Kalvin awakens younger

The smell of stale coffee and industrial floor wax hit Kalvin’s nostrils before he even opened his eyes. He squeezed them shut, his heart hammering against his ribs. He had fallen asleep in his small, drafty house, the weight of Nikki’s head on his chest, and the familiar scent of her vanilla shampoo lingering in the air.

When he finally forced his eyes open, he wasn't in their bed. He was staring at the familiar, peeling beige paint of his old university dorm room ceiling. He sat up abruptly, his breath hitching. His joints felt fluid, lacking the stiff ache of his thirties. He scrambled off the twin mattress and stumbled toward the mirror mounted on the back of the door.

He froze. Staring back at him was the twenty-year-old version of himself—shaved hair, rectangular glasses, and a body that felt unnervingly agile. He looked down, trembling as he confirmed the familiar, of his small youthful body.

"This is a dream," he whispered, his voice sounding, younger. "It has to be."

A sharp, rhythmic rapping at his door broke his panic. Before he could speak, the door creaked open. Nikki stood there, clutching her bag to her enormous chest, her blue eyes wide and hesitant. She looked impossibly young, her blonde hair grazing her shoulders, her presence as quiet and unassuming as he remembered from their college days.

"Kalvin?" she asked softly, stepping into the room. "I… I thought you might be awake. You weren't answering your phone."

Kalvin felt a pang of intense, painful nostalgia. Seeing her like this—before they had ever shared a life, before he had spent every waking moment trying to hide his secret desires —made his head spin.

"Nikki," he managed, clearing his throat. "I’m sorry. I just woke up. I... I had the weirdest dream."

She gave him a shy smile, looking down at her sneakers. "You always were a deep sleeper. I brought you those notes for the history lecture? Since you missed it."

Kalvin didn't take the notebook immediately. He looked at her, really looked at her, and his mind raced back to the future he had just left. He knew how this went. He knew that in a few days, he would ask her to be his girlfriend and their future would be set again.

This is your chance, a dark, familiar thought whispered in the back of his mind. You have a second chance. You can make anything happen.

The cuckold fantasy that had haunted his secret adult life suddenly didn't feel like a dirty, shameful secret anymore. It felt like a blueprint. If he could manage this right, he wouldn't just be the friend; he would be the observer, the architect of a scenario he had previously only dared to watch on a screen.

"Thanks, Nikki," Kalvin said, his voice turning strangely steady as he took the notebook, his fingers brushing hers. She blushed, pulling back slightly, her instinctual shyness flaring.

"You're acting a bit strange," she murmured.

"Just thinking about the future," Kalvin replied, a small, twisted smile touching his lips. "Actually, I was thinking about heading to the quad later. I heard the football team is going to be out there practicing. You should come with me."

Nikki blinked, clearly startled by the suggestion. "Oh, I don't know, Kalvin. That's... that's a lot of people. I'm not really into that kind of thing."

"Come on," Kalvin urged, his excitement bubbling under his skin—a plan slowly forming. "Just for a bit. It’ll be fun."

He watched her hover in the doorway, her petite frame looking fragile and hesitant. He knew she would say yes because she trusted him more than anyone on earth. And as she finally nodded, looking down to hide her anxiety, Kalvin knew his plan was in motion. He was going to put her in Marcus's path, and he was going to watch every single second of it.