I entered my bedroom and found Joshua sitting at my desk. “Hey,” he said.

  “Hey yourself,” I said as I sat on the bed. “So why weren’t you at Study Hall?”

  He looked away from me for a second before meeting my eyes. “I was afraid you were going to kill Manny.”

  I blinked. “I wouldn’t kill Manny. Why would you think that?”

  “Because you’re a werewolf.” He held up a hand before I could respond, then frowned as I burst out into laughter. “What’s so funny?”

  “It never gets any less funny hearing you accuse me of being one of those mutts,” I said with a grin.

  “What are you talking about? This is the first time I’ve told you I know what you are.”

  “Okay, lemme explain first why you’re wrong. I know you can do magic, but you really have to work on your aura reading.”

  Joshua tilted his head. "But… your aura matches the ones I've seen out in the woods. I saw them change. If you're not a werewolf, then what are you and your family?"

  "Something awesome," I said as it was time for me to put on a show yet again. I took off my shoes and socks then my shirt as I stood up. The slow, gradual change into my werelion form. I was really enjoying the look on his face as my mane blossomed out along with the tawny fur and grew in height and bulk.

  When I was fully transformed, I winked down at Joshua. “Does this look like a werewolf to you?” I said, trying to keep my voice and body language as non threatening as possible.

  Joshua could have caught a dozen flies in his slack jawed mouth. “Werelions are real?”

  “Yup. There’s a lot of weres that aren’t wolves. They aren’t as great as us lions, but they’ll do.”

  “So what did you mean by it never gets any less funny hearing me accuse you, though?”

  I gotta hand it to Joshua, he recovered pretty quickly after learning his best friend is a werelion. Maybe it helped him knowing magic existed and that he could manipulate it. “This might be harder to believe.”

  “Harder to believe my best friend is a werelion?”

  “I still can’t believe this is happening to me, so here goes. I’ve been reliving this day at least three times.”

  “What? Like that movie Groundhog’s Day?”

  “That’s what the movie is called! Thanks, it was driving me crazy trying to remember it. Yeah, the first time I was aware of it I was having major déjà vu, and then after I went to bed I woke up and eventually figured out I was stuck in a loop.”

  “Do you know what’s causing it?” He then shook his head. “No, because if you did you probably wouldn’t be reliving today.”

  An idea suddenly popped into my head. “Yup. I have no idea, but maybe you can help.”

  “You want me to try and use magic?”

  “Damn, you’re smart.”

  He looked away. “I don’t know, Izzy. I’m still new to all this. That sounds like advanced magic.”

  “The worst thing that happens is I wake up and it’s Wednesday all over again.”

  He shook his head. “The worst thing that can happen to you is you die and you stay dead.”

  Okay, he had a point. So far I haven't died yet in these loops. What if I did die and stayed dead? Yeah, that would suck. I’m still a teenager and got a lot to live for…

  I must’ve spaced out for way too long because Joshua asked “You all right, Izzy?”

  “I don’t know. I was thinking about what you said and how dying would suck if I stayed dead. Because, you know, I’m still young and got too much to live for. You want to know the weird part, though?”

  Joshua shrugged. “Sure, what is it?”

  “It felt wrong thinking that. Like ‘kicking puppies’ wrong.”

  Joshua tilted his head at me as if it would help him think clearer. “Do you think dying would… get you out of the loop?”

  I shook my head. “Man, I hope not. That’s kind of a final solution to what I’m hoping is a temporary problem. How about we file that in a ‘Last Resort’ folder and keep it that way.”

  “I agree. I don’t think I’d have it in me to kill you or anyone.”

  Déjà vu again. Only this time I thought I caught a whiff of… burnt grass?

  “You’re spacing out again, Izzy.”

  My eyes went to his hands. Why did they go there? What happened to his hands? Why did I think something happened to his hands?

  I pinched the bridge of my nose and tried to get back into focus. “Did you smell something weird? Like burnt grass?”

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Joshua shook his head. “I don’t think I’ve ever smelled it.”

  “Up until now, I would’ve said the same thing.” The déjà vu was bad enough but now I was getting phantom smells and weird daydreams of Joshua’s hands.

  Then Mom called us to dinner, so we both got up. “Should we tell your parents?”

  “I don’t think so,” I said as we went downstairs. I then whispered “Because if I wake up and it’s Wednesday, I’m going to have to start on square one. We’ll talk after dinner.”

  Dinner was uneventful but I have to admit the spaghettini with squid was pretty decent and my parents weren’t giving each other the cold shoulders. Maybe going off script wasn’t always bad. We did the whole how was your day and Joshua and I gave them generic answers. Well, Joshua gave them answers which contained a lot more syllables than I gave them. Whatever. The answers we supplied told them nothing about the day.

  When we got back into our room we went out to the balcony. Yes, my room has a balcony. The view was boring, though. All I saw was the front of the compound we lived in and I barely saw Blessing Avenue stretch out towards the town.

  I always thought it conceited to build the compound at the end of the avenue, but it has been like this since before I was born. They couldn’t have asked me for my opinion and they wouldn’t have cared anyway.

  “So any ideas while we were having dinner?” I asked, lounging on one of the deck chairs.

