doing, he had teleported behind me again. I heard the zip of my backpack and when I spun around he had my phone in his hand.

“Hey—” He handed it back to me before I could say anything else, and when I looked down I saw he’d put in his number.

He grinned, “For emergencies. Only emergencies.”

I doubted I’d ever call him, “Right. Thanks.”

We entered the building, and this time the woman didn’t even look up as we walked passed. For the first time, I wondered her name. I’d likely be seeing her around often from now on, and it’d be useful information. But when I looked at her desk, I found no name tag, nor one clipped to her clothes.

Fox was already a decent amount ahead of me before I realized how distracted I was. Hurrying after him, I noticed the colors the stained glass gave off were different. A vibrant yellow and gold, that bathed everything in serenity. Everything else was as it was before.

The Headmaster was not working on paperwork this time, much to my surprise. He was leaning back in his chair, glasses set low on his nose, reading a novel. The words were so worn it was impossible read the title, and the binding itself was barely holding itself together.

Fable was here, unfortunately, and Fox took his place next to him. Their empty expressions were both back, and I took my own place in the chair in front of the Headmaster. Unlike before, he responded to me instantly. He slid a bookmark into place, snapped the book shut, and readjusted his glasses to give me his full attention.

My hands were instantly sweaty, “Good afternoon, Headmaster Gnight.”

“Good afternoon.” He clasped his hands in front of him. “I was expecting you yesterday.”

“Sorry, I was…overwhelmed. And I wanted to make sure Abigail would be alright.” Not quite wrong. Not the whole truth either.

He didn’t press it, “Most are overwhelmed by all of this. It doesn’t feel too different right now though, does it?”

“No.” Today had felt almost normal. If it wasn’t for the knowledge of all of this, I wouldn’t have been so anxious over meeting Kade or going to confront Jen. It was just hard to separate these events from this situation.

“As far as I can see, you’ve already found a few threads to this story.” I thought of Kade, and nodded. He continued. “As things go along, you’ll likely find more and more things amiss. As stated before, I can’t guarantee no harm will come to you. I’ll do my best to ensure your safety though, as will Fox and Fable.”

Fable would not. “I understand. I think my biggest question is, what counts as a failure?”

“There are a few ways to fail. The first; the Villain gets what they want. The second; the Prince falls into despair. The third; you reject the Prince. And finally; the Prince rejects you. It is possible to undo these things. For example, if the villain achieves their goals you can tear it down again. If the Prince falls into despair, you can lift him up again. If you reject the Prince or he rejects you, you can have time to change those feelings. But that time is precious few.”

I didn’t know what the Villains’ could want in this situation. From all the media I’ve seen, it was a lot of jealous exes or pining girls. All the kinds of people I didn’t want to get involved with or have to confront. Especially when, at the end of the day, it was made so they didn’t have a chance no matter what they did. But there must have been others. Maybe parental figures or bad friends.

Only time would tell, “What’s the time limit?”

“It could vary. If things go well, you could have until the end of Junior year. You could succeed sooner, and obviously you could fail sooner. Some people manage to fail within a week on the first try.” I flinched, remembering the encounter I’d had with Kade both times today. Neither were normal interactions.

“Ok. I only have one question left.” That was a lie, but the more I came here the more I realized I hated the place. “What happens if I succeed?”

He smiled, “Then you’ll be free of repeating these loops, trying to finish the right story. Both you and your friend would reach the ending you both hoped for and promised each other.”

“But these were all designed with Abigail in mind, weren’t they? Would any of her stories really become my own?”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

He stood. I watched as he moved towards one of the many shelves that lined his walls. His fingers brushed over their spines, looking for a specific one, “The same kind of story can work even with different characters. And you’ll be affecting the structure as well, right? Your actions will affect the world and the people around you, and in turn they’ll react different than they would if they’d been interacting with Abigail. The story is a skeleton, and you’re the one giving it life.”

“But then…” He pulled out a book from the shelf as I mulled over his words. He placed it down in front of me, and like the one he was reading, it’s title had long since faded. I reached out, tracing my fingers over the rough texture of the cover.

“If you hadn’t been told about the circumstances, you wouldn’t be thinking about it like this. You’d live and fight and love how you have previously. It’s better to view this like that. Going through it like this could be your forever reality.”

I could only nod, carefully flipping open to the first page. I was surprised to see that the writing on the cover page was handwritten, “What is this?”

“A gift. Read through it when you have the time. I’d also recommend keeping your own journal. It’ll stay with you, no matter how many times you reset. I promise.” He inclined his head towards the boys, who I’d very nearly forgotten about.

Fox took a step forward, his hands clasped behind his back, “I’ll go with her.”

“Very good. Will that be all, Ms. Chávez?” I nodded and stood. Taking the book, I slipped it into my bag, feeling the extra weight it added. Fox was by my side again as I made to leave, and like always, Fable didn’t even glance my way. I’d descended back into the realm of invisibility again.

//

Me and Fox walked down the sidewalk together. His feet tapped out a specific rhythm when he walked, and I glanced over trying to figure out what he was doing. It almost seemed like he was tap dancing, “Are you alright?”

