The Do-Over

Everything occurs just as it had the day before. Emilie is called into the office where she receives the news that she is no longer accepted into the summer program. When she goes out to Josh’s car, she discovers Josh and Macy kissing. However, this time, Emilie’s friends, Chris and Roxane, comfort her after discovering Josh cheating. Emilie fakes sickness to be sent home early and sits through the same talk about her father moving to Texas. She also goes to her grandmother’s house like the day before. She convinces her grandmother that she’s living in a time loop by quoting the text message she will receive from Josh before it happens and having her grandmother read it.

The next morning, Emilie wakes up back in her bed. Now reliving the day for the third time, Emilie begins to wonder if the universe wants her to fix something. She creates a new to-do list for Valentine’s Day which includes avoiding wrecking her car, not attending the scholarship meeting, preventing Josh and Macy’s kiss, and convincing her father not to move to Texas.

Emilie purposefully drives extra carefully on the way to school. However, an oncoming semi-truck splashes her windshield with slush, causing her to lose sight of the road. Though she attempts to break, her car slides sideways on the packed snow and directly into Nick’s truck. Instead of approaching her with frustration like in previous days, Nick is instead concerned about her safety. After her car is towed, Emilie catches a ride with Nick and lies once again about liking Metallica but Nick calls her out on it. Their banter draws a rare smile from Nick this time.

When the office calls for Emilie during the school day, she instead hides out in the restroom. While passing the time, she accidentally loses hold of her phone and drops it in the toilet. After fishing it out to her disgust and mortification, Emilie goes to her next class. Her laptop reveals an email from Mrs. Bowen describing the summer fellowship mistake and rejection of her application.

After class, Emilie hurries to the west entrance where she hopes to catch Josh and Macy before they head to his car for their study hall coffee run. Nick crosses paths with Emilie who pulls him aside, out of sight of the oncoming Josh and Macy. They both witness Josh and Macy’s flirtatious interaction. Emilie decides to reveal her presence and asks if Josh and Macy would like company on their coffee run, making things awkward between the four of them. They all cramp into Josh’s vehicle, and Nick gives Josh attitude during their interactions.

When Emilie’s friend, Chris, reveals his car has also been towed, they are left without a ride home from school. Nick offers a ride which they accept, but Emilie decides to track down Josh and give him his Valentine’s Day present first. Upon finding Josh in the Mock Trial club’s meeting room, Emilie attempts to give her gift to an irritated Josh who brushes her off even when she attempts to tell him she loves him. Thankfully, Nick saves her from saying the words and facing public embarrassment.

Nick drops Chris off first. Before Chris leaves, he mentions the failed attempt Emilie made to tell Josh she loves him. Chris doesn’t believe Emilie is truly in love with Josh. When she tells Chris their three-month anniversary is today, he finds it convenient that it falls on Valentine’s Day—almost as if she meticulously planned it to be so. As Nick drives Emilie home, he too shares Chris’s opinion that Emilie is not in love with Josh. At home, Emilie sits through the same Texas conversation with her dad but doesn’t bother going to her grandma’s house. Just before bed, she wishes on a star to have a perfect Valentine’s Day and end the loop.

The next morning, Emilie makes a new list for Valentine’s Day. It includes taking a completely different route to school, convincing Mrs. Bowen to honor the scholarship, stopping Josh and Macy’s kiss, and preventing her dad from moving to Texas. On the way to school, Emilie still collides cars with Nick despite taking a different route. Her car is towed, and Emilie catches a ride with Nick. They talk about books, and Nick’s literary knowledge impresses Emilie. Emilie ends up enjoying the car ride and finds herself smiling.

When Emilie is pulled to the office and makes a convincing case for why they should allow her to stay in the summer program, she is still rejected. When Emilie attempts to wait at Josh’s car before his coffee run, Macy sees her beforehand and redirects Josh back inside the school. When Nick teases Emilie about her Valentine’s Day-themed outfit in chemistry class and she starts crying, he seems genuinely upset by the reaction. He makes jokes to cheer her up instead. At the end of the day, Emilie fails to get her father to stay in Nebraska.

The days continue to repeat, and Emilie tries to change every unfortunate event yet fails every time. Emilie continues to run into Nick, her fellowship is repeatedly revoked, Josh and Macy are naturally drawn to each other, and she cannot convince her father not to move to Texas.

On the day Emilie decides to walk to school, she crosses paths with Nick’s parked truck. He asks for her help starting up his stubborn vehicle and offers her a ride to school. Unlike the times before, Emilie feels nervous around Nick. When Emilie vaguely tells Nick that she’s dealing with something weird and terrible, he gives a piece of advice: “When all else fails, […] fuck ‘em” (102). Emilie considers his advice when she is called to the office later. When the fellowship is revoked, she admits that the news is devastating to her plans and asks for an opportunity to join an alternative program. The results are promising as Mrs. Bowen promises to look for alternatives. Instead of attempting to thwart Josh and Macy’s kiss, Emilie avoids the parking lot entirely. In chemistry class, Nick asks for Emilie’s number. At the end of the day, Josh finds Emilie to exchange gifts. Emilie gives him an expensive watch exactly tailored to his tastes, but Josh gifts her a silver bracelet. Emilie is disappointed, as she’s told him about her allergy to silver which causes terrible rashes.

At home, Emilie is honest with her dad about how she feels about the Texas move. While he has assumed she’ll want to stay with her mom in Omaha, she considers her father’s home and would like to stay with him. He promises to sit down with her stepmom, Lisa, tomorrow and discuss how to make it work. Later in the night, Emilie receives a text from Nick informing her that she left her chapstick in his truck. Their conversation turns into a phone call where Emilie tells Nick about Josh’s poor gift choice. She learns Nick works at a tattoo shop. Emilie falls asleep, completely forgetting that she never told Josh she loved him as she’d planned.

The next Valentine’s Day, Emilie decides to live a full Day of No Consequences (DONC) where she does whatever she feels like. When she enters the shower, she refuses to rush or get out so that Joel can use the restroom. Instead of her usual prep-school outfits, she puts on the tight leather pants she’s always wanted to wear and a cashmere sweater.

Instead of taking her car, Emilie takes her father’s Porsche and speeds on the way to school. A police officer pulls her over, giving her a citation for reckless driving, revoking her license, and impounding her car. Unable to drive to school anymore, Emilie receives a ride from the officer.