I sometimes write this down as a reminder of who I was.

My name was Will Martin. I was 24 before this happened and on my way to some great things. I had just finished my degree at MIT and landed myself a killer job with good hours. I had a girlfriend, Sarah Jennings who I met when college started and was just about ready to settle down with. Life was good.

I decided to sleep on New Year’s Eve of ’24. That day had me spent, I slept and when I woke up I was 17 again.

Funny, right. I thought it was just a really long dream. But then the days past, and then the months and I realised I wasn’t dreaming no more.

At first I thought this was some kind of test, you know? Like in those movies where you go back in time to fix the things you regretted in high school but the funny thing was, I didn’t regret anything. I was the top of my class, I had plenty of friends, even had a girlfriend I had to break it off with because things weren’t working. I knew that I wanted to be an engineer, I didn’t have any other passions I regret not following through. I thought this was a lesson in being kind to the people around you and let’s face it, I was a bit of an asshole in high school. We all were.

I thought that I should be nice to my mum and dad, to my girlfriend and the people I called friends and I was. My parents loved me and I learned things from them I didn’t even know about even at 24. Went on a lot more fishing trips with my dad than I did back when I was 18, and my mum bought me ice cream when she saw I was stressing about this whole-time loop business (she thought it was my finals).

But then you try being nice to teenagers and you will be gobbled up. For one thing, I couldn’t believe the friends I had back then. They were all assholes and I wasn’t wrong in cutting off my friendships with them in the first place. And what about the odd gem, you know? The friends you kept around since high school and keep in contact with? Well, here’s the funny thing, the thing that’ll probably drive you insane the most. They’re not the same people. Old Georgie boy who’s the rock of my life and used to take me out for coffee when college exams were too stressful or relationship trouble? Well scratch that cause the Georgie you know in High School’s an idiot who would do anything to get laid or get popular or both. Sam, who cracks you up with a joke? Well, he’s so caught up in his own bullshit that he’s about as funny as a rock. And Jack? Okay Jack’s still cool.

And my girlfriend. Amy who I broke up with because of her vibes or whatever reason my 18-year-old brain could conjure up? Yeah, she broke up with me first. She said I was too emotionally unavailable. Well sorry for being unavailable Amy, I’m stuck in a fucking time loop.

At the end of the year, after trying to make amends and doing the best I could with the assholes I knew, I slept in my bed hoping I’d be back in 2024 with my girlfriend, my degree and the job offers I had lined up. I wondered how I’d explain to Sarah how I was still together with my high school sweetheart. I closed my eyes, hoping I’d wake up in the future.

But the loop didn’t work that way. No, I was back in January 1^st like nothing had changed.

I thought maybe I did something wrong. For the next few loops, I was the most romantic, friendliest and obedient person I could be. I even got 100% in all my exams but whatever I did, I always came back to January 1.

And then the mental breakdowns started. I started going out in public naked, threw my desk out of the window, punched my teacher in the face (even though he was a pretty nice dude). I remember I spent one whole school day crying in a toilet stall. The only person who noticed was Jack.

At the 13^th loop, it got to the point where I was so frustrated with repeating the same damn year I went up to the roof after a maths lesson and jumped down.

And I was back in January 1^st 2018. And here we are now.