The bell rang, but Lena didn't move.
The empty corridor hummed with a strange quiet—everyone had left for the final break, but she stood in the shadows between the science wing and the old storeroom, frozen. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. A message from Rhea, another from her mother. Both unread. Both ignored.
She leaned back against the cold, uneven wall and closed her eyes.
That kiss… it hadn't left her. Not just the warmth, or the tingling shock—it was something else. Something deeper. Aarav had kissed her like he was apologizing for everything he couldn't say. And she had let him. She had wanted him to.
But the world was never kind to girls like Lena.
A sharp laugh echoed from down the hall. She opened her eyes just in time to see Meher and her entourage stroll past the far end, talking loudly about the upcoming festival. Lena watched them disappear, unnoticed.
Just how she liked it.
But now… she wasn't sure anymore.
---
Later that Evening
Aarav hadn't messaged her since the kiss.
Lena sat cross-legged on her bed, staring at her phone like it had betrayed her. It was stupid. He didn't owe her anything. He wasn't even hers. Not really.
The rain tapped gently against her window, casting reflections of water and light across her walls. She turned off her lamp, letting the room fall into a soft blue-gray silence.
That was when it happened.
The air shifted.
A pulse—gentle, almost imperceptible—moved through her. The feeling of something brushing against her soul, like the touch of a memory she didn't know she had. She gasped, her body reacting before her mind understood.
She blinked.
Her room… wasn't her room anymore.
It was darker. Taller. The walls were covered in symbols that glowed faintly like ink and fire. The bed was gone, replaced by a pedestal of black stone. And in the center of the room, floating just above the floor, was a mirror.
No. Not a mirror.
A window.
And on the other side… was her.
But not Lena Carter.
This Lena had golden eyes and a mark across her collarbone that pulsed like a heartbeat. She looked older, sharper, and impossibly powerful.
They stared at each other. Two reflections. Two timelines?
"Who are you?" Lena whispered, her voice thin.
The other version of her smiled. "You. If you choose."
And just like that, the room shattered.
Lena woke up screaming.
---
The Next Day
"Didn't sleep again?" Rhea asked gently, pushing Lena a cup of cutting chai as they sat behind the school auditorium steps. "You look like you time-traveled."
Lena gave her a weak smile. "Feels like it."
Rhea didn't press. That's what Lena liked about her. She knew when to back off, even when everything in her eyes screamed worry.
Aarav showed up twenty minutes later.
Alone.
His knuckles were bruised. His eyes—tired, red, like he'd spent the whole night fighting ghosts.
He didn't say a word. Just sat down beside Lena and looked at the sky.
"I told you not to follow me yesterday," he said finally.
"I didn't," Lena replied. "You kissed me."
He turned to her slowly, jaw clenched. "I wasn't supposed to."
"But you did."
"I'm dangerous."
"I know."
"You should stay away."
"I can't."
The silence that followed was the kind that could suffocate. But Lena didn't break eye contact. Neither did he.
"You've changed," he said softly.
"So have you."
He closed his eyes. "They know about you now. The Watchers. Meher… she's not just a girl in school. Her family—"
"Is connected to them," Lena finished. "I figured."
His eyes snapped open. "How?"
Lena hesitated. "I saw something last night. A version of me. Somewhere else. A room with… markings. A mirror."
His expression turned cold. "You're awakening."
"What does that mean?"
"You're remembering."
"Remembering what?"
Aarav stood. "You'll know soon. But Lena… once it starts, you can't undo it."
Lena stood, too. "Maybe I don't want to undo it."
That stunned him into silence. He took a step forward, then stopped.
"If they come for you," he said, voice low, "don't trust anyone. Not even me."
She reached for his hand and held it. "I trust you."
His fingers tightened around hers for a heartbeat—then let go.
He walked away.
But the taste of his warmth stayed long after he vanished.
---
Later That Night
She couldn't sleep again.
This time, Lena didn't wait for the dream to find her. She stood in front of her bedroom mirror and whispered:
"I choose to remember."
The glass shimmered.
And something smiled back.
---