  “I might have, but it’ll mean a lot of work for you.”

  “Lay it on me.”

  “What if you did the research yourself? You said you were trapped in a loop, why not use that to your advantage?”

  “I’m not a magic user, though.”

  “But if you knew what magic I could use, it might help.”

  That sounded utterly ridiculous. I didn’t have the talent to cast spells and I doubted I had the patience to teach advanced magic.

  What if the magic wasn’t advanced? What if I found a spell Joshua could use and it was basic? I didn’t have anything to lose.

  “Heck, I got all the time in the world right now. Where’s the harm in learning something new, huh?”

  “How many times did you say you’ve been repeating today? Because you would never admit you want to learn anything.”

  “I guess even a werelion can change his spots.”

  “That’s not how the quote goes, and you don’t even have spots.”

  I shrugged and flashed him a cocky grin. “If I did, they'd be awesome spots. Just like the rest of me.”

  Joshua rolled his eyes at me. “When today resets, ask to borrow my book “The Fundamentals of Magic, it might have something which can help you figure out what’s going on.”

  “Because if I read it, I might connect the dots due to living through this, huh?”

  “This loop’s already making you smarter.”

  I shot him a mock frown. “This loop’s making you sassier. I almost miss the mousy Joshua.”

  He shot me a real frown. “I’m not mousy.”

  “Sure, okay. Keep on believing that.”

  “You’ll wish you were nicer when I have to save you from a bad werecreature.” He paused, then asked “So what other kinds are there?”

  “Let’s see, I’ve heard there’s a werebear living here, but I’ve never met him.”

  “Huh. Werebears exist?”

  “He’s dating a werebull, though rumor has it if you call him that he’ll stomp you into the ground. Likes to be called a minotaur. He says it sounds less dumb, and I’m inclined to agree with him.”

  “Do other werecats exist? Like werecheetahs or weretigers?”

  At the mention of weretigers, a flash of déjà vu hit me hard, but I shook it off. “No, there hasn’t been a weretiger here in over a century.”

  “You spaced out again. Not as long, but I saw it.”

  “I got a weird feeling again.”

  “Like ‘kicking puppies wrong’ feeling?”

  I shook my head. “No, like déjà vu once you mentioned weretigers. Been getting those a lot, but most of the time it was because I was reliving today. I haven’t met a weretiger today during any of the repeats.”

  Joshua looked concerned. “What do you think it means?”

  “I have no clue. It’s like I’m forgetting something.”

  “Forgetting what, though?”

  I smirked at him. “Gee, I wish I knew. I might be suffering from short term memory loss, but I just can’t remember.”

  “Okay, I might have deserved that.”

  “Might have?”

  “I’m just trying to help. Maybe my dumb questions can help you put two and two together.”

  I had to admit he was right. There are no stupid questions, only stupid people. “Sorry, Joshua. Guess I’m letting the stress of the situation get to me.”

  “It’s okay, Izzy. We’re going to figure this out. Too bad you have to waste time explaining things to me when this day resets.”

  Inspiration then struck me. “I got an idea which might speed things along.”

  Joshua gave me a curious look. “What’s that?”

  “Tell me a secret that only you know. Doesn’t have to be embarrassing. Just something that might help you believe me faster.”

  “I actually like the movie Spiceworld.”

  “I said it didn’t have to be embarrassing,” I said with a smirk. “I’m going to use that against you so many times when things get back to normal.” I then froze and looked at him in disbelief. “Wait a damn minute, you said you hated that movie.”

  “I lied.”

  “Damn, Joshua. You know how to lie?”

  “Only when it means you’ll tease me relentlessly if I tell the truth.”

  I nodded. “Okay, fair point.”

  “It doesn’t mean I like to do it, even to you.”

  “I don’t blame you. I’m glad I don’t have to lie to you and pretend to be something I’m not.” A pause, then: “So when did you find out you can do magic?”

  “I was really frustrated with an online troll and wished really hard he’d dox himself by accident, and an hour later he did.”

  I flinched as if a bright light flashed before my eyes. “And you didn’t believe you did it?”

  “I felt something when I made that wish. Like a rush of energy went through me and into the air.”

  Another flinch. What the heck was going on with today?

  “Are you having spasms, Izzy?”

  “No, but something you’re saying is making me twinge. Like I’m fighting back against something.”

  “Fighting back? Fighting back what?”

  “I don’t know,” I hissed, trying to keep my temper. It was so stupid. I was on the verge of… I don’t know what, but I couldn’t grab it. It was slipping through my fingers. “It’s almost like when you’re trying to recall someone’s name and you’re blanking out.”

  “I did learn a spell to help with memory. It’s pretty harmless, unless you remember something embarrassing.”

  “What the Hell, maybe it’ll help me remember everything I was going to study for, what’ve I got to lose?” I made a ‘come here’ gesture. “Lay it on me.”

  He placed his index finger on the center of my forehead and my eyes grew wide when his own turned pitch black.

  “REMEMBER EVERYTHING,” his voice echoed in my head.

  I lurched out of bed with a gasp. I frantically searched for my phone.

  It was Wednesday morning. Again.

  What the Hell did I remember?