“Scrrraach—”
The desk beside her got kicked aside without warning. Dropped into a totally new setting with zero clue what was going on, Lily Ashford sat there looking completely stunned, brain basically offline.
“Hey, didn’t I already tell you...”
A boy’s voice rang out by her ear—rough with puberty, but still carrying that sharp, clean edge unique to teenage boys. That was what finally snapped Lily a little back to herself. She turned her head and looked over.
The guy was wearing a red tracksuit in the most half-assed way possible. One pant leg on the left was casually rolled up, and on his feet were a pair of slippers. He looked exactly like the kind of bad-boy troublemaker teachers got headaches over.
He curled his lips into a lazy grin. The split at the corner of his mouth still showed off yesterday’s glorious battle damage. Looking all casual and cocky, he said, “Didn’t I tell you to talk to the teacher and switch seats? What, you deaf?”
The last syllable lifted slightly, with a smile in it that sounded dangerous no matter how lightly he said it.
Everything in front of her felt so real—way too real. Lily’s expression turned straight-up horrified.
What was happening?
Who was he?
No, wait, more importantly—
Where even was this?
Last night she had finally dragged herself to the finish line, wrapped up her final manuscript, and sent it to her editor. At this very moment, shouldn’t she be at home, sleeping like the dead and enjoying life?
Catching the fear in the girl’s eyes, the boy leaned in closer like he was enjoying this way too much. He stared right at those confused dark eyes behind her glasses, then said slowly, like he was teasing her with a joke, “Book. Worm.”
His warm breath brushed against the young girl’s cheek. Even while her world view was actively collapsing, Lily had to admit one thing—
The person in front of her was terrifyingly real.
She suddenly shoved him away. Under everyone’s shocked stares, she bolted straight out of the classroom.
“Tch. Scared that easily?”
Damien Lockwood shot a disdainful look at her retreating figure, then swaggered over, dragged a chair out, and sat down like he owned the place. The boys behind him rushed up right away, one fanning him, another handing him water like he was some kind of campus king.
But right now, Lily only wanted one answer.
What the hell was going on?
She ran into the girls’ bathroom and immediately saw herself in the mirror. She recoiled in horror, stumbling back a step—and the girl in the mirror did the exact same thing.
Short student-cut hair stopping by the ears. Standard issue school hairstyle. A pair of dark, bright eyes hidden behind glasses. The whole face screamed top student, model class rep energy.
But...
That face was not hers at all.
So what was this?
By then the class bell had already rung for the second time. From the classroom came the clear, practiced sound of students reading aloud in unison. But inside the bathroom, it was so quiet she could hear water dripping.
“Di— bzzzt—”