Back To His 18, I’m Not His Love

Sylvia's POV: I married my mother's college classmate, Adrian Shaw, against my parents' wishes. We were married less than three years before he died in a car accident. I traded 30 years of my life to The Timekeeper's Store in exchange for one year of living with the younger version of him. But what I found was eighteen-year-old Adrian, confessing his feelings to a girl who looked vaguely like me. I wasn't heartbroken. I simply erased every trace of my existence from his youth, quietly and without a word. ***** In 2001, I had just torn off the last page of November's calendar when my computer chimed with a series of notification pings. My virtual pet was slumped in the corner of the screen, barely clinging to life. "Master... please feed me something... I can barely speak anymore" I clicked the feed button, and the moment I did, someone pounded on my front door. "Sylvia Vale! Time for school!" A boy's bright, clear voice rang through the wood. I shouted back that I was coming, then rushed to shut off the computer and open the door. Adrian stood outside with a slice of bread clamped between his teeth, his blue-and-white school jacket hanging open over a white t-shirt from a casual clothing brand. For a moment, my vision blurred, and I saw the Adrian from 20 years in the future. Less boyishly charming, perhaps, but tender as water, with eyes that held no one but me. Before I could shake off the daze, Adrian grabbed my hand and pulled me downstairs. "What are you spacing out for? If we don't hurry, we'll miss walking with Bianca!" Bianca Lane was the academic prodigy of our grade, with perfect scores in every subject, every exam, every year. She was the academic prodigy of our grade, and the person Adrian was in love with. I mounted my bicycle, and Adrian hopped naturally onto the back seat. The song drifted from the CD shop: Let me watch the meteor shower fall upon this earth, let your tears land on my shoulder, let you believe my love is brave only for you, and you'll see where happiness lives... The CD shop on the street was already blasting "Falling Stars" at full volume so early in the morning. I watched Adrian's fingers grip tightly at the hem of my school uniform, and my thoughts drifted again. In the memories from before I arrived in this timeline, Adrian was my mother's college classmate. I should have called him Uncle Adrian. But he was more like my guardian angel, watching over me since childhood, protecting me with everything he had whenever I faced trouble or danger. When I was 7, I fell from the fourth floor. Adrian caught me without a second thought and broke three ribs. When I was 11, I ran away after a fight with my mother and was lured away by three traffickers. Adrian took six knife wounds and nearly gave his life to get me back. When I was 16, my liver suddenly failed and I needed an emergency transplant. Adrian signed the donor agreement without a word. When I was 20, I realized I'd fallen in love with him, and I confessed. The man who had never refused me anything didn't answer. Instead, he disappeared for seven days. I can't remember what I thought during those seven days. I only remember that when Adrian finally appeared before me and said yes, I held him tight for a long time without speaking. He truly loved me. He always said, "Sylvia, I've been waiting for you all along." And I loved him. Even when everyone said we didn't match, I still believed we were meant to be together. That was why, after Adrian died in the accident, I traded 30 years of my life to the owner of The Timekeeper's Store. Even if it only bought me one year, I wanted to be with him properly. What I never expected was that this time travel would reveal I had only ever been a stand-in. Because the one he actually loved was Bianca Lane, the girl who looked vaguely like me. The one-year deadline now had only one month left. In this timeline, Adrian and I were neighbors, classmates, and friends. The one thing we could never be was lovers. I was still lost in these memories when Adrian spoke up suddenly. "Do you know any good matching names? I want to name Bianca's and my virtual pets as a pair." My breath caught. "...No." Six months ago, he'd asked me to get Bianca's messaging ID. Bianca refused to give it, and I was so afraid of disappointing Adrian that I gave him my alt account instead. After that, I'd been chatting with him for half a year under Bianca's identity. I'd never dared tell him, and I lived in constant fear of being found out. Without warning, Adrian slapped my back and told me to stop the bike. I pulled over, confused, and before I could react, he shoved me off. He pedaled ahead to where Bianca stood beside a bicycle with a flat tire. "Bianca! Bike broke down? I'll give you a ride!" Only then did I notice her there, crouching by the useless wheel. Bianca glanced at me with a slight frown. "But what about Sylvia..." He waved me over. "Sylvia, you're strong. Push Bianca's bike to school for us, will you?" Without waiting for an answer, he insisted Bianca climb onto the back seat and pedaled away, grinning from ear to ear. I stood frozen in place, the winter wind cutting deeper than before. I was used to being abandoned for Bianca's sake. That was nothing new. I just felt a stubborn ache that wouldn't fade. If the Adrian from 20 years later were still alive, I would have asked him whether he only loved me because of Bianca. But I knew that question would never have an answer. The 18-year-old Adrian didn't love me, and in 20 years, there would be no Adrian at all. What I should be thinking about was how to say goodbye to him when the month was over. By the time I reached school, first period was already half over. The teacher glared and waved me to my seat. The moment I sat down, Adrian leaned forward from behind me and slipped a packet of creamy milk candy onto my desk. Every time I saw that candy, it reminded me of my childhood, when he used to cheer me up with the exact same treat. But this time, I wasn't the one he was trying to cheer up. Adrian pointed toward Bianca's seat in front of mine and mouthed silently, "Give it to her." I swallowed the sting behind my eyes and passed the candy forward, whispering, "Bianca, this is from Adrian." Bianca had been listening attentively to the lecture. The moment she turned her head, the teacher's gaze landed squarely on us. "Sylvia! Bianca! Stand up, both of you!" "What is going on with you two? You're supposed to be paying attention, not whispering to each other in the middle of class!" The entire room went eerily silent. Dozens of eyes locked onto us. Then Adrian shot to his feet, his voice booming across the classroom. "It was Sylvia disturbing Bianca's studying, sir!"