Page 18 of You've Found Oliver

The drive-in restaurant is a staple in Ellensburg.

It really adds to the small-town experience we have going on.

Although most people just eat outside. Ben finds a table while I order for us—two cheeseburger combos with a basket of onion rings.

I make him try the mystery milkshake flavor, which he thinks is pina colada.

I don’t tell him there’s actually no mystery flavor—it’s just vanilla.

I still need to give him the gift I made.

So we finish our food and head back to campus.

It’s nice having someone to walk around with.

In another world, we could spend every day together.

I point out some more things along the way—the sculpture of the bull sitting on the bench; the street they close down for the farmer’s market every Sunday; the sidewalk where Julie tripped and sprained her ankle last year.

I even show him where my favorite bakery was before it closed down.

“Why are there people inside?” Ben asks.

“What people?”

At first, I think he’s mistaken. Then I glance at the windows and notice the lights are on.

Probably construction workers clearing things out.

Then a young couple exits, carrying a familiar white box that’s tied with a ribbon.

That’s when I catch the scent of something sweet.

So we cross the street to check for ourselves.

The bell chimes as we enter the door. Some new bakery must have replaced it, because the place is up and running again.

I take in the familiar wallpaper and the pastries that fill the display cases.

They even have the same chocolate croissants.

“I swear this place closed down a few months ago,” I say.

“Maybe they were just remodeling,” Ben guesses.

“But it looks exactly the same.”

Same black-and-white checkered flooring. Same brick accent wall with the handwritten menu. A mother and daughter are picking out macarons at the counter. When they’re finished paying, I approach the girl at the register. She smiles at me and says, “What can I get for you?”

“Hi, quick question. When did you guys reopen?”

“Reopen?”

“Yeah.” I nod. “You were closed, right?”

“We close at seven,” she says.

“No, I mean closed down .”

“Closed down?”

“I saw the sign at the window,” I tell her. “It said thank you for thirty years of business , or something like that. I thought that meant you were closed for good.”

She looks confused. “Sorry, I just started here.”

That’s probably my cue to stop asking her questions. Maybe they’re under new management or something. Regardless, this is such great news. I have to text Julie about this. I would order something if Ben hadn’t already brought pastries for us to share. So we make our way out again.

We cross the street and take the shortcut to campus. My dorm isn’t the most impressive in the world. But at least we tend to keep the hallways clean. “My roommate is usually home around this time,” I say. “You can just ignore him though.”

“You two don’t get along?”

“We’re cordial ,” I explain. “But I wouldn’t call him a friend. He won’t let me light scented candles. And he plays loud country music. I still prefer him to my last one though.”

“What happened to your last roommate?”

I sigh. “That’s a story for later.”

I stick my key into the doorknob. For some reason, it doesn’t work. I wiggle it a few times, but it won’t turn. So I knock on the door, hoping Ethan’s inside. After a moment, a girl in a blue top opens it instead. She looks at me and says, “Can I help you?”

It seems Ethan has another “friend” visiting. He usually puts a rubber band on the doorknob. I wish he would tell me these things in advance. I take in a breath and say, “I just have to grab something.”

“Grab what?” she asks.

“My stuff.”

“What stuff ?”

I’m not sure why I need to explain this to her. For some reason, she doesn’t move out of the way for us. I’m suddenly annoyed by this exchange. But I don’t want to be rude in front of Ben. So I try to move around her. “Excuse me.”

“What are you doing?” She snaps.

“I need something from my room.”

“This isn’t your room.”

“Yes, it is—”

“You can’t just barge in—”

I’m not sure what Ethan told her. Maybe that he lives alone or something. “Fine. Just tell Ethan to grab my things for me.”

“Who’s Ethan?”

Ben looks at me. “Are you sure this is your room?”

“ Yes. I live here.”

“Is this some sort of prank?” the girl asks.

I don’t have time for this right now. So I just force my way through, ignoring her loud protest. The second Ben comes inside, I push her out of the way and shut the door. “That was really annoying,” I groan. “Sorry about that.”

Then I glance around the room. It doesn’t take me long to realize something’s off.

The flex wall that divides our beds is gone.

And what happened to all of the furniture?

There’s an orange futon where the table should be.

What’s with these heart-shaped lights hanging along the ceiling?

And who put the Harry Styles poster on the—

Then it finally hits me.

“Oh my god, this isn’t my room,” I gasp.

Ben’s eyes widen. “What?”

There’s a loud bang on the door. Followed by the girl shouting from the other side. “I’m calling campus police!”

“We should go—” I throw open the door again and pull Ben into the hallway. The girl continues shouting as we hurry out of the building. I’m so embarrassed, I take us all the way down the length of block until we’re completely out of view. Thankfully, I don’t think she followed us outside.

“So that was her room?” Ben asks.

“No, that should be my room! I mean, it’s supposed to be.”

“Are you sure it was the right building—”

“ Ben. I’ve lived there for months. I was literally sleeping there this morning!”

I’m not sure how to make sense of this. All my things were missing. Did they move us out while I was gone? Maybe Ethan knows what’s going on. I take out my phone to text him, but I can’t find his number in my contacts.

Then I notice something else. There’s something off about the trees. It takes me a second to realize…“What happened to the cherry blossoms?” I glance all around us. The ground was covered with petals this morning.

Ben blinks at me. “Why would there be cherry blossoms in the fall?”

“What do you mean fall ? It’s April.”

“You think it’s April?”

“What do you think it is?”

“November,” he says.

“ November? Ben, what are you talking about?”

He’s obviously messing with me. Then I take another look at the trees. The leaves are curling at the edges as if they’re about to fall. Everyone’s walking around in boots and jackets. I turn abruptly and say, “I have to check something.”

I make my way back to the quad. But there are no cherry blossoms here, either. As if someone swept them up with a magic wand. “Am I losing my mind? Where did all the petals go?”

Ben looks around. “Do you mean these trees?”

“ Yes. You didn’t see them earlier?”

“They don’t bloom this time of year…”

“I know they peak in May. But there were still some this morning.”

Ben raises his brow. “Wait, so you think we’re in April?”

I’m not sure what calendar he’s looking at. But this has to be a prank. I take out my phone to show him myself. Then I see the date on the screen. Something is definitely wrong here. “Why does it say November ?”

I open up the calendar app. But it shows me the same thing.

My heart pounds as I search through my phone.

My photos and messages from the last few months are missing.

The storage on my phone must not have updated.

There has to be another way to check this.

The bulletin board outside the student center.

The date is always written above the list of activities.

So I race over there immediately, pulling Ben along with me.

When I see the Fall Festival flyers, my stomach drops.

This has to be a dream or something. Those were taken down months ago.

My head is starting to spin. I nearly trip over as I turn around. Thankfully, Ben is there to catch my fall. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he says.

“Is it really November?”

“Why do you keep asking that?”

“Because it was April when I woke up.”

Ben doesn’t say anything. He just looks back at me with confusion.

I take in the trees around us again. Is that why the cherry blossoms are gone?

But I swear I saw some this morning. I’m trying my best not to lose it in front of Ben.

I feel his hand on my shoulder as I clench my eyes shut, hoping everything goes back to normal.

His voice is calming when he says, “Oliver…are you alright?”

“I think I’m going crazy.”

“Maybe you should lie down.”

My mind goes back to November. I was still living in my old dorm room. Is that why someone else is in my new one? I don’t understand how any of this is happening. If it’s really six months ago, does that mean Julie is still here?

A thought occurs to me. I pull up her location on my phone.

It’s showing her on campus. What is she doing here?