“Hey, Alex!” Will waved the moment the goofball came into view.

Up to now, he’d thought that his friend appeared about ten seconds after the start of the loop. As it turned out, it was closer to half a minute.

“How about we get some muffins?”

“For real?” Alex blinked. This was supposed to be his line. “You into muffins, bro?”

“Everyone’s talking about them, so why not try?”

There was no arguing against that logic. Nonetheless, it still didn’t feel quite right. Despite what Alex claimed, muffins weren’t a real trend. All those talking about them—who were far less than the goofball made people believe—only knew of them through him. Even the corner shop had barely advertised, effectively taking them as a replacement for something else. Thus, the owner was nearly astonished when not one but two students had come before class asking to buy some.

“What flavor would you like?” Spencer asked.

He was a large man with a mustache that had gone out of style in the seventies. The man had been here since Will could remember. In truth, he could almost be considered part of the school. The cornershop was not only the only one on school grounds, but it actually was considered school property. Spencer had made a deal with the previous school administration to transform the small building into a place to sell snacks and drinks in exchange for part of the profit. The arrangement had worked quite well, even if every now and again weird products would make a brief appearance just to be whisked away a week later.

“One of each,” Will quickly said. “For him as well.”

“Bro, I—” Alex began.

“I’m paying.” He ran his phone over the wireless register.

“Two bags, half a dozen each.” The man took a small brown paper bag and started filling it with what looked suspiciously like cupcakes.

“Okay, what’s up, bro?” Alex asked. “You celebrating?”

“Nah. Just decided to start living for a change.”

The other boy narrowed his eyes.

“You ok?” he asked.

Will was just about to say fine when he saw Jace and his group of jocks approach. The timing was terrible. Will hadn’t gotten his rogue skills, making him as defenseless as a balloon in a pin factory. Instinctively, he tensed up.

“Jace, Bro!” Alex said with the suicidal confidence only he was capable of. “What’s up?”

“Beat it, nerds,” the jock replied. “Three cans,” he told Spencer, ignoring the other two boys entirely.

What the hell? Will wondered.

In all the loops, they had been so hostile in class, and yet now they didn’t want to have anything to do with him. Jace had every excuse to get into a fight, but instead he couldn’t get the energy drink cans fast enough, disgusted to even be seen in the same place as Alex.

Confused, the boy watched the jocks move away, talking about movies, cars, and movies—in that order. It felt as if this was an entirely different reality altogether.

“Here you go.” Spencer handed the muffin bags with a smile. “Six each. Hope you enjoy. And tell me if you’d like me to order more.”

“Sure thing, Spence!” Alex said, right before biting into one of his muffins without bothering to remove the paper cup. “What you think?” he asked, mouth full.

“I’ll tell you in a bit.” Will kept an eye on the jocks as they moved towards the front of the school.

“Don’t worry about those guys. They’re in a good mood today.”

“How can you tell?”

“My nose isn’t bleeding,” Alex laughed. “You really must try these, bro. They’re lit!”

Will did. After the mousse moments ago, from his point of view, the muffins tasted outright bland. Maybe if he tried them in ten or twenty loops, but even then, there was no guarantee he’d like them.

“Have mine,” he handed the bag to Alex.

“For real?”

“They’re not my thing.”

“Thanks, bro!”

“Yeah…” Now came the information gathering part. “Alex, what have you heard about Daniel?”

“Dead guy?” The goofball chomped another muffing. “Lots of sus stuff. They said he was in some drug program testing crap that can keep you awake all day. Lots of NDAs so his parents didn’t know and the cops couldn’t ask.”

“Right.” Will had already heard this part. “I mean before that. Was he into anything weird?”

“Why? What have you heard?”

“I’m asking you.”

“Well, he had paper money. That’s mega sus. Who uses paper money?” The boy spat out the paper that came with the muffin, and took yet another. “I think he was in a gang. Like, a real one. He never did any sports, and still could beat up half the football team. That was lit, but also scary. Saw a fight in the gym once. Big oof. They all went at him and he tossed them around like…” he gesticulated, searching for the right word.

“What about him and Helen?”

“Danny and Miss Perfect?” Alex laughed. “Why? What did you hear?”

“She told me they were close.”

That was a bit of an assumption on his part, but not one without merit. Helen hadn’t liked him messing with Daniel’s desk even before she had learned he was looped. The only logical explanation was that they had to be an item. Depending how long the loops had been going on for, it wouldn’t be surprising that they’d become close without anyone else noticing.

“Huh?” Alex almost choked. “No way, bro. Like for real? Nah, no way!”

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“Why not?”

“Well… Danny is sus as hell! No rizz, no social life, his grades are worse than mine!” He thought for a moment. “Maybe chicks really dig bad boys?”

“Be serious.”

“I’m serious, bro. Danny was messed up. No way she’d fall for him.”

The comment sounded innocent enough, but Will spotted the nugget of information he had been hoping for. Hopefully, it would be wasting a loop on muffins.

“Messed up how?”

“You know… messed up. Guy was a regular with the school shrink. For real! I saw him there several times per week.”

“You went to the counselor?” Will found that unexpected.

“Hey, it’s not that I need it. It’s just a cool place to hang.”

Everyone Will knew came up with excuses not to go to see the school counselor. He himself had been told so twice since the starting of the loops. At the same time, he could see why his friend would enjoy it. Asking to see the counselor was a certain way to skip any class, no questions asked. He could avoid homework, P.E., even the odd test every now and again. It wouldn’t be a stretch to think that he helped himself to anything edible there as well.

