Your phone buzzed with a reminder:

Race day! 3.30pm

You checked out your window; sky was clear. Perfect.

It was the last Saturday of August, and it was also your last day of 2023. You had no idea that you would never see 2024. Or 2025. Or 2026…

Your phone buzzed again. This time it was a text from Will:

HEY FUZZ ready to get left behind.

Fuzz was his nickname for you. There was a funny story that went with it from way back, but neither of you could remember what it was.  Will sent another text:

I think he’s coming

A second later:

Sorry man, text u by accident. All goood.

This was followed by an emoji of a hand making devil’s horns.

You had just changed college campus, moved into the city, and the charity run was a great way to get a personal tour of your new neighbourhood, since the run went right through the central streets. 

At least, that was the plan. But now the run was overstaying the growing evening. The sunset streets were unreal pink and seemed to hum with conserved warmth. Runners pulsed indefatiguably past you, their shadows stretched back. The barricades warding off traffic also blocked you from running into a coffee shop for a long overdue drink. You just wanted to see the end, or drop and sleep.

You were so tired you were starting to see things out of the corner of your eyes that couldn’t really be there. You kept seeing the same two people in the crowd, a man and a woman, same dark glasses, same weird fashion sense, same odd lack of shoes.

On the streets, strands of people looked up from their phones to watch you pass. Pushing on, you reached Main Street, at the top of the cruel final uphill leg before the finish. By now, the bottoms of your feet burned and your hamstrings felt like piano wire, but your energy rejuvenated at the sight of the streets rolling downhill to the finish.

As the glowing molten sun began to melt on the horizon, you finally crossed the finish line. A stationary firetruck siren played in celebration and people dutifully cheered for you. An organizer gave you a water bottle as you peeled the number 1420 off your t-shirt and tossed it in the trash nearby.

Across the street, there was your best friends: Will was the tall, dark-haired, pale guy, the leanest of the three of you, you and surprisingly fast; he could sprint like a starving person chasing a meal in the desert if he wanted.  Right now he was relaxed, talking to a girl.

That was Ash, his girlfriend. She had very bright eyes and some tattoos down her forearms, that were elegant and not thuggish. She had a slim top, baggy pants and a baseball cap. She was actually quite attractive, despite the wannabe hip-hop look. Not like you’d say to her face, but she was such a ‘pick me’ girl; if Will was in a rock phase she’d go around wearing ripped jeans and black band tees, if he was into electronic music, she’d be all up in fluro colors and party dresses. Right now, he was into hip-hop.

At least Jake, your other friend, didn’t have a girl clinging onto him at the moment. Actually he was newly single.

Jake was the opposite of Will in every way. He was broad but shorter, with lighter hair and a tan, and very friendly. And a lot more time to work out since breaking up with his ex; he must have finished the run just before you, and was now in the middle of stretching his hamstrings. Jake seemed to be taking the break up well. He was his usual, happy-go-lucky self.

You went over to your friends. Jake earnestly squeezed your shoulder as if you had beaten him. Just the kind of guy he was. You had to admit, Jake was incredibly loveable, not that you would have said that to him. And then there was Will. Will gave a twisted smile and said too bad, you would only have beat him if there was some kitty waiting for you on the finish line. Only he didn’t say ‘kitty’.

"HEY!"

Will's face dropped. A little girl had suddenly run up to him, her hair streaming behind. It was his kid cousin, Lara, who was only seven years old. She was often over at Will’s place so you saw her sometimes when you visited. She loved to talk and try to get you to play games with her. She would be such a precocious brat if she wasn’t so nice to you, for some reason.

Now she bounced over to high five Jake and low five you, and then glared at Will. Apparently she’d given him a packet of gummi bears for energy on the run, but now he was finished, she wanted them back.

“Non-refundable,” Will said, and burped.

Lara was addicted to gummi bears. Now was pissed off. She demanded Will buy her some more. Then she got Ash on her side, and since Ash liked Lara, as you did, that wasn't very hard. So, to get her to quiet down, Will left you and went with Lara to a nearby vending machine.

