“It had been two weeks since her first real boyfriend, Jason, had brokenup with her on the eve of the first day of school. His exact words had been “Babe, you know I think you’rethe best and all, but it’s my senior year and I can’t have the baggage of a relationship. I gotta live it up,play the field. You get it, right?” Uh, not exactly. So Michele had to begin her junior year with a brokenheart, which grew all the more painful last week, when word spread that Jason was hooking up with asophomore, Carly Marsh”

“I've been numb for years, and I didn't realize it until after you appeared and - and made me feel something. Since then, these past two weeks I've been awake. Alive. Restless for you to return - and afraid that you wouldn't.”

“As Michele looked around, she told herself that the next time she time traveled, she seriously had to remember to bring her digital camera.”

“Sixteen long years of unbearable waiting. I can’t do it anymore. She was supposed to return—she always did—and now I see the cruelty in this helpless waiting, living at the mercy of Time. Dragging through the days, I ask myself why I bother when I know that the one place I can find her isn’t here on earth. That’s it—that’s enough of this—I’m done.”

“Michele!” a voice sang out from across the hall. “Are you up? I made pancakes, come eat thembefore they get cold.”Michele’s eyes flickered open. Sleep or pancakes? That was a no-brainer. Her mouth was alreadybeginning to water at the thought of her mom’s specialty. She threw on a robe and fuzzy slippers andpadded through the modest house until she reached the cozy kitchen”

“Philip's blue eyes sparkled as he and Kaya shared a joke. He broke into his signature smile, and for the first time, Michele found it heartbreaking. But then, isn't that always the case with a smile - when you know it's not meant for you?”

“Are you sure?" he asked in a low voice. "Because if I had the chance... I would spend every moment of every day with you.”