You've Found Oliver (You've Reached Sam, #2)(56)

I push myself up and look at the time. Mom must have left for work early again, because the car keys are gone from the hook. My mind goes back to last night. I can’t believe what I did yesterday. I didn’t even stay long enough to see Connor at the party. Why was that so important to me? I don’t even know if it changed anything.

There are no new messages from Julie. Maybe that means Nolan and Connor didn’t leave together this time. Strangely, I don’t feel much better about it, even if I did manage to stop it from happening. I stare at the clouds through the window. It’s another day in Ben’s timeline. I wish we could at least spend it together. But I’m sure he’s busy with class today. And it’s not like he lives across the street from me. I need to find Julie and ask her about the party. I send her a quick text. She doesn’t respond, but I have a feeling I know where she is anyway.

I grab a jacket and take a brisk stroll through campus. I tried looking up Julie’s location earlier. The screen still glitches when I open the app. But I don’t really need it to know where she is. I head to the library. Julie usually studies there in the morning before class. I find her sitting at her favorite table by the window. There are a few other people studying here. I try to keep quiet and take the seat next to her.

Julie looks up and says, “Morning.”

“Had a feeling you’d be here,” I say proudly.

“It is Monday. Might need another coffee soon.” She tucks her hair behind her ear. “How was your mom’s birthday last night?”

I lean back in my chair, sighing. “I missed it.”

“What do you mean, you missed it?”

“I didn’t make it in time,” I whisper. “I know, it’s stupid. I was stupid.”

Julie closes her book. “Oliver, I can’t believe you. What did your mom say about it?”

“I haven’t talked to her yet. She left before I woke up.”

“Was it because you stopped by that party? I don’t know why you went in the first place.” She shakes her head in disappointment.

“I was only there for an hour. Did anything happen after I left?”

“Not really,” she says, thinking about it. “Except Nolan’s friend Tony was flirting with me the whole time.”

“What about Connor? Did he show up?”

“At one point. But he didn’t stay long.”

“Did Nolan leave with him?”

“No, he was with me the whole time,” she says.

“So you don’t think anything happened?”

“Not that I could tell.” She leans forward, keeping her voice low. “Is something going on between them?”

I let out a breath. “Maybe.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Woman’s intuition,” I say vaguely.

“Stop being so cryptic and tell me.”

“I can’t really say. I just had a…feeling, okay?”

Julie presses her lips together. “Well, if it’s only a feeling, why don’t you just talk to Nolan about it?”

I give her a look. “Why on earth would I talk to that jerk?”

“I mean, you are dating him,” she reminds me.

“Oh. Right.”

I almost forgot about that part. This shouldn’t bother me so much. Especially after all the healing I’ve done. Who cares what happened after the party? It won’t change what I have with Ben. I push last night out of my mind and say, “Forget Nolan. I don’t want to talk about him anymore.”

“You’re so moody lately,” Julie says.

“I just need something to eat.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be in class?”

I blink at her. “Class?”

“It’s Monday. Don’t you have Math Modeling?”

Then it hits me—this is fall quarter. What was my schedule again? It takes a second to come back to me. “Oh my god, you’re right.”

Does this mean I’m supposed go? I rise from my chair and make my way out anyway. I thought I would never step foot in the math building again. I’m not sure if it affects my own timeline if I skip it. But I don’t want to take any risks and fail the class. I’ve had plenty of nightmares about this very scenario. I’m only fifteen minutes late when I come through the door. Thankfully, it’s a pretty big lecture hall. I find an empty seat as Professor Paul seems not to notice and continues to write on the board.

I can’t believe I have to listen to this all over again. Professor Paul is going over differential equations. I barely understood it the first time around. I had to go to office hours for help every week. I don’t even have anything to take notes with. So I just sit there and try not to look confused.

The hour goes by painfully slow. I’m counting down the minutes until it’s over. At the end of class, Professor Paul reminds us about the assignment that’s due. There’s no way I have to do that, right? I don’t even remember where my textbook is. Thankfully, the person next to me lets me borrow a pen. I write the page number on my hand and head out.

I try to remember the rest of my schedule. I only took Math Modeling to fulfill the core requirement. Hopefully I don’t have to come back tomorrow. Should I be worrying about my classes though? Maybe I’ll grab my books, just in case. That would mean stopping by my old dorm room.