Chapter 9

GRACE’S POV

Just as I finished sticking the note to the wall, I heard knocks. Three short raps, the way Susan always knocked.

An involuntary smile appeared on my face at the familiarity. 

Susan’s familiar voice drifted through the door. “Grace! Open up before the ice cream melts and I blame you for my heartbreak.”

I shook my head before leaving the room, and walking straight to the door. 

For a brief second, everything inside me revolted. My chest tightened, my stomach twisted, and that same memory, the one I wished I could tear out of my mind, flashed through my eyes. 

I clenched my jaw, my hands forming fists. But it hadn't happened yet, so I couldn't really be angry. 

Taking a steady breath, I forced my expression into something normal, something that belonged to the version of me who hadn’t been destroyed by the people she trusted the most. 

Then I opened the door to Susan standing there, exactly as I remembered from this time, bright-eyed, lively, her hair tied into a messy bun that somehow looked intentional. She held up a plastic bag, a wide smile on her face. 

“I come bearing gifts,” she announced dramatically.

For a second, I just stared at her. I tried to fit this person to the person who would later betray me in another timeline. It just didn't match. Guilt stabbed through me so suddenly it made my heart ache.

Because despite everything that happened, this version of Susan didn’t deserve my anger. She didn't even know what was going on, it was just me, memories, and possibilities.

“Are you going to let me in, or do I eat this alone and cry about it later?” She raised an eyebrow in anticipation.

I blinked twice, snapping out of it, “Right. Sorry, come in.”

She brushed past me, the way she always did, completely at ease, kicking off her shoes without hesitation and heading straight for the couch. 

“Wow,” she said, glancing around the living room. “You actually cleaned. Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?”

I closed the door slowly, watching her. “I'm not that dirty, Susan.” I replied, arms crossed over my chest. 

She was still her, the same Susan. Nothing had changed with her. At least, not yet. 

Except me, I had changed. 

She grinned. “No, but you're extremely disorganised.”

She pulled out two tubs of ice cream from her and held them up like she was hosting a show “Chocolate fudge or cookies and cream?”

“Cookies and cream,” I said automatically. It was my absolute favourite, even in 2023.

She grinned. “I guessed it.”

Of course she did, she knew me so well. 

The familiarity of it all hit me harder than I expected. Every small detail, every shared habit all of it made it feel like stepping into a memory I had already lived, but because I had.

I sat across from her, watching as she dug into the ice cream without hesitation, handing me a spoon. It was typical of her to grab spoons from her place, even though she was already coming here. It was a mistake at first, but then she just carried on, enjoying my face when she took them out and handed one to me. 

“Again, I have spoons, Susan.” I told her, opening my tub of ice cream. Because even though I was a bit weary of my own best friend, I still needed the ice cream to heal me.

She wriggled her brows at me in response. 

For a few moments, neither of us spoke. It was normal for us to sit in total silence doing our things, so it wasn't abnormal. 

“So,” she said eventually, mouth half full, “how was today?”

I hesitated. Which version of “today” was I supposed to answer? Definitely not the waking up in another year. 

“The usual,” I said carefully. “You know, work, stress, life.”

She groaned. “Ugh! Don’t remind me. I swear, if I hear one more complaint from my boss, I might just evaporate. Like for real this time.”

You don't want to know what she meant by “this time”.

I nodded at her, then decided to push the conversation further. “How was your day?” 

 “Oh, nothing much. Just work, stress, Luke ending things before they actually started.” She shrugged like it was all nothing. 

But I knew Susan, she was just waiting to break. 

I remembered that Luke was a guy she was seeing, whom she absolutely adored. I didn't fancy the guy so much, mostly because he always smelled like garlic that was boiled in car oil. And also because he reminded me of a pedophile who lived around my neighbourhood when I was a little girl. He was caught pants down with a 9 year old sobbing girl behind his house. Owing to that incident, Luke's name never made it past my mouth without being accompanied by a scoff. 

“Oh. Well, what happened? He seemed like he wanted to marry you.” I almost gagged at the thought. 

In this timeline, I loved my best friend to the core, despite the future events, and as such, her marrying the creep would be a nightmare. 

She chuckled sadistically. “He thinks I'm ‘too much’ for him. That he enjoys mundane things. Can you believe that? He's choosing mundane things over adventurous extraordinary me.” 

Susan was wild, open, and definitely adventurous, but she wasn't too much. He probably couldn't handle her..

I gave her a small smile. “You're not too much, he just doesn't know how to handle you. And that's his loss.” 

A sob escaped her lips. “Do you think I'm high maintenance? Is that it? Oh God! I am, aren't I?” She shoved more ice cream into her mouth. 

I immediately stood up and sat beside her, leaving my tub of ice cream on the table. I held her and pulled into me, all my remnant anger evaporating and disappearing for the moment. 

“You are not high maintenance, you hear me? You are just enough, more than enough even.” 

I would get angry later. For now, my currently sweet best friend needed me.