CHAPTER 8: Equation Changes
2613 Words
I spent the entire night staring at the photograph.
Three people.
Two of them smiling.
One missing.
Josh.
Me.
Ezekiel.
And the empty space where Michael should have been.
I kept telling myself it wasn't real.
That the photograph could be fake.
That Ezekiel could be lying.
That the notebook could be wrong.
That maybe this whole thing was some elaborate dream I hadn't woken up from.
But deep down, I already knew.
Something had changed.
And I was the reason.
I closed my eyes.
The image of Josh appeared in my mind.
His smile.
His voice.
The way he looked at me when he thought I wasn't paying attention.
The way he had said:
I like talking to you.
I smiled despite myself.
Then I remembered Ezekiel's warning.
You weren't supposed to make him fall for you.
My smile disappeared.
I looked at the notebook.
JOSH — 40%
The number had stopped changing.
I whispered,
“What happens at one hundred?”
Nothing.
“What happens when I solve you?”
Nothing.
“Do I go home?”
Still nothing.
I flipped the page.
Blank.
Then slowly, words appeared.
THE EQUATION DOES NOT SEND YOU HOME.
My heart sank.
“What?”
Another line appeared.
IT SENDS YOU WHERE YOU NEED TO BE.
I stared.
“Where?”
The answer came slowly.
TO THE NEXT VARIABLE.
I swallowed.
“So if I finish Josh…”
The page remained still.
I waited.
Then:
YOU LEAVE HIM BEHIND.
My chest tightened.
“Leave him?”
No answer.
I closed the notebook.
“No.”
I didn't know why I said it.
Maybe because the thought suddenly hurt.
I didn't want to leave Josh.
Not anymore.
---
The next morning, I went to church.
Josh was waiting outside.
The moment he saw me, he smiled.
“Hey.”
I smiled back.
“Hey.”
“You're early.”
“So are you.”
He laughed.
“You always say that.”
“Because you're always early.”
“Maybe I'm waiting for someone.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Who?”
He smiled.
“You.”
My heart skipped.
I looked away.
“You're getting confident.”
“Maybe.”
He stepped closer.
“Can I ask you something?”
“What?”
“Do you like me?”
Everything inside me stopped.
I stared at him.
“What?”
He laughed nervously.
“Never mind.”
“No.”
I looked at him.
“You asked.”
He swallowed.
“I just…”
He looked away.
“I don't know.”
“Don't know what?”
“If you see me the same way I see you.”
My heart was pounding.
I didn't know what to say.
Because the answer was complicated.
I did like him.
But I also knew that I wasn't supposed to.
Not like this.
Not this early.
Not enough to change everything.
But the reset had already changed us.
So I answered honestly.
“I don't know.”
He smiled faintly.
“That's fair.”
“Do you?”
He looked at me.
“Do I what?”
“See me differently?”
He smiled.
“Yes.”
I froze.
“How?”
He thought for a moment.
“You're the only person I don't have to pretend around.”
My chest tightened.
“Why?”
“Because you don't expect me to be perfect.”
I didn't know what to say.
So I smiled.
“Maybe because you're not.”
He laughed.
“That's rude.”
“You asked.”
“Fair.”
We both laughed.
For a few seconds, everything was perfect.
Too perfect.
And that scared me.
---
That afternoon, I opened the notebook.
JOSH — 52%
I frowned.
“Fifty-two?”
The number changed.
53%
Then:
54%
Then:
55%
It stopped.
A new line appeared.
CONNECTION THRESHOLD REACHED.
I stared.
“What does that mean?”
The page changed.
EMOTIONAL BOND: STABLE.
Then:
SECONDARY VARIABLES AFFECTED.
My stomach dropped.
The three names appeared.
JOSH — 55%
EZEKIEL — 49%
MICHAEL — 8%
I stared.
Michael was still there.
Eight percent.
I smiled.
“He's not disappearing.”
Then the number flickered.
7%
My smile vanished.
6%
“Stop.”
5%
“Stop!”
4%
The number continued falling.
3%.
2%.
1%.
Then—
0%.
I couldn't breathe.
The page turned black.
A single sentence appeared.
MICHAEL VARIABLE: UNSTABLE.
I slammed the notebook shut.
“No.”
I opened it again.
The number was still zero.
“No.”
I flipped through the pages.
Nothing.
“Come back.”
Nothing.
“Please.”
Nothing.
I grabbed my phone.
I searched through my contacts.
There was no Michael.
I checked my old messages.
Nothing.
Photos.
Nothing.
I searched his name online.
Nothing.
My hands began shaking.
