The moment Ethan saw the notification, his heart did a somersault.
Sophia had texted him.
It wasn't romantic or poetic—just a blurry picture of his student ID lying on the campus lawn and a caption that read:
"Hey, you dropped this :P"
To anyone else, it would've been mundane. To Ethan, it felt like rewriting fate.
In his previous life, he had spent months circling around the idea of talking to Sophia. There were awkward glances, forced group projects, missed opportunities. They didn't have their first real conversation until after midterms.
But now—this was Day Four.
He reread the message three times, savoring every word like it was a lifeline.
Then, keeping his cool, he typed back:
"Thanks, Agent S. Operation Retrieval was a success."
Three dots appeared instantly.
Typing…
"Haha. You're weird. Like, in a cute way."
He chuckled out loud. There it was again—her spark, her honesty, her rhythm. It felt familiar and brand new at the same time.
He could almost hear her voice, that soft tone with a hint of sarcasm that had once pulled him out of some of his darkest hours. He'd forgotten how much he missed it.
But this time, he wasn't going to let it fade.
Later that evening, Ethan sat at his desk, a familiar sense of nervous excitement tingling in his fingertips. He opened his old laptop and logged into a crypto exchange website he remembered from his previous life.
"Buy $200 worth of Bitcoin?" the screen asked.
He hesitated for a second. The market was about to tank within months. Everyone would panic. But then the rebound—by 2025, Bitcoin would soar past $100,000.
He clicked "Confirm."
Done.
It was a small move. Nothing flashy. But for Ethan, it symbolized something bigger: momentum. He was beginning to push back against fate.
He opened a blank spreadsheet and labeled it:The Future Advantage
Tabs included:
Stocks to Buy Before 2024
Dorm Room Startups That Will Blow Up
Songs to Upload First on TikTok
Scandals to Avoid
Sophia
He paused at that last tab. Then smiled and moved on.
The next morning, Ethan arrived early to his psychology class. He grabbed a seat in the second row—not front and eager, not back and invisible. It was a strategic spot. Balanced. Present, but not overbearing.
Students filed in slowly, yawning, scrolling their phones. Then she walked in.
Sophia.
Same maroon hoodie. Same worn-out backpack covered in anime pins. Same air of "I don't care what you think, but I actually care a lot."
She caught his eye. And smiled.
"Hey, Crypto Boy."
He blinked. "Already have a nickname?"
She sat beside him without asking. "Owen told me. Something about you turning your dorm into a Bitcoin bunker and giving life advice to strangers online?"
He groaned. "Great. I knew giving him my Twitch link was a mistake."
Sophia laughed, brushing her hair behind her ear. "I watched for like… two minutes. You sounded older. Like, not in a boring way. More like... scarred veteran energy."
He raised an eyebrow. "I'll take that as a compliment?"
"Depends. Are you actually nineteen?"
"On paper."
Her head tilted. "But you've seen some stuff?"
Ethan smiled. "Let's just say I've lived fast and regretted faster."
She studied him. "You're weird."
"So I've been told."
The professor walked in, ending their banter for now. But something unspoken had passed between them—an invisible thread pulled taut, trembling with possibilities.
After class, Sophia nudged him.
"Lunch?"
Ethan blinked. "With me?"
"No, with the ghost of your future self. Yes, with you."
They sat under the campus oak tree, eating terrible burritos and laughing about childhood cartoons, crazy professors, and their mutual hatred for cafeteria coffee.
For a brief moment, Ethan let his guard down. He wasn't calculating moves, watching timelines, or predicting crashes. He was just living—with her, in this moment.
She asked, "What made you start streaming?"
He hesitated. "I wanted to talk. Not shout into a void, but actually connect. Try to say something that matters, even if just to a few people."
Sophia nodded. "Most people don't even know what they want to say."
"I didn't either," he admitted. "But now I think I might. I've made mistakes. Big ones. And I don't want to waste this... chance."
"What kind of mistakes?"
Ethan looked out across the quad, where a group of freshmen were tossing a frisbee like they had all the time in the world.
He whispered, "The kind you only realize after it's too late."
Sophia didn't press. Instead, she handed him her last French fry like a peace offering. He accepted it with a grin.
That night, lying in his dorm bed, Ethan replayed the day in his mind. He opened his notebook and scribbled:
✅ Talk to Sophia✅ Buy Bitcoin⬜ Find Owen before the internship disaster⬜ Prevent Dad from taking that deal⬜ Don't lose her again
Beneath it, he wrote one more line:
"Every day is a new roll of the dice. This time, I'm learning how to stack them."
He closed the notebook and stared at the ceiling.
Time had given him a second chance.
But it was up to him to make it count.