Chapter 1: "Time, be my friend."
—Home, from The Wiz.

October 20, 2019.

Nellie looked more than beautiful. Her white dress made her olive-colored skin glow, and her hazel eyes were sparkling with happiness. Her brown hair was up in a romantic bun, decorated by a silver hairband from where the veil was adjoined. She smiled, more than happy to be at the altar.

Jake smiled back, smitten.

"Nellie Gomez, do you take Jonah Wizard to be your husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; and do you promise to be faithful to him until death brings you apart?" the priest asked.

Nellie took in a deep breath, her eyes filling with tears.

"I do," she whispered, taken by emotions.

Jake's smile disappeared.

"And do you, Jonah Wizard, do you take Nellie Gomez to be your wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; and do you promise to be faithful to her until death brings you apart?" the priest followed to ask Jonah.

Jake pressed his lips together, looking down.

"I don't have to be asked twice, I do," Jonah answered, grinning down at Nellie.

Jake gazed at the crowd. Everybody was smiling or crying tears of joy. Only he was sad about the occasion. He sighed, looking back at the couple.

Since there was no ring bearer, Jake began to sadly take out the rings from his pockets.

"The rings, please," the priest asked.

Jake nodded, plastering the falsest smile on his face that he could muster up. He handed the rings, and Jonah grinned at him. Jake handed him a thumbs-up.

Each of them slipped the rings through their significant other, and Jake only watched with growing sadness. He wanted to be out of there. He truly wanted to run away, and go crawl in a hole and never come back. But he couldn't. He had to bear to see Nellie, the girl who he'd always liked ever since elementary, to marry off his best friend.

"You may now kiss the bride," the priest announced.

Jake sighed, closing his eyes, not wanting to see that awful moment. He heard claps and screams of joy, and rose petals began to fly around.

He already felt the loneliest person in the world.

He smiled, and began to clap at the retreating couple.

Mental note: mark October 20 as the worst day of your life in the agenda, Jake told himself.

It seemed as if everything happened in a blink of an eye. Before he knew it, he was walking away from the church, feeling as if he'd been punched in the stomach more than several times. He'd gotten a headache from watching Jonah and Nellie dance the night away in the after-party, looking like the happiest couple in the world. While he, of course, got more depressed by the moment.

"Jake."

He turned around, and he gasped as he found Nellie, dressed up in her traveling outfit, smiling up at him. She was holding both his presents in each arm.

"Nellie," Jake replied, smiling.

She took a step closer to him. "How can you leave without saying good-bye to me? Besides, you have to be there when I throw the bouquet. Everybody I love will be there."

Another pang in his chest. Jake hid it by chuckling. "Of course I'll be there."

"Good," Nellie replied. She giggled, shaking her head as her eyes filled with tears. "I can't believe I just got married today."

Jake grinned, swallowing back the knot in his throat. "Me neither. But if I remember correctly, you've always dreamed of becoming a bride. And I'm pretty sure you became a very beautiful one."

Nellie set the gifts on a table and wrapped Jake into a bear hug. "Thank you, Jake-o. I'll miss you so much."

Jake hugged her back, his smile disappearing. "Me too."

Nellie pulled away, tears sliding down her cheeks. "To be honest... I always thought you'd be the one marrying me"

"What?"

"I'd always had a huge crush on you," Nellie admitted, shaking her head. "I always dreamed of marrying you."

Jake remained silent. Did that mean... that if he'd asked her out before, she would've said yes?

So you now realize what an idiot you've been, huh? If you'd just confessed before, we wouldn't have gone through the trouble we're going to go through soon.

She patted Jake's arm. "Come on, let's go. It's time to throw the bouquet."

Jake snapped out of his daze. "Of course."

Jake helped her with the gifts, and Nellie linked her arm through his. Once they were outside, the chauffeur took the gifts and placed them on the just-wedded white car's trunk that would take the Wizards to the airport. Nellie broke away from Jake and grabbed the bouquet, placing herself next to Jonah.

"Alright, girls, I'm going to throw the bouquet!" she announced.

A lot of girls, including Madison (who had vowed she'd catch that bouquet no matter what), clustered together. Ted and Ned materialized next to Jake.

Ted patted his back. "You okay?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I be," Jake murmured, glancing at his friend for a very brief second.

Ted knew about his feelings, which was why he simply chuckled while shaking his head.

"One... two... three!"

The bouquet was thrown in the air. But instead of landing near the girl's cluster, it landed on Jake's hands.

"Woo-hoo! Looks like I'll soon be a best man," Jonah exclaimed.

Nellie laughed.

Ned clapped and Ted simply shook his head, holding back laughter.

Jake stared down at it.

Oh, the irony.

"Men don't catch bouquets," Madison said, stepping up on the stair in front of where Jake and his two friends were. "So, if you could kindly give it to me..."

Madison tried to snatch it away, but Jake held it back.

"Of course not," he replied.

Madison gaped. "Give it to me."

"No," Jake said, holding the bouquet closer to him. "I caught it."

"Give it!" Madison ordered, jumping to snatch the bouquet.

Jake held it up, and Madison had to jump several times to try and catch it.

"Come on," Ned began. "Give her the bouquet. Then we can go to that brand new restaurant downtown in peace."

"Of course not," Jake exclaimed. "Besides, I'm not going to the restaurant with you guys. Bye!"

"Hey!" Madison exclaimed.

Jake ran away with the bouquet.

Nellie grinned at him. "Bye Jake!"

Jake smiled at her, feeling his heart plummet down to the ground. That would be the last time he'd see her smile at him in a long time. And the next time he'd see her, he'd officially have to call her Mrs. Wizard.

