Future Me Saved Me From Ruin

Chapter 2

"We'll do the sea bass two ways, half with the sweet passionfruit glaze, half with garlic butter. Summer loves this fish." Callum rattled off the order the second we walked in, then handed the menu to Amelia. "See if you want to add anything."

"Nothing for me. Summer and I like all the same things."

Amelia passed the menu to the waiter and shot me a giddy wink. "You two really are childhood sweethearts. He's got your taste memorized down to the last detail. I'm so jealous, Summer. You don't even have to order for yourself."

Callum raised an eyebrow. "Obviously. If I can't remember, who can?"

He flagged the waiter down again and asked for two sides of hot sauce.

He set one in front of me and the other in front of Amelia.

I knew Amelia loved hot sauce with her meals.

So did I, with most things.

Just never with fish.

I closed my eyes and, for the first time, wondered whether the food preferences Callum remembered were mine or Amelia's.

Dinner that night was hard to get through. Callum and Amelia never ran out of things to talk about, and none of it meant anything to me. I just sat there quietly and worked on my food.

Callum kept sliding pieces onto my plate, but his eyes never left Amelia. He didn't even notice the fish piling up in front of me.

When the check came, the waitress told us the restaurant offered 20% off the entire bill to couples who could show a 500-day Snapchat streak.

I was about to say that my boyfriend and I didn't keep a streak when Amelia pulled out her phone. Callum quietly handed his over too.

Their streak lasted 812 days, which began the day they met.

I had wanted to keep a streak with Callum once. But every three days, he'd forget to snap back, and the flame never lit up. Eventually, I gave up. I figured Callum just found the whole thing annoying.

I walked with my head down the entire way back.

Amelia looped her arm through mine. "That was just to save money. The waitress had no clue who's actually dating who. You get it, right, Summer?"

Callum stood there with his hands in his pockets. "Summer will get it. She's always been the frugal one."

I took a deep breath. "I don't, actually. Can I ask why you two have kept a Snapchat streak going this long?"

"Come on, that was just for talking tennis." Callum took my other hand and held out his phone. "Go ahead, check it. It's all yours."

I'd never once looked through Callum's phone. I didn't even know his passcode. He was probably handing it over because he was so sure I wouldn't actually look.

But this time, I took the phone right out of his stunned hands.

The screen wouldn't turn on. The battery was dead.

Callum seemed to let out a breath. "Shoot, it's dead. You can check it next time, Summer."

"Summer! Do you seriously not trust me and Callum? Since when did you become the phone-checking type? Then again, you and I go way back. I'd never chat up Callum behind your back. We're just friends."

Amelia flashed a sweet smile and slid into the front passenger seat like she'd done it a hundred times.

Callum didn't stop her. He said, "We'll drop Summer off first. Summer, sit behind Amelia so it's easier for you to get out."

There it was again. I got stuck in the back seat, same as always.

After he drops me off, is he heading somewhere else with Amelia?

When I got home, I sent a DM to that account myself. Summer: The person Callum likes. Is it Amelia?

The typing bubble hovered on the other end for a long time. Then a single word finally appeared.

Unknown ID: Yes.

I sat with that for a moment. Then I typed, slowly.

Summer: Where are you right now?

This time, the reply took even longer to come through.

Unknown ID: A psychiatric hospital.