“Danny didn’t like it much. He’d always come out worse than he went in.”

“Did he say what he was there for?”

“Nightmares,” Alex instantly replied. “Told me he kept having nightmares that kept him awake. Must have been pretty bad cause he’d always have them. I think it was a side effect from the meds they were pumping him with. I bet the shrink’s working for big pharma.”

The boy continued with his conspiracy theories, but Will was no longer listening. Thanks to Alex, he knew where he could find some answers. All he had to do was get them.

Restarting eternity.

Unfortunately, as it often happened in life, every solution came with its own set of problems. When Will had gone to the counselor’s office after completing his usual routine, he had found the room to be locked. It had taken him two loops to find out that Mister June had been involved in a traffic accident and would be arriving late. Three more loops were spent finding creative ways to enter the room. There were two sets of spare keys: one held by the janitor, and the other at the principal’s office. The janitor’s set was easy to get, but located too far for Will to make it there and back before the end of the room without attracting attention. In contrast, the set in the principal’s office was merely a few doors away, but not something he was looking forward to.

Twice the boy had tried to break the door open in the hopes of incrementally searching the room. As flimsy as the door was, Will turned out to be flimsier, ending up at the nurse’s office both times. What was worse, his condition prevented him from getting the unknown class even when Helen wasn’t there with him.

After ten unsuccessful loops, and one more spent in the coffee shop to collect his thoughts, and have some free mousse, the boy decided to change approaches again. Since he couldn’t find any leads to what might have caused Daniel’s death, he might as well try and convince Helen without any proof. It was all a matter of timing, correct approach, and very fast reactions.

Restarting eternity.

Holding his backpack like a weapon, Will quickly completed his sequence, then went to the classroom.

“Helen, I—” he began upon entering just to have a desk fly into his head.

Restarting eternity.

Will’s second death was virtually painless. If anything, he felt embarrassed by the whole thing. This was the shortest loop he’d experienced by far. The girl hadn’t even let him explain. By the looks of it, her mind was already made up.

Still dazed by the experience, Will looked around. Everything was just as it had been before, from the pair of annoying girls to the parents dropping off their children. Soon enough, Alex would appear with his standard greeting. For a moment, Will considered dragging him in the whole thing. Maybe going to see Helen with other people would prevent her from charging at him for long enough for him to voice an explanation. On the other hand, it was just as efficient to use the loops to get familiar with her actions and find a counter to it.

That proved to be easier said than done. Suspecting he might do something of the sort, Helen also changed tactics each time. Some loops she’d throw something heavy his way—always from a different position; others she’d wait for him just by the door. The few times he’d managed to make an argument, the girl had completely ignored him, proceeding to crack his neck, or skull respectively. Eventually, it became clear that if Will wanted to make his case; he had to prove he had the strength or will to back it up. For that reason, at his next loop, he decided to play dirty.

“Stone!” the coach yelled as he swung the bathroom door open. “I warned…” his voice trailed off seeing the boy soaking wet. “What the heck happened here?”

One of the sink faucets was broken, spraying water all over the place.

“It just broke off!” Will lied.

“Things don’t just break!” He rushed in, under the common illusion that his presence would somehow make the flow of water stop. It didn’t. “Don’t just stand there! Get out of there!”

The yells quickly attracted a small crowd, which grew even larger when Will took off his shirt. The action wasn’t shocking or even mildly scandalous, but given the strict dress code, many were wondering what was going on.

“Someone get the janitor!” the coach shouted.

While people were recording everything with their phones, Will kept an eye out for Helen. And surely enough, she appeared, emerging from the art classroom as if nothing had happened.

“Coach!” Will shouted. “I think Helen and I should go tell the principal.”

“What do you want? A written request?” the coach yelled at him. “Just do it.”

This was the moment of truth for this loop. If Helen decided to play along, they would have some uninterrupted time to discuss things. That was unless she decided to go all destructor in the school hall.

Don’t go crazy. Will kept repeating in his mind. Don’t go crazy.

The two glanced at each other. Hatred still filled her eyes. There was no other emotion anywhere on her face, as if she were wearing a mask of marble.

“Let’s go,” she said at last.

In his mind, Will let out a sigh of relief. The two walked along the hallway to the staircase. Students everywhere stared at them—more specifically at the boy, who was still shirtless and mostly wet.

“You can’t win against me,” Helen whispered.

“I just want to talk,” he quickly said. This was a once in a twenty-loop opportunity and he didn’t want to waste it. “I didn’t kill Danny.”

“You have his class.”

People were assigned classes? “I got it in the guys’ bathroom over a week after—”

“Liar!”

“I’m telling the truth! Who’d want to be trapped in this hell reliving ten minutes over and over again?”

Helen stopped mid step.

“Ten minutes?” she asked, looking at him. “You’re still at ten minutes?”

“Yeah… I got to fifteen once, but… Why, what’s it mean?”

“You really don’t know, do you?”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. I tapped a mirror in the bathroom one day, then all this happened. I’ve been trying to figure out how things work since then. The loops, the rogue, the mirrors… Daniel…”

Mentally, he tensed up as he said the last. This was the final test. If this didn’t set her off, little else would.

“And you didn’t kill Danny?” the girl asked.

“I barely knew him.”

“If you’re lying, I’ll make your loops hell. Okay?”

This wasn’t the result Will was hoping for, but he nodded nonetheless. It was something, at least.

“Meet me in class next loop. I’ll tell you the basics.”