Ash went too. Ash and Lara chatted like they were best friends; Lara was so precocious she didn’t notice or care Ash was a college girl, and she was still in grade school. You found it hilarious to see stoic, sarcastic tough guy Will getting bossed around by his kid girl cousin, who was riding his shoulders, and slapped his head when he said something that displeased her.

Meanwhile you spotted someone else in the crowd. It was a girl wearing leggings and pulling a hoodie on over her athletic crop top. She was strange and familiar at the same time, with Will’s tall, lean frame, some of his features, but nothing else really. You recognized her instantly. Strange that you could be best friends with one twin, while the other had always been mystery, a foreign country, with only a shade of surface familiarity.

The girl was Will’s twin sister. Her eyes casually wandered the crowd, searching for someone, probably Will or Lara.

Then she saw you.

You wondered if she knew your last name.

Her eyes hesitated on you for a fraction, hanging on a silent question. Her expression was difficult to read. Puzzled? She bit her lip.

“They’re over there,” Jake called out to her, pointing out where her brother and cousin were.

Whatever the girl was going to say, she shrugged it aside and went over to her brother and cousin.

“Hey, smile!”

A social media rep for the medical organization had stopped and raised a camera.

Jake slung his arm around your shoulder. He could do this because he was slightly taller than you, although he didn’t act like it. For some reason, Jake looked up to you, he made you feel like the boss, even though it was Will who acted like the boss.

Will returned, still piggybacking Lara, who had a new pack of candy, and Will's twin sister as well. The three of them , brother, sister, and little cousin, quickly got into the shot with you and Jake. Then Will told the cameraperson to wait a sec, as he called Ash over. She raced in, sidling up against Will's shoulder, and you were all smiling and posing, and debating what you should say instead of cheese.

The rep took the photo. Apparently they were going to upload it to the organization Facebook page for promotional reasons.

The photo would gain attention for other reasons.

When you looked around, it was just you, Will and Jake again, amidst the sea of finishing runners. Ash had left, and Will’s twin had taken Lara back to her parents.

As the sun went down, you went up the street with your friends, looking for a quieter hang out before it got too dark and everywhere closed up. With all the runners having finished, the race was terminated and organizers were dismantling the barricades blocking the road, allowing people to access the shops. You watched more and more people trickle out of the big city central mall down the block, flocking under the strobe-lit strip, most heading out towards the train station, some stopping to catch an Uber.

Later you were going to catching a ride back home with Will. At least, that was the plan. Then Will came up and tapped you on the shoulder.

“My sister,” he clarified, “says she’ll take you home with her.”

Twin sister, you said out loud without thinking.

“I only have one,” he said obviously. And under his breath, he added, “Lucky for me.”

When you didn’t say anything, he added:

“You remember her?”

This wasn’t a question.

“Yeah,” you said. “I remember. You aren’t heading back home?”

“I know I said I’d get you back home, but change of plans. I’m catching up with someone in the city. Probably going to be late getting home and he’s letting me take his sofa tonight.”

“Okay,” you said, shrugging.

You imagined sitting up in the passenger seat with his twin sister driving. An hour long ride trying to be subtle about the fact you knew next to nothing about her, despite going to school with her and being friends with her brother for so long. That was sure to be an awkward conversation.

“Hey, she’s cool with it,” Will added. “She even asks about you sometimes.” He was shuffling through notifications on his phone. “Ah, she just texted me. I think she wants to meet up and have dinner together.”

“No problem,” Jake said. He had just wandered over to see what you and Will were doing.

“Seriously?” Will said. “It’s lame. Listen,” he seemed embarrassed to hang out with his sister. “We could just say you both left early.” He shrugged. “What do you want to do, Fuzz?” He looked at you, so did Jake.

It was an odd question. Why were you the deciding vote? It was Will’s sister, not yours.

“Whatever,” you said to Will. “Your call.”

“Sure it is,” he began tapping out a text reply, “I’ll tell her she just missed you guys and we can get together another time. Like in ten years. Boys night. Keep it that way.” He hit send on his phone. “Boom!”