“No.”
I couldn't remember his phone number.
I couldn't remember his address.
I couldn't remember where he lived.
I remembered his face.
His laugh.
His voice.
But every detail that could connect me to him was disappearing.
I ran outside.
I needed to find him.
I didn't care about the rules anymore.
---
I went to school.
I searched every hallway.
Every classroom.
Every place I remembered seeing him.
Nothing.
Then I remembered.
The bullying.
The hallway.
The exact place.
I ran there.
Empty.
No Michael.
I stood in the middle of the hallway.
My chest hurt.
“Where are you?”
A few students walked past me.
None of them knew what I was talking about.
I asked one of them.
“Do you know Michael?”
He frowned.
“Who?”
“Michael.”
“No.”
I asked another.
Nothing.
Another.
Nothing.
It was as if he'd never existed.
I ran to the restroom and locked myself inside.
I looked at my reflection.
My eyes were full of tears.
“This is my fault.”
The door opened.
I turned.
Ezekiel was standing there.
He looked at me.
Then at my face.
“It's happening.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Elle—”
“You said I had time.”
“I said we had a chance.”
“You lied.”
“I didn't.”
“You knew this would happen!”
“Yes.”
I pushed him.
He didn't move.
“You knew!”
“I told you.”
“You didn't tell me enough!”
He looked at me.
“You wouldn't have listened.”
I stared at him.
“Maybe I wouldn't.”
“Exactly.”
I wiped my tears.
“Then tell me now.”
He sighed.
“The equation is correcting itself.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you're creating a timeline that isn't supposed to exist.”
“Because of Josh?”
“Yes.”
I shook my head.
“I didn't do anything wrong.”
“You changed the first variable.”
“So?”
“You changed more than that.”
He stepped closer.
“You changed the relationship between you and Josh.”
“I know.”
“You made him care about you earlier.”
“I know.”
“You changed where you go.”
“Yes.”
“You changed who you spend time with.”
“Yes.”
“And every one of those changes moved you farther away from the moment you were supposed to meet Michael.”
I froze.
I finally understood.
Michael wasn't disappearing because Josh was taking him away.
Michael was disappearing because I was no longer becoming the same Elle who would have saved him.
My choices were changing me.
And because I was changing...
the circumstances were changing.
I whispered,
“So I didn't erase Michael.”
Ezekiel shook his head.
“No.”
“You erased the version of yourself that would have met him.”
That hurt more.
I looked down.
“Can I fix it?”
Ezekiel didn't answer.
“Can I?”
“Yes.”
Hope returned.
“How?”
“You have to stop.”
“Stop what?”
“Josh.”
My heart sank.
“What?”
“You have to let him go.”
I stared at him.
“No.”
“Elle.”
“No.”
“You're at fifty-five percent.”
“So?”
“If you continue, Michael's probability reaches zero permanently.”
I shook my head.
“There has to be another way.”
“There isn't.”
“You don't know that.”
“I've tried.”
“Then try again.”
He looked at me.
“You're not listening.”
“I am.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You're listening like someone who has already fallen in love.”
The words hit me.
I looked away.
“I'm not.”
He smiled sadly.
“You don't have to admit it.”
I was silent.
Because maybe he was right.
---
That evening, I went to Josh.
He was waiting near the church.
When he saw me, he smiled.
“There you are.”
I couldn't smile back.
He noticed.
“What's wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“You're doing it again.”
“What?”
“Pretending.”
I looked at him.
He walked closer.
“Tell me.”
I wanted to.
I wanted to tell him everything.
The reset.
The equation.
Ezekiel.
Michael.
The future.
But how could I?
How could I tell a fifteen-year-old boy that his feelings were changing the timeline?
That his happiness might erase someone else?
That I had already lived a future he didn't know existed?
I couldn't.
So I said:
“I think we should stop talking.”
His expression changed.
“What?”
“I mean…”
I struggled to find the words.
“We shouldn't get too close.”
He stared at me.
“Why?”
“Because it's complicated.”
“What is?”
“Everything.”
He shook his head.
“That's not an answer.”
“I know.”
“Did I do something?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
I couldn't look at him.
“Because I'm scared.”
He became quiet.
“Of me?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
I looked at him.
“Of what happens if I stay.”
He stared at me.
“What does that mean?”
I swallowed.
“I don't know.”
He stepped closer.
“Elle.”
I looked at him.
“Do you like me?”
Tears filled my eyes.
“Yes.”
He froze.
I hadn't planned to say it.
But I had.
“Yes.”
His expression softened.
“Then why are you pushing me away?”
“Because I don't know what happens if I don't.”
