‘Sorry!’ I yell, quickly shutting the door again.

I must say I’m a little surprised at how he’s dealing with this. Third day in a time loop and the first thing on his mind is sex? Last night really must have gone well for them. Not that Rhys would remember, but something must have Kellen in a ‘good mood’ this morning.

We need to talk, but hanging around listening at doorways isn’t my style, so I turn and head back for the stairs. I’ll figure this out myself and then when he’s finished we can –

‘Zach, wait!’ Kellen calls.

I turn to see him standing in the open doorway. He’s wearing shorts now and is pulling on a basketball jersey so big it must belong to Rhys.

‘The fuck was that?’ he demands, pulling the door closed behind him. ‘Did you not see the sock?’

‘The sock?’ It’s still drooping on the handle. ‘Is that supposed to mean something?’

‘It means we’re busy.’

‘Since when?’ I swear he’s making this up.

‘Since always. Literally everyone knows that. They practically teach it in sex ed!’

‘I must have missed that lesson. All we got at my last school was Baby Making 101 …’

‘The heterosexual agenda working overtime as always,’ Kellen says with a shrug. ‘You know, it is weird, isn’t it? That this loop situation is just happening to us, the gays?’

‘Only the two of us,’ I say. ‘I don’t think this is some gay/straight thing.’

‘It just seems weird, though. Of all the students this could happen to.’

‘I guess?’ I say. ‘But does it matter? I really don’t think I can go through this again!’

‘Well, we don’t seem to have a choice …’

‘You seem awfully calm about it.’ Infuriatingly so, actually.

‘First rule of a crisis,’ he reminds me.

‘Fuck the rules of a crisis!’ I cry. ‘Who really remains calm during an earthquake? When a plane starts plummeting? When a building catches fire? You really think people actually make their way calmly to the nearest exit?’

‘Well, they should,’ he says. ‘Panicking doesn’t solve anything.’

‘Neither does immediately hopping on your boyfriend’s dick!’

‘Watch it.’ Maybe he’s right. Maybe that was uncalled for.

‘Urghhh!’ I run my hands through my hair in frustration.

‘Zach, chill,’ Kellen says, catching my hand to steady me. He fixes his eyes on mine and there’s something about the way he does it that makes me find a moment of stillness. Everything is still on fire, of course, but he looks at me like he knows the way to the exit.

‘What are we gonna do?’ I ask softly.

‘Well,’ he says, ‘you can start by telling me what happened at midnight. Was it the guy in the mask again? He kissed you just like last time?’

‘Not exactly.’ I groan. ‘I pushed Ethan into the lake.’