Chapter Text
6/10
I was on my 3rd shift of the day and my feet were killing me. I barely even knew what I was saying anymore. I was just taking orders from the customers and putting them into the machine. To pass time, I sometimes rated the outfits of the people who came to the bakery.
The man standing in front of me was wearing a red checkered button up shirt and blue jeans. I was pretty sure blue and red were not contrasting colors and this was also the 7th man in their late 40’s who came wearing that. 5/10 for not being unique but an extra point because he ordered my favorite donut off the menu.
After I punched in his order and gave him his receipt, he walked over to the counter where he would be given the food and the person behind him stepped up.
“Hi, what can I get you-”
“We need to talk.” His voice was kind of hushed and he looked at me with a look of urgency. That sentence was so off script that it took me a minute to understand what he said. Not that understanding made it any more clearer.
“Excuse me?” I asked, with a hint of attitude. If this man came here to hit on me, he could forget it. He was very persistent though. “Please, it’s important!”
I sighed and turned to look at the clock. 6:11 . “I have a break in-”
“9 minutes, I know. I’ll be waiting on the table near the exit, okay? Just get me a donut for now. Boston cream, the one you like.”
“Okay, stalker much?” I muttered under my breath as I punched his order into the machine. I took the rest of the orders and I felt kind of awake now. My feet didn’t hurt anymore as I kept glancing over to the table where the boy was sitting and wondering what he could want. When the clock hit 6:20, one of my coworkers tapped my shoulder to remind me to take a break. Not that I needed a reminder though. I quickly went to the back and took the energy drink I was saving in my bag. I popped it open and made my way to the table with the mysterious boy. As I was walking towards the table, I paid more attention to him. He had curly blonde hair and he was wearing some kind of sports jersey with baggy blue jeans. He had a big cross body bag that I wondered what it could possibly be holding and he had a hoodie put over the bag. He looked about my age, 19.
I sat down and he took his eyes off the donut. He smiled at me and offered me half his donut.
“Man, no matter how many times I have this donut it never gets old!” he said, mouth full of cream and donut. I nodded, taking a small bite out of the half he gave to me. I guess he thought I was being sarcastic or something because he continued, “I mean it! No one does it like Hade’s Donut Cave.”
Hades was the nickname we gave to the guy who ran this place and he was your average store manager. Grumpy, always telling everyone to get back to work and always M.I.A when you needed him. I grew a soft spot for the old man since he had let me work under his care for the past five years. I stared at the guy sitting across from me.
“How many Hade’s Donuts have you had? I don’t remember seeing you here often. Well actually, ever .”
He put down his donut and got serious for a second. “Right, that’s what I had to talk to you about.” He paused for a minute and looked at me. “We know each other. Well, we did but I know you!”
I nodded slowly and turned my head slightly. “You do realize you have made absolutely no sense since you walked into my shop?”
“Okay, basically I’m in a time loop right now, you see? I keep reliving the same week over and over again. I’ve been doing this for what, two weeks by now? And you, mr, Nico Di Angelo are my partner in crime!” He shook his hands in front of me like someone in a circus show saying “ta-da!”.
I stared at him. I wasn’t the gullible kind but my life had very little excitement at the moment and a random lunatic telling me that time was messing with him was just what I needed. I wanted to ask him to prove it but I knew that was impossible. Nonetheless, I decided to ask him anyways but before I could get the words out of my mouth he went “prove it?” with his eyebrows raised and a smirk.
“Well other then the fact that I have finished your sentences twice already, I also happen to know about all your hobbies from painting to writing and also your history with your mom-” I was a bit taken aback by that, “-and I know that guy over there is going to spill his coffee all over himself in three, two, one.” He pointed towards a man who was reaching out for his coffee from the counter. Sure enough, just as he went to grab it someone bumped into him from behind and made the coffee spill everywhere. Everyone in the store turned their heads towards the man but I looked at the boy sitting in front of me. He was laughing, saying, “His face gets me everytime!”
He seemed to be very relaxed with the idea of being stuck in a time loop. I wanted to ask him how but I probably asked him that the last two times he was here because he said “I’m sure I’ll make it out this time, Neeks! I have a plan but I need your help and plus I like hanging out with you so what do you say, partner?” He extended his arm out for me to shake. I took it and nodded to him. He seemed to be very comfortable around me. I guess we were close in the past or his past because I never met him in my past. I offered to give him my number but as expected he already had it.
I finished up my last shift but I wasn’t bored now because all I could think about was that mysterious boy in the time loop. I didn’t even get a chance to ask him for his name even though he already knew mine. After the clock hit 7:30, I packed up my bag and walked home. I had picked up an egg sandwich which was going to be my dinner for tonight. When I got home I hurriedly finished all my tasks for my nightly routine, I got curled up into bed and heard my phone buzz on my side table.
Unknown number
Hey partner in crime
I was guessing this was probably the boy from the store so I responded back.
Nico
I never got your name
Unknown number
Oh yea its Will
Nico changed contact name to “Will”
Will changed contact name to “Neeks”
Will
Ok tmr meet me at the playground after the bakery opens
Nico
Ok !
I didn’t have any work tomorrow but I guess Will already knew that. He said that the same week kept replaying and today was Sunday. Which meant if we didn’t figure out how to break the time loop before Saturday night, Will would have to start over. It was probably really exhausting having to re-explain everything to me.