Chapter 1

The dorm lights were off for the night, and the room had been dark for hours.

I hid under my blanket, my phone screen painfully bright.

Dozens of unread messages filled the chat, but I didn’t scroll through them.

I just stared at the two messages from a few hours earlier:

[What year is it where you are?]

[2031. Why?]

I read those four digits over and over.

Ivy Wells turned over in the next bed. "Renee, are you still awake?"

I locked my phone. "I’m about to go to sleep."

She fell silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "Actually… I saw you at the café today."

"But you’re doing an internship, and you haven’t stayed in the dorm for weeks. I figured it probably wasn’t you, so I didn’t go over to check."

She paused. "Did you see me, too? I was with a guy."

I clutched the edge of my blanket and forced out a quiet "Yeah."

She lay back down and stared at the ceiling.

"You probably don’t know him. His name’s Liam Hayes. He’s my boyfriend."

For a moment, I forgot to breathe.

"I never introduced you because… we’re not exactly a normal couple. Our families are close, and they set us up. He’s distant with me, but I like him. I have since we were kids."

"I want to keep trying. Maybe one day he’ll finally notice me."

She turned her head to look at me.

"Renee, do you think I’m being stupid?"

My phone lit up several times beneath my pillow.

I didn’t move.

I looked into her bright eyes and opened my mouth, my throat tight.

"A little… but you never know with love. If you really like him, give it a little more time…"

She smiled and snuggled under her blanket, her voice muffled.

"I knew you’d understand."

My phone kept lighting up.

I pulled it out. A stack of messages filled the lock screen:

[Ren, why can’t I find you at your college…?]

[Ren, did you see me… and decide I wasn’t what you wanted?]

[If that’s it, just tell me. It’s okay.]

[Please, can you at least say something?]

Tears stung my eyes. I bit my lip, but a small sob escaped.

"What’s wrong? Are you crying?"

"No, I’m reading a novel. It’s really touching."

She grabbed a tissue from beside her pillow and passed it over the bed rail. "Get some sleep. Don’t stay up too late reading."

I murmured a hoarse reply and buried my face in my pillow.

A year earlier, I posted a random thought on an app called Dear Future: "2025 sucks. Will things be any better in five years?"

The next day, someone replied, "Five years from now isn’t much better. But if you get to know me in 2025, maybe things will get a little better for both of us."

I added him as a friend, and he told me his name was Liam Hayes.

Over the next year, he sent me photos of the moon at four in the morning and his shadow making a peace sign after his project got approved.

I told him about the ribs with barely any meat in the college cafeteria, and how my supervisor at my internship yelled at me until I hid in the stairwell and cried.

Once, I asked, "What’s the weather like where you are?"

He replied, "Much hotter than in 2026."

I thought he was keeping up the joke that brought us together.

He said good night, and I said it back, as though we shared the same night.

Until today.

I typed a line, deleted it, and tried again.

My tears blurred the cursor, and I wiped them away with my thumb.

In the end, I sent just one sentence:

[We shouldn’t talk anymore.]

I closed the chat.

My finger hovered over "Remove Friend," but I couldn’t bring myself to tap it.

Ivy’s phone lit up, its screen facing upward.

A message popped up. The contact name was blurry, but I caught it: Liam.

I turned away.

In our chat, he replied.

[Ren, at least tell me what happened…]

[You can’t just end things without giving me a chance.]

[Please.]

Please.

I’d never heard him beg before.

I placed my phone facedown on my pillow, my shoulders shaking uncontrollably.

In the darkness, two messages arrived at the same time, under the same name.

Ivy’s breathing gradually evened out.

I rolled over and clutched my phone. I didn’t sleep all night.