“I have a bad habit of feet tapping.”

“While…walking?”

His Cheshire grin was answer enough, and I ran a hand through my messy bangs, “So, what comes next? Do I just follow the thread or will things happen regardless of what I do?”

“It all depends on you. You could do nothing, but that’s almost like waiting for yourself to fail. It’d also lengthen the time it would take to complete the goal. How fast or slow you want to go would be up to you.”

“I think I made the wrong choice.” Fox glanced at me, his steps slowing down into something normal again.

“You’re here now, regardless of what you think. The only thing you can do is go through with it.”

“Why are you helping me, anyway?”

“The Headmaster wants us to. Plus, I was the one that decided it should be you. I fought Fable on it the whole time, and even went behind his back to do so.” I remembered the fight in the hall, and I rolled it around in my head.

“What had that fight been about, anyway?”

He went quiet, looking like he was trying to remember what I was talking about, “Oh, that. It was the usual. He was being an ass, I was being an ass, and words turned into fists. It’s not a big deal.”

Now that I looked, his bruises had vanished. When time had flown backwards, it’d healed him as well. He raised his eyebrows as I examined his face, and I quickly looked away, “…I see.”

“Well, anyway. Sorry you’re stuck on another outing with me again.”

“It’s alright.” His eyebrows rose even higher and I tried not to pay too much mind to it. It was obvious I did mind, but it felt way too rude to admit it. Still, I was once again glad it was Fox who was following me around instead of Fable. “Why does the Headmaster want me to keep a journal about all this?”

He motioned towards my bag, “It’s secretly homework. You write about everything going on, and then Headmaster Gnight can use it for future reference. Most people don’t know this, but I’m sure you’d appreciate the head’s up just so you don’t have your privacy invaded.”

“…I don’t want to get one.” Fox choked on a laugh, and I stared up ahead. The local major chain superstore stood close to us now. The parking lot was jammed with afternoon patrons, a number of them vying for a space to park.

Inside was just as busy. Most of the time I went shopping on a weekend morning before everything got busy. Being out and about, still in uniform, felt wrong. The rare times this happened was because it was Abigail forcing me to come along. My eyes kept catching on other people my age, and wondered not for the first time if I stood out in my uniform.

At this point, Fox had gotten used to how I often distracted myself, and instead took it upon himself to loop an arm through mine and pull me on ahead. I tried my best not to run into anyone as he took me towards the stationary area of the store. We arrived and looked at a wall of different journals, all of them in different colors, shapes, and sizes.

Abigail kept journals. Had kept them since before I knew her in fourth grade. Her bookshelf was crammed with them, and she’d probably filled up over a dozen at this point. It would have been nice to do this with her instead, especially because she would have had a lot to say on size, paper quality and writing tools.

“I was told to keep a dream journal, too…” I supposed my dreams would line up with everything going on, and maybe I would use it for both. A report disguised as a journal, along with mentions of dreams. Although I didn’t want to, I feared I’d get in trouble if I didn’t.

Fox pointed towards a journal with a cartoon bear on it, “You like cute things, right?”

I said nothing, and instead looked at all the plain ones. I ignored the flicker of amusement in his eyes, and looked for something with a lot of pages. I didn’t know how many times I was going to go through this, and I didn’t want to have to have multiple journals for it.

He went on, “You jammed packed your phone with a lot of charms too.”

“There’s only…five. I think.” I picked up a soft cover journal that was a plain rosy pink. It was as good as any. “…And you’re a comic book fan, right?”

“Both keeping tabs on each other, I see.” He didn’t offer a confirmation, but I figured I was right. With a journal selected, I was desperate to check out and finally be home and away from him.

He slipped a pack of pens on top of the journal I was holding. I glanced down, “I don’t need these.”

“They suit you.” I glanced at the three pack, and the pastel floral designs. “I’m paying anyway.”

“…I’m going to owe you a lot by the end of this.”

“Nah, this is the last time. After that you’re on your own.” With that, we headed to checkout, and I felt my shoulders finally relax.

//

The journal stared at me for a while. I stared back. I’d placed both the book given to me by Headmaster Gnight and the journal on my desk. Both things looked foreign and out of place. I had little interest in writing anything in it, so I’d taken out my binder and started to map out everything on loose sheets.

There was precious little in my notes. I’d gone from homework notes and back again. My eyes kept drifting towards the book, remembering it’d been written in. Curiosity killed the cat, because at some point I’d given up pretending like I knew anything about what I was doing, other than Kade maybe being this ‘Prince.’ Even that had five question marks next to it.

I flipped it open. The pages were thin underneath my fingers. Worn from years of use, I could even make out how the edges were near see-through from people thumbing through it for so long. I turned to the first page, only to find that this was all handwritten. It was another journal. An example given to me by Headmaster Gnight himself.

There was no name on it, but there was a date on the top. Feeling like I was violating a stranger’s privacy, I shut it again. It stayed in my lap, staring up at me. If I kept a journal, it would end up the same. It wasn’t going to be put to use, I decided. I mentally apologized to Fox for making him waste his money as I shoved both journals and the pens into the depths of my closet and closed it.

It really was better not to think about it.