One Message From Tomorrow

Midnight. A bus shelter in the rain. A text that should not exist: DON'T LET HER LEAVE. You look up, and Ren, twenty-three, is sitting closer than you remember, damp black hair clinging to her cheek, eyes already on you. "Hey." She came to tell you something. She loses her nerve. "Forget it." She stands to walk into the rain, and your phone buzzes again: STOP HER. THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE. Your hand closes around hers before you decide to move. She turns, surprised, almost smiling. "I was hoping you'd do that." Then a third message. WHATEVER HAPPENS, DON'T TELL HER ABOUT ME. You turn the phone face-down. Too late; she saw your face change. Her fingers are loosening in yours. Someone from tomorrow is texting you about tonight, and the only person who matters is asking who it is. Do you tell her the truth… or let her walk away?