Jake turned away to hide his eyes, which were stinging with tears.

It's soon going to be my cue to come in.

Jake found himself in the middle of the park. People were laughing and having a good time all around him, while he felt like Heaven had just got into a fight with him and won.

He sat down on a desolated swing, and began to sway back and forth, clearly saddened. If he'd spoken up earlier... if he hadn't been so much of a coward...

I became visible, and sat on the swing next to Jake.

Jake was too enthralled into his misery to even notice. He was willing himself not to cry.

"Dude, stop overdramatizing. You have a very nice destiny with a very nice girl and a good job coming along," I said. "However, her brother might make your life a bit impossible before you marry her. You know, he'll be sort of overprotective."

Jake turned to look at me, frowning.

I blinked. "But you can also write your own destiny... so I'll shut up now."

Jake gaped at me. "Who in the world are you?"

"Hamilton," I answered with a smile. "The angel of time."

October 20, 2012.

Amy moaned, as her eyes began to flutter open. The palm of her hand felt pavement, which made her raise her head. She gasped as she realized she was lying on the street. Looking around, she suddenly remembered. She'd gotten into an accident.

But... she hadn't landed on the street.

She sat up, her eyes widening as she saw the ambulance next to her. Where they there to help her?

She stood up, and her head tilted in confusion as she spotted many people surrounding her car.

"Miss!"

"Miss?"

"Open up, miss!"

Those were all the exclamations people were making. Some were knocking her window, others were saddened at the 'loss of such a young and beautiful lady'.

One of the people stepped away, shaking his head. "Poor thing."

She could finally look at what everybody was looking. She gasped, bringing her hands to her mouth. It was... her. Her head was bleeding horribly, and it was slammed against her steering wheel.

People moved away as the ambulance approached the car. They managed to open the door, and tears sprang from Amy's eyes as she saw herself being carried away by them.

"Wait!" she cried out. "What's going on? Can't anybody tell me?"

People ignored her. Or they simply couldn't hear or listen to her.

There was only one person who could see her. Me.

She turned to look at me. "You... you are looking at me. You're not ignoring me."

I remained silent, gazing at her in pity.

She smiled, breathing in shakily. "Please tell me what's going on? W-why am I here but also being taken to the hospital?"

"I think you know the answer to that," I grimly responded.

She shook her head, tears sliding down her face. "No. No I don't!"

I remained silent, gazing at her.

She turned away and ran toward the ambulance, stepping inside with her body. Once the car was in motion, she saw that paramedics were trying to revive her.

She had been killed.

"Please help me!" Amy asked them, even though they couldn't hear her. "I'm not ready to die... I'm just s-sixteen. Please!"

One of the paramedics got out Amy's phone. "I'm not sure if she'll have enough time back at the hospital."

"I will! Help me please!" Amy begged, sobbing. She couldn't be dead. She simply couldn't. She was going to be a bridesmaid, she was the guest of honor of her best friend's sixteenth birthday, she had a wonderful boyfriend, she'd just gotten her car... she wanted more time with her friends and family. She wanted to graduate, to have a job, to marry. She did not want to die. "Please..."

"Call her family members," one of the paramedics ordered.

The nurse nodded, and she dialed Arthur's phone, which was on her speed dial list.

"Don't give up," Amy whispered at the paramedic. "I don't want to die yet."

She gazed at her body, her face all bloodied and bruised. She was not ready to die.

She wouldn't die.

The next thing she knew, they were running down the hospital hallways. Amy was more than scared as she gazed at herself on the stretcher.

"Open your eyes, please," Amy begged.

They reached the surgery area in a few seconds. She gasped as she spotted her father and mother running down the hallway to meet her.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Amy exclaimed.

I pulled her away as Arthur and Hope ran by her, stopping just to greet her body.

"What happened?" Arthur asked, desperation gleaming from his eyes.

"Please tell us she's going to be okay," Hope begged.

Amy's mouth parted in fear of the doctor's words.

"We'll try the best we can," he assured her, after a sigh.

Her body was transported to the surgery area, where no one was allowed to go inside.

Amy ran to the big doors blocking her way. However, as she tried to pass through them, something stopped her. She fell back on her butt, gazing up at the doors in confusion.

"You're not dead yet," I told her. "So you're not a ghost completely."

She looked up at me, her green eyes wide. "Y-you're the guy from before!"

"I'm not a guy," I corrected, scoffing. "I'm Ian, one of the angel of death's assistant."

"What?" she asked, perplexed.

"I follow the soon-to-be dead from the United States so the angel of death can come and pick them up without having to search for them," I detailed.

Amy gulped. "A-am I going to die?"

"Maybe," I told her. "If you agree with my plan, you might have a shot to live once more."

In that moment, Grace came running down the hallways, trying to find news of her granddaughter. Alistair, her faraway uncle, was right next to Grace. Irina Spasky, a cousin of her mother's, materialized behind them.

"Where is Amy?" Grace demanded.

Hope was sobbing uncontrollably, and Arthur's eyes were brimming with tears. He pointed at the door where Amy's body had been transported to.

Irina gasped. Half of the people who went through those doors, after all, did not survive.

Watching her family suffer for her, Amy made up her mind. She turned to look at me.

"What's your plan?" she asked.

For the amazing readers...

Don't worry if you don't like dramatic stuff. Right after this chapter, it'll become more light-hearted :) And yes, Amy is quite... unique in this. It's all for the story's sake though! Well, fell free to tell me what you thought.

Adios!