Chapter One : The Unstuck
732 Words
The alarm rang again.
Loud. Sharp. Annoying.
6:00 a.m.
The teenager didn’t move this time.
They just lay there, staring at the ceiling, eyes open… already awake.
“I knew it,” they muttered.
Everything was the same.
The faint crack in the ceiling.
The soft hum of the fan.
The way the curtain moved slightly, even though the window was barely open.
Every detail… exactly as before.
Slowly, they reached for their phone.
6:00 a.m.
Same time.
Same day.
Same life.
Reset.
⸻
A knock came from the door.
“Wake up! You’ll be late for school!” their mother’s voice called.
Same words.
Same tone.
Same timing.
The teenager closed their eyes briefly.
“Yeah… I know,” they whispered.
⸻
They got ready in silence, moving through the morning like someone following instructions they already memorized.
Toothbrush—left side first.
Uniform—slightly wrinkled at the sleeve.
Bag—zip halfway broken.
It all felt… pointless.
Because no matter what they did—
It would all disappear again.
⸻
At breakfast, their mother said it.
Right on time.
“Don’t forget you have that test today.”
The teenager didn’t look up. “Math test.”
Their mother paused. “Yes… how did you—?”
“I just remembered,” they cut in quickly.
They couldn’t explain it.
Not yet.
⸻
School felt worse.
Every step they took felt like walking through a memory.
The gate.
The noisy students.
The teacher complaining about lateness.
All of it had already happened.
And yet, no one else noticed.
⸻
In class, the teacher began writing on the board.
“Today, we’ll be revising quadratic equations—”
“I know,” the teenager whispered under their breath.
The boy sitting next to them frowned. “You know what?”
“Nothing.”
⸻
Then something strange happened.
It was small.
So small that most people wouldn’t notice.
But they did.
Because they were paying attention.
Because they remembered.
⸻
A pen fell.
It rolled off a girl’s desk and hit the floor.
But this time…
It rolled in a different direction.
⸻
The teenager froze.
That didn’t happen before.
Last time, the pen rolled toward the door.
This time… it rolled toward them.
⸻
Their heart began to race.
“Wait…” they whispered.
That meant—
Something had changed.
⸻
Carefully, slowly, they bent down and picked up the pen.
The girl smiled. “Thanks.”
Last time… she didn’t say that.
Last time, someone else picked it up.
⸻
The teenager sat back down, their mind spinning.
“So it’s not exactly the same…” they thought.
“Something can change.”
⸻
For the first time since the resets began…
Hope flickered.
⸻
Maybe they weren’t trapped.
Maybe this wasn’t just a loop.
Maybe—
They could do something.
⸻
But then—
A voice spoke behind them.
Low. Calm.
And unfamiliar.
“You noticed it too… didn’t you?”
⸻
The teenager turned slowly.
Their breath caught in their throat.
A girl stood there.
She wasn’t in their class.
Wasn’t even in their year.
But somehow…
She looked like she had been there all along.
⸻
Her eyes locked onto theirs.
Serious.
Knowing.
⸻
“The pen,” she said quietly. “That wasn’t supposed to happen.”
The teenager stared at her. “You… remember?”
She nodded once.
“Yeah,” she said.
“I remember everything.”
⸻
Silence hung between them.
Heavy.
Real.
⸻
The teenager swallowed hard.
“So I’m not the only one…”
⸻
The girl glanced around the classroom before stepping closer.
“Don’t look so relieved,” she whispered.
“Because if we remember…”
She leaned in slightly, her voice dropping even lower.
“That means something went wrong.”
⸻
The teenager’s chest tightened.
“Wrong how?”
⸻
The girl didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, she looked toward the window.
At the sky.
At nothing.
⸻
Then she said—
“Last time…”
Her voice trembled, just slightly.
“I saw something at midnight.”
⸻
The teenager’s heart skipped.
“Me too.”
⸻
Their eyes met again.
This time, there was no confusion.
No doubt.
Just one shared understanding.
⸻
This wasn’t normal.
This wasn’t safe.
⸻
And whatever was waiting for them at midnight…
⸻
It was coming back
- Writer
