What If... We Start Over?

Part II

The days that followed the breakup were some of the darkest of Alan's life. The pain of losing Carmen
was all-consuming, and it felt like a heavy weight that he couldn't escape from. Every corner of his life
seemed to be touched by the memories of their time together, and the thought of moving on seemed
impossible.

Alan's daily routine became monotonous, each day blending into the next. He would wake up, go to
classes, attend his track practice, and then return to his dorm room, where he would lie in bed and
replay the breakup over and over in his mind. The conversations, the arguments, the tears-it all
haunted him, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't push it out of his head.

Zenith and Terese continued to check in on him, trying to pull him out of his funk, but nothing seemed to work.

Alan was stuck in a loop of sadness and regret, unable to see a way out. The track-and-field
tournament he had been training so hard for was fast approaching, but he couldn't find the motivation to care. What was the point of it all, if the person he had been hoping to impress was no longer there to
cheer him on?

One morning, a few days before the tournament, Alan woke up feeling particularly empty. The sunlight streaming through the window did nothing to lift his spirits, and he lay in bed for what felt like hours, staring up at the ceiling.

Eventually, he forced himself to get up and go through the motions of getting ready for the day.

As he reached for his jacket, Alan's hand brushed against something in his pocket. He pulled it out and
realized it was the old pocket watch that Zenith had given him.

He had almost forgotten about it, but
now, as he held it in his hand, he felt a strange sense of curiosity.

There was something about the watch that drew him in, something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Alan turned the watch over in his hands, examining the intricate details of its design. The face of the
watch was simple, with Roman numerals and ornate hands that ticked steadily forward. The back of the
watch was engraved with a swirling pattern, worn down by time but still beautiful in its own way. As
Alan stared at the watch, he noticed something odd-the hands of the watch were moving in reverse,
ticking backward instead of forward.

For a moment, Alan thought he was imagining things. He shook the watch, thinking it must be broken, but the hands continued to tick backward.

He had never seen anything like it before. Intrigued, Alan decided to wear the watch for the day, curious to see if anything would change.

After getting dressed, Alan left his dorm room and headed outside for a jog. Running had always been his way of clearing his mind, of finding some peace in the midst of chaos. But ever since the breakup, even running hadn't been enough to drown out the pain.

Today, however, Alan hoped that the strange watch
might bring some kind of distraction, something to take his mind off everything that had been weighing
him down.

As Alan jogged through the campus, he noticed that the world around him seemed different. The usual
sounds of students talking and laughing, the hum of traffic in the distance, even the rustling of leaves in
the trees-it all seemed muted, as if he was moving through a dream. The air felt cooler, and the light
around him seemed to shift in a way he couldn't quite explain.

At first, Alan thought he was just imagining things, that his mind was playing tricks on him. But the
longer he ran, the more certain he became that something was happening. The campus, usually bustling with activity, seemed eerily still. The shadows grew longer, and the light around him began to fade, as if the sun was setting, even though it was still early in the morning.

Alan stopped running and looked around, trying to make sense of what was happening. The world
seemed to be moving in slow motion, and as he looked down at the watch on his wrist, he realized that the hands were still ticking backward. It was then that he noticed something even stranger-his
surroundings were changing.

The buildings around him seemed to be shifting, their shapes warping and distorting as if time itself was being rewound. The trees that lined the paths began to shed their leaves, as if the seasons were
reversing. The students who had been walking nearby were now moving backward, their conversations playing out in reverse, like a tape being rewound.

Panic began to set in as Alan realized that something was seriously wrong. He turned to run back to his
dorm, but the world around him continued to shift and change. The sun, which had been high in the sky
when he started his run, was now setting on the horizon, casting long shadows across the campus.

The air grew colder, and Alan could see his breath misting in front of him as he ran.

By the time Alan reached his dorm, the world had changed completely. It was no longer morning-it was late afternoon, and the sun was beginning to set.

Everything around him seemed different, as if time had been rewound by several hours. Alan burst into his dorm room, his heart racing, and quickly shut the door behind him. He leaned against the door, trying to catch his breath, his mind racing with questions.

What had just happened?

How had the world around him changed so drastically?

And most importantly, what was the connection to the watch?

Alan looked down at the watch, still ticking backward on his wrist. He couldn't understand it, but he knew that somehow, this watch had the ability to control time. The realization was both thrilling and terrifying.

Alan had always dreamed of having the power to change the past, to go back and fix the mistakes he had made. But now that he had that power, he didn't know what to do with it.

For a long time, Alan sat on his bed, staring at the watch, his mind racing with possibilities. The idea of
being able to reverse time, to undo the events that had led to his breakup with Carmen, was tempting.

He could go back to the moment they first met and do everything differently, be the perfect boyfriend,
and prevent the breakup from ever happening.

But as he thought about it more, Alan realized that it wasn't that simple. Even if he could go back and
change the past, there was no guarantee that things would turn out the way he wanted. There was no
guarantee that Carmen would still love him, or that they would be happy together. And there was also
the risk of making things even worse.

Despite his doubts, Alan couldn't shake the feeling that he had been given this watch for a reason. It was
as if the universe was giving him a second chance, a chance to go back and fix the mistakes he had made.

But the question was, would he take it?

As the sun set outside his window, casting a warm orange glow across the campus, Alan made up his
mind. He would use the watch to go back in time, to the moment when he and Carmen first became a
couple. He would do everything differently, be the boyfriend she had always wanted, and make sure that this time, their love would last.

With his heart pounding in his chest, Alan turned the watch over in his hands, his fingers trembling as he prepared to set the time. He didn't know what would happen next, but he knew that he had to try.

This was his chance to rewrite history, to change his fate, and he wasn't going to let it slip away.

As he set the watch to the day he and Carmen first became a couple, Alan took a deep breath and closed
his eyes.

The world around him began to spin, the colors blurring together as time rewound. And when
he opened his eyes again, he was no longer in his dorm room.

He was standing outside the café where he and Carmen had their first date, the memory of that day still fresh in his mind.

Alan looked around, taking in the familiar sights and sounds of the café. The sun was shining, the air was
warm, and everything seemed perfect.

This was his chance to start over, to do things right, and to make sure that this time, he and Carmen would have the happy ending they had always dreamed of.