Chapter 10

GRACE'S POV 

I sat, caressing Susan's back, as she quietly sobbed on my shoulders. 

Apparently, she was done sobbing, because Susan reached for her ice cream again, scooping out a large bite like nothing had just happened. This was so like her. 

“You know what?” she said after a moment, her voice lighter now. “His loss.” She was eating more ice cream like it was real food. 

“That’s what I said, hunny” I replied, shaking my head softly. 

“No, like seriously,” she continued, sitting up straighter. “Do you know how fun I am? He’s going to regret this. He’ll be somewhere eating plain rice and thinking about me. I can bet you that. ”

I blinked. “Plain rice?”

“Yes. Utterly sad, disgustingly dry, and unseasoned, plain rice,” she said firmly, a grin appearing on her face. 

I couldn’t help it, I laughed. How could I not? This was my best friend in this timeline. But for a brief moment, everything felt normal again, like nothing had happened. 

Later that night, after Susan had fallen asleep on my couch, with her half-finished ice cream melting on the table, and the TV playing reruns of ‘Friends’, I stood to the side, watching her. 

She looked so innocent, unaware of what she would do in the future, looking so incapable, too. 

Then, I wondered. What happened? Did I not give Michael enough attention? Or did she start giving him too much attention? Or did Michael just fall out of love with me? 

Like a light bulb switching on, my cancer slid into my mind and I almost gasped. I was feeling so healthy that I completely forgot I was supposed to have cancer. I didn't feel any pain like I always did, I felt normal, healthy. 

But of course, this is a lot of years before the diagnosis. It could mean that the cancer could come later on. How would I even go about preventing it? If I was going to prevent my death from happening in the next ten years, I'd have to stop the cancer. 

I didn't want to escape death only to be killed by gastric cancer. That wasn't happening. 

It just meant that I would have to visit the hospital for monthly check ups. Hopefully, I would be able to stop it just in time.

____

The sunflower in my hand was so small, abnormally small. It made me wonder just how big it could get. Because really, how big could sunflowers grow? It, however, made me appreciate the sun that shone beautifully upon us. The day was really perfect. 

I turned to look at Michael sitting beside me, sketching a sunflower. 

“It looks beautiful already.” I told him, a smile on my face. 

He turned to look at me, grinning. “Thanks. It's for Susan.” 

I froze. “What? Why? Why would you draw something like that for my best friend?” 

I heard a cackle behind us, and I turned to find Susan with her arms crossed over her chest. 

“Why? Because he absolutely adores me. Isn't that right, Baby?” She said, strutting closer, just as Michael stood up from the ground.

He pulled her closer to himself, replying, “It's as right as the right hand can be.” 

I pushed myself up from the ground, stumbling back a few steps in the process. “What is going on? I don't understand.” 

They both continued to stare at each other, like I wasn't there. Suddenly, it started to rain. It wasn't a light rain, it was pouring heavily. Darkness spread across the sky. 

I looked around me for shelter, but there was absolutely nothing in sight. I wondered how we ended up in a place without shelter. I decided to run, I would possibly find a spot to use as shelter until the rain stopped. 

I couldn't process what was going on at the moment, except that I had to run. Just before I was able to take off, I tripped. I pushed myself up from the damp soil, only to be pushed down to the ground again. I turned over, Susan and Michael standing over me. The smiles on their faces were nowhere near normal at that point. 

I tried to scream, but no sound came out of my mouth. It was like my voice disappeared all of a sudden. 

Just then, Michael got down on his knees, wrapping his hands around my neck. I couldn't move, no matter how hard I tried. The rain had poured so hard, it was starting to flood. The water rose rapidly. 

As Michael squeezed my neck, I stayed still, unable to save myself. My vision darkened as life slowly seeped out of me. Susan stood there, hands on her waist, looking proud and happy. 

Soon enough, I was underwater and barely alive, when Michael was ripped off of me in a split second. Susan ran off, and I could move my body again. 

A hand grabbed my flailing hand and pulled me out of the water. I coughed violently, unable to stand on my own. My saviour held me by the waist to keep me steady. 

The rain stopped gradually, and the water dried rapidly. The sky cleared up, but it wasn't the sunny sky it was before. 

When I got a hold of myself, I looked up at my saviour to thank him or her, except that a loud gasp broke out of my mouth. I froze in total shock at the sight of my father standing in front of me. 

My father passed away during my first year in the university as a result of a hit and run. I was absolutely devastated for months and almost failed freshman year. If it wasn't for Susan, I would have flunked all my classes that year. 

But there he was in front of me, alive and healthy. He was glowing, not the kind of glow you'd see on anyone. 

He was smiling softly at me. “You’re safe. Now, rewrite your future.”

Before I coul

d say anything to him, I opened my eyes to the sight of smoke in the room.