Hell—that’s where Jason thought he was headed while laying on the lumpy mattes of the cheap motel room that recently became his home. Penniless, tired, emotionally drained, divorced, Jason’s life had been headed down the gutter for the better part of a year. He tossed and turned as he reflected on everything that had happened recently. “If only I could go back,” Jason muttered into the empty room. “I could fix things with Cathy…” Crying himself to sleep—again—Jason tossed and turned restlessly. “Wake up, Jason!” a familiar voice shouted, causing Jason to stir. “Get up! We are going to be late for school!” A pillow slapped Jason in the face. “What the hell, Kim!” Jason snapped at his little sister as he jolted awake. “How did you even get in here?” Jason scanned the room and realized he was no longer in the cheap motel. Rather, he saw the poster of a red Camaro that he dreamed of owning in high school and the rest of his old bedroom. Jaw dropping to the floor, Jason locked eyes with a younger version of his sister. “Uhh… I walked?” Kim looked at Jason like it was crazy. “It’s not like your door locks. Seriously though, we have to leave now.” “Or we will be late for high school?” Jason mumbled, running his fingers through the shoulder length hair he had six years prior. “Yeah… are you okay?” “I think so? Just leave me alone a second, I’ll get ready.” “Okay, but I’m telling mom if you aren’t down in five minutes.” Once the door closed, Jason rushed to the bathroom. Standing in front of a mirror, he touched the young face staring back at him. “What is happening?” Jason asked himself. He checked his phone. “Friday October 16th, 2015. Oh my god, isn’t that-” “Jason, we have to leave now!” Kim screamed from downstairs. “Coming!” Jason replied as he hurried to get dressed. Ten minutes is all it took to get to school, and Kim glared at Jason the whole way. His mind was racing to much to notice. “Today is the day I first met Cathy, right?” Jason thought as he pulled into student parking. “Is this my chance to fix everything?” “Stop being weird, or you will embarrass me,” Kim spat as she kicked open the door and stormed into school. “I don’t miss her attitude,” Jason sighed as he climbed out of the car. Shuffling to his first class, Jason tried to remember exactly what happened on this day in his past. While several fond memories of high school came to mind, the details of what happened each day had long faded from his memory. “How did we first meet?” Jason asked himself as he slumped into his desk. “We just bumped into each other while out somewhere. I always said it was the luckiest day of my life… but she lives on the west side. Why would I be over there today?” “Hey, Jason! You’re here early,” a girl with curly brown hair and green eyes said as she walked into the room. She was average height with a slim athletic build. “Oh… uhh… hey,” Jason stammered. She was one of his closest friends back then, but they hadn’t talked since high school. Her name was not at the forefront of his mind. “Emily!” Jason remembered. “Are you okay?” Emily asked. Her eyes shot a questioning look to Jason. “Everyone keeps asking me that today, but I’m fine.” “Did Kimmy have to wake you up again? You seem like you’re still half asleep.” “Yeah—wait—what are you saying?” “Nothing,” Emily giggled and sat next to Jason. “It’s just that you seem confused and grumpy on the mornings that she has to shake you awake. Let me guess, you were up until two playing games online last night?” “Something like that…” Jason grumbled, not daring to mention time travel. “How did you know?” “It’s not that hard to figure it out when you stay up like that every night. Besides, I saw you were online at one. I almost messaged you, but if you started one of your late-night philosophical chats, then I would be half asleep today too!” “Gee, thanks,” Jason laughed. “Wow, I haven’t stayed up late for a philosophical discussion in a long time…” Memories flooded Jason mind of simpler times when he would stay up all night talking about the meaning of life or his dreams for the future. That all stopped the day he started dating Cathy. She thought it was pointless to discuss unpractical things like dreams. “Shut up!” Emily nudged Jason. “You kept me up past midnight every night last weekend with a different topic.” “That’s right… sorry.” “Don’t be sorry,” Emily said. “It’s always fun talking with you.” “It is?” Jason asked, sitting up straighter in his chair. Annoying, useless, dense, there were a lot of words that Jason was used to being called, but fun was not one of them. He didn’t remember having this conversation with Emily. Wondering why he ever stopped speaking with Emily, Jason looked her up and down twice. From her curly brown hair that framed a slender and cute face, to her long legs, there wasn’t a single thing Jason disliked about Emily’s appearance. Laid back, friendly, funny, charming, smart, the same could be said about her personality. “Umm… yeah… and Jason, why are you looking at me like that?” Emily stuttered as her cheeks turned bright red. “You really are acting strange today.” “I’m sorry!” Jason blushed and adverted his gaze. “It’s just that you look good today.” Freezing in place, he wished that his words could be taken back. “I—uhh—thanks.” Emily looked down at her shoes and fidgeted her hands. Before anything else could be said, the bell rang to signal the start of class. Jason struggled through math, history, and science classes that he