The three of you laughed, the air immediately clear again.

It was boys night, you remembered, you were going to go bowling and then Will had promised he’d show you and Jake a late night haunt of his, allegedly a ‘secret’ strip club, called Hotcha, and he would buy the bowling winner a lap dance and a private booth in the back with their choice of girl. He said what the girls do to you inside the booths is ‘off the books’ and ‘goes up to eleven’. He swore they had a line-up of girls who looked like a million dollars, in fact many of them were some of the hottest girls in your recent college alumni, who worked the booths on the side, they looked like models and they act ‘totally different’ in the club, the ‘inner she-tiger’ comes out.

This all sounded pretty dubious to you. However, you'd have been lying to say you weren’t curious. At least not knowing about this fabled place, if it was true, seemed to be a sin against college social relevance. And now with Will’s sister out of the scene, nothing was stopping you.

Only Jake had reservations about the club, because he was the opposite of Will in many ways, he was a goody-goody, happy to go steady with one girl at a time, very, very steady. At least until yesterday, when he and his girlfriend amicably broke up, of course, because Jake did everything amicably. Naïve optimism radiated about him. He believed another girl would just happen in her own time. You couldn’t help but like Jake, as did most people, he was the most harmless person you knew. Girls liked him for extra reasons; like, Will, Jake was tall, but also broad, almost chunky. He radiated a sense of always being fundamentally the same, candid and transparent. If you didn't trust him, you trusted no one.

The three of you came upon a bustle of streets lined with dine-in restaurants. The pavement was washed with romantic light and people were making out in window booths.

Will marched on.

“I can’t go for a seat up in a diner right now,” he said. “All this cute couples stuff. It’s really grinding my gears.” Most of the people participating in the run were college age, and the event had attracted a lot of young couples, who finished together. You’d seen people running hand in hand, and it made you cringe a little.

The three of you continued up the street until the relative number of young college-aged couples thinned.

While Will was on the phone, Jake decided to split up to go get a drink from a place a few blocks away. You watched him depart and disappear into the crowd. Then Will looked up at you and grinned.

“She bought it. Now, I’m starving. What are we eating?”

You told him where Jake had gone.

“He couldn’t even wait two minutes for me to get off the phone,” Will exclaimed.

“I think it’s the break-up or something,” you guessed aloud. Even if Jake seemed okay on the surface, you suspected he had to be feeling something about it. It was only recent.

“Whatever,” said Will. “He can come check us out later. Right now, we’ve got to find something to eat.”

You agreed. All you’d consumed in the past few hours was water, and now you were starting to feel it.

The two of you headed down the street, surveying shop fronts for a café or restaurant that didn’t look too cheesy or full of gushy couples. You searched for a steakhouse or family bistro. All of these places were overpriced dining houses.

“I want a giant burger,” Will said.

Eventually you came to a strip of restaurants alongside a parkland. Then Will’s phone rang and he whipped it out.

“Oh shit,” he said. He quickly got off and turned to you. “Hey, I know this is kind of left field, but I’ve got to run down to the bus station and talk to a friend before they catch the bus. Meet up later, dude.”

The bus station was a block away. He wouldn’t take long, but you were quietly bummed both your friends were ditching you. You normally would have offered to just go with Will, but your legs ached. There was a warm lit, after hours café a couple of shops down, a particular favorite of local college kids, and you found yourself eyeing it with interest. You could sit in there and grab a cold drink while you waited for Will to return. On the other hand, you could call the night in, get drive through take out and take it home. But then you would miss out on bowling and the chance to see Will’s secret bar…

“Sure,” you said. “I’ll just be in that coffee place over there.”

Will hurried down the street while you headed up to the café. The brick path was bathed in warm lamp lights and people sat out, sheltered by wooden scaffolding and canvas umbrellas. You’d hit another romantic minefield. Oh well. You were about to head inside—

Someone came up behind you, surprising you by pressing their hand between your shoulders. You turned and it was a young woman, and tall. She smiled at you. She was gorgeous, and seemed warmly familiar. When you saw who it was, you smiled back.