Chapter 12: Last Friday Night

Friday

Alissandra Cadence

     I woke up - and yes, it's one of those dreams again.

HONK!

     "Hey sweetie, what's wrong? What's with the teary eyes?"

     What? The fuck?

      "Hey, Alissa! What are you doing? Get inside," dad yelled and everything started to become clear as everything that I could see earlier was just a blur.

     I went inside the car and I just couldn't perceive what's going on. This is a dream, right? I slapped myself rapidly and it felt so real.

     "What are you doing?" dad asked as he looked at me through the rear-view mirror.

     "Uh- nothing, my cheeks just feel kinda numb."

     What the heck is happening? Is this a dream? Or what I've been through the whole time was all just a dream? I'm so freaking confused.

     We're already heading back home and - MRS. CAULFIELD?

     Wait, does it mean that I could change what would happen? Now that I know what's gonna happen next? It feels weird but I feel responsible, the clock is ticking, we're almost gonna pass by her.

     "DAD!"

     Dad suddenly hit the brakes and stopped in the middle of the road and almost hit his head on the windshield "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?" he shouted.

     "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I just uh - can you drop me here? I'm just gonna ask Mrs. Caulfield something. You can go home already, I'll just take a cab."

     "Go on then, and don't do that again, you almost killed the both of us."

     I opened the door "I'm sorry, I won't do it again, bye!" then I slammed the door.

     I couldn't exactly tell dad what my plan is, so I just let him go home already. Mrs. Caulfield's just standing there doing something on her phone, and she suddenly got a call.

     "LEAVE ME ALONE, JACOB!" she shouted then already hung up.

     I approached her "Uhhh - hi Mrs. Caulfield. Are you already on your way home?"

     "Oh, Alissa. Yeah - yeah, I'm already heading home now but I don't have extra cash with me so I had to walk and there are also no taxis around either so," she explained.

     "Yeah, that seems unfortunate, mind if I help you with carrying those?"

     "Thank you so much, dear," she said then smiled.

     We just walked to their house that is a few blocks away. While we're walking, someone keeps calling her but she just keeps rejecting it. We eventually arrived at their house.

     "Thanks for helping me, Alissa, you're just like your mom," she said.

     "Nah haha, it's my pleasure."

     "Don't you wanna go inside first? Have some tea? Something to drink?" she asked.

     I looked at their house and saw Jessica through the window.

     "I'm good, Mrs. Caulfield. I'm gonna go ahead, haha."

     "Ohhhh, okay. Are you just gonna walk again all by yourself? Here's some money in case -"

     "No no, I'm fine, I can manage, thank you though," I insisted.

     "Okay, dear. Again, thanks for helping me. Tell your mom I'm free this weekend," she said.

     "Sure, sure, I'm gonna go ahead," then I smiled at her.

     "Okay, be careful dear. Be safe out there," she said then waved.

     I waved back and already turned back and started walking my way back home.

     Frick, I just realized that I almost did nothing to save her... I feel terrible, I wanted to do something, but Jessica suddenly bothered the hell outta me. I hope Mrs. Caulfield won't have the same fate as before.

     Jeez, this feels so weird but it feels so real. But what if this is actually the real real-life? What if those happenings are all just a dream? Well, it'll be the longest, and yet most painful dream I've ever had then. All I remember was I'm crying about Jason and Elijah that night, and now here I am. I would actually prefer to live this one because the decisions I've made before ended up badly. It's like pressing a restart button after having a game-over. And now I'm gonna be more conscious about my actions since I already know a possible ending.

     Wait, McKenley didn't text me today. Weird.

Saturday

     "Hello? This is Kathy, the housekeeper of the Caulfields, how may I help you?" said someone on the other end of the line.

     "Hi, I would like to speak to Mrs. Caulfield please?" I asked

     "Oh, I'm sorry, you didn't know?"

     "Didn't know what? That she's dead?!"

     "Uhm, no. What do you mean? Didn't you know that she's still at work at the moment? Her schedule suddenly got changed so she's working today," she explained.

     I felt so freaking relieved. And the fact that the small thing I did really changed everything, what the heck. I literally saved someone's life by helping them carry groceries.

     "Okay, just tell her I said hello. My name's Alissa."

     "I will, Alissa, do you have anything else to say?" she asked.

     "Nah, sorry for being such a bother. I'm hanging up now, thank you."

     "You're welcome."

     GOSH! I freaking changed what happened! Wait, does that mean - that everything that'll happen after this will be completely different from the things that happened to me before? Including how I met Elijah? The playground? The resort? The carousel? The sleepover? Fuck... Saving someone by means of losing someone, great... Perfectly balanced.

     "Honey, can you come down for a second to take out the trash?" mom shouted from downstairs.

     "Coming!"

     I went outside to take out the trash, I looked at Elijah's house - and he's outside sitting, reading a book while having coffee.

     I feel butterflies in my belly, but kind of like biting me. It hurts so good...

     He hasn't changed though I changed everything...

     He looked at me - fuck! I quickly turned around and walked inside already. And that's when I realized that he no longer knows me...