hadn’t thought about in years. They tortured his tired mind until lunch, when he was able to stumble to the table he used to eat at every day. Terrible Tommy, French-fri Freddy, Wild Willy, the whole gang was laughing around the table. It brought back so many memories; however, Emily pulled him aside before he could relive any of them. “Can we talk for a second?” Emily asked in a quiet hallway. “We already are, but sure,” Jason pointed out. “Sorry if I made things weird earlier…” “No—I mean—it’s okay…” Emily looked down at her shoes and fiddled with the hem of her shirt. “All I wanted to do is ask if you wanted to go see a movie with me tonight.” “Movie?” Jason repeated. “Just the two of us?” “Yeah, there is one that I wanted to see with you, but I don’t think the other guys would like it…” Scratching the back of his neck, Jason thought about Emily’s offer. The movie theater was across town on the west side, and he couldn’t recall what movies were playing at the time or having gone to the movies with Emily. Still, it seemed like the perfect chance to run into Cathy again. After a pause, Jason answered, “Yes, that sounds like fun.” “Really?” Emily asked, beaming from ear to ear. “Yeah, just let me know what time to meet you at the theatre.” “Oh, right…” Emily’s smile faded momentarily as she furrowed her brow, but she regained her cheerful attitude quickly. “7:00 would be perfect. Our movie starts at 7:30.” “Sounds good, but we should get back and eat before lunch is over.” Emily nodded and the two walked back to the cafeteria together. Jason realized a second too late that he forgot to ask what movie they were watching, but he soon forgot about it as he reunited with his old friends. They made the entire remainder of the school day go by in the blink of an eye. Upon returning home, Jason sprinted to his old room to change. The clothes he wore to school wouldn’t make a good impression on Cathy. In fact, his closet was filled with clothes that the wife he was soon to meet would describe as tacky, dreadful, or homeless. Jason had to settle on a grey polo and navy slacks before heading to the movie theatre early. 6:30 was when he arrived, and the building was crawling with people of all ages. Scanning the crowd, Jason didn’t see any familiar faces among the countless high schoolers at the movies. Eventually, he got tired of searching and slumped into a bench. Jason put his face in his hands and was on the verge of tears when a blonde girl slid onto the bench next to him. She rummaged through her purse, and Jason peeked at her. Straight hair without a single strand out of place, a modest white blouse, and a black pleated skirt, he recognized Cathy instantly. “Hey,” Jason started, freezing before he accidentally called the girl by name. She looked up at him with blue doe eyes and pursed lips that he knew too well. “What are you looking for?” “That is none of your business,” Cathy snapped at Jason. “Right… sorry, you just look frazzled. I wanted to see if I could help.” Cathy stopped and peered at Jason. “Do I know you?” she asked after examining him. “No, I guess not. Can I start over?” Jason responded with nervous laughter. He scratched his head and stuck out his hand. “Hi, I’m Jason.” “My name is Cathy,” the blonde girl shook his hand and smiled. “It seems like you aren’t completely devoid of manners, and if you must know, I misplaced my tickets…” Jason’s memory was sparked by her words. Their first date replayed in his mind like a DVD: she never found the ticket, so Jason bought them both one. After sitting through a romantic comedy he didn’t care for, she gave him her number and a kiss. The rest was history. “Are you sure you put it in your bag?” Jason asked, following the script from his memories. “Why would I be looking for it in here if I didn’t think that I put it here?” Cathy sighed. “It must have fallen out somewhere.” “Well, what were you going to see? I can just get you another ticket.” “You would do that for me?” “Sure, let’s go.” Cathy hugged Jason’s arm and thanked him as they got in line at the ticket window. Everything proceeded exactly as Jason remembered it, but he remembered Cathy being beautiful, graceful, sweet, and kind from the moment they met. In reality, she seemed rather short and rude until he offered to buy a ticket. Then, Jason saw Emily walk into the theatre. It was a scene he didn’t remember from his previous life. She scanned the crowd and froze when she saw Cathy hanging on Jason’s arm. Eyes widened, face fished with anger, she started towards them. Halfway to comforting them, she stopped, slumped her shoulders, and slowly turned around. While Cathy ordered tickets, Jason continued to watch Emily shuffle towards the exit. Although it crushed his heart, Jason shook his head and did what he felt was right. He burst out of the movie theatre a minute later and immediately spotted Emily leaning against the bumper of her car, crying. “Emily!” he called as he broke into a sprint. “What are you doing here?” Emily blubbered when he approached. “Did you still want to catch that movie?” Jason asked, extending a hand. “Aren’t you busy with that blonde bimbo?” “That girl lost her ticket; I just bought her a new one while I was waiting for you.” Jason pulled Emily up into an embrace. Emily squeezed Jason, sniffled, wiped her eyes on his polo, and held him for a moment. “Hurry up or we will miss it!” she said after calming down. She grabbed Jason by the hand and led him to his new future.