He reached for my hand.
I let him.
His fingers closed around mine.
Warm.
Familiar.
Real.
“I don't know what you're afraid of,” he whispered.
“Neither do I.”
He smiled sadly.
“But whatever it is…”
He squeezed my hand.
“We can figure it out.”
My heart broke.
Because I knew we couldn't.
Not without consequences.
I pulled my hand away.
“I'm sorry.”
I turned.
“Elle.”
I stopped.
He didn't move.
“Will I see you next Sunday?”
I closed my eyes.
I remembered the rule.
Three Sundays.
This was the third.
The moment the original timeline had changed.
The moment everything would be decided.
I whispered:
“I don't know.”
Then I walked away.
---
That night, the notebook was waiting.
I opened it.
The numbers had changed.
JOSH — 78%
EZEKIEL — 43%
MICHAEL — 0%
I stared.
My heart sank.
Then the numbers started moving.
JOSH — 79%
MICHAEL — 0%
80%.
0%.
81%.
0%.
I slammed the notebook shut.
“No.”
I opened it again.
A new message appeared.
FIRST VARIABLE: NEARLY SOLVED.
Then:
SECONDARY VARIABLE: LOST.
Then:
RESET REQUIRED.
I shook my head.
“No.”
The page changed.
YOU CANNOT STAY.
“No.”
THE EQUATION IS COLLAPSING.
I stood.
“No!”
The lights flickered.
The walls shook.
The notebook lifted from the desk.
I reached for it.
The pages began turning violently.
Josh.
Ezekiel.
Michael.
Me.
Memories flashed across the pages.
Church.
School.
Debates.
Laughter.
Arguments.
A boy being bullied.
A girl defending him.
A photograph.
A future.
A missing face.
Then everything stopped.
One final equation appeared.
JOSH + ELLE = LOVE
Underneath it:
LOVE ≠ ANSWER
I stared.
Then the equation changed.
JOSH + ELLE + MICHAEL + EZEKIEL = ?
The question mark began blinking.
I whispered:
“What do you want from me?”
A voice answered.
Not from the notebook.
Not from the room.
From somewhere inside my head.
Choose.
I shook my head.
“No.”
Choose.
“I won't.”
Choose.
“I said no!”
The room went completely dark.
Then another voice spoke.
A voice I knew.
Josh.
“Elle.”
I turned.
He was standing in the darkness.
But he wasn't fifteen anymore.
He was older.
The Josh from the photograph.
The future Josh.
He looked at me.
His eyes were full of sadness.
“You chose me once.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Josh?”
He smiled.
“And you lost someone because of it.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“You can't save everyone.”
“I can try.”
“You already did.”
“What?”
He looked behind me.
I turned.
Ezekiel was standing there.
Then Michael.
All three of them.
But Michael was fading.
His body becoming transparent.
“Michael!”
I ran toward him.
He smiled.
“It's okay.”
“No!”
I reached for him.
My hands passed through his.
“Please!”
He looked at me.
“You were always supposed to find me.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“Then why are you disappearing?”
He smiled.
“Because you found the wrong answer first.”
The darkness swallowed him.
I screamed.
“MICHAEL!”
Everything exploded into light.
---
I woke up on the floor.
My notebook was beside me.
I gasped for air.
The room was quiet.
Normal.
I grabbed the notebook.
The pages were blank.
I flipped through them.
Nothing.
“No.”
I turned another page.
Nothing.
Another.
Nothing.
Then I found one page.
Three words.
JOSH — SOLVED
My heart sank.
Then beneath it:
RESETTING...
I stood.
“What?”
The room began spinning.
I grabbed the desk.
“No.”
The same sensation returned.
The falling.
The memories.
The voices.
The light.
But this time, I heard something before everything disappeared.
A boy's voice.
Not Josh.
Not Michael.
Not even Ezekiel.
Someone else.
A voice I had never heard before.
It whispered:
“The second variable is waiting.”
Then everything went black.
---
When I opened my eyes again...
I was sitting inside a classroom.
A familiar classroom.
Students were talking around me.
I looked down.
My uniform.
My old school uniform.
My heart pounded.
I knew this place.
I knew this year.
I looked at the blackboard.
And there it was.
A name written across it.
EZEKIEL.
I slowly smiled.
The first variable was over.
But the equation wasn't solved.
It had only changed.
And this time...
I wasn't going to make the same mistake.
Because I finally understood the truth.
Love wasn't about finding the right person.
It was about discovering what every choice would cost.
And I was about to meet the boy who had been waiting for me long before I knew his name.
- Writer
