CHAPTER THREE: The Scene That Broke
1209 Words
Lila didn’t go home immediately.
She couldn’t.
Because if she left…
everything might stop again.
And she wasn’t sure she could handle seeing that twice in one day.
So she stayed.
Same café. Same seat.
Different feeling.
Her fingers tapped against the table, restless.
“Okay… think,” she muttered under her breath. “Think, Lila. You’re not crazy. This is just—stress. Or lack of sleep. Or—”
“Or you’re finally noticing.”
Lila froze.
Slowly looked up.
There was someone sitting across from her.
Her breath caught.
“...What the f**k?”
He wasn’t there before.
She would’ve noticed.
She would’ve.
He leaned back in the chair like he owned it.
Like he’d always been there.
Dark hoodie. Calm expression. Eyes that felt too sharp—like they were cutting through everything instead of just looking at it.
“Relax,” he said casually. “You’re making it obvious.”
“Who are you?” Lila snapped.
Her voice came out lower than she expected.
Tense.
He tilted his head slightly.
“Damn. Straight to the point. I like you.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“You’re right.” He smiled faintly. “It’s not.”
Lila’s grip tightened on the table.
“Okay, no. Seriously who are you? And how did you get here?”
He didn’t respond immediately.
Just studied her.
The same way Ava did.
And somehow… that pissed her off more.
“Stop looking at me like that,” she said.
“Like what?”
“Like you know something I don’t.”
A small pause.
Then
“I do.”
Lila let out a sharp breath.
“Gosh, of course you do.”
He leaned forward slightly.
“Do you want to know it?”
“…No.”
“Liar.”
“Can you people stop calling me that?”
He laughed.
Actually laughed.
Not soft like Ava.
Not controlled.
Real.
“Yeah,” he said. “You’re definitely new.”
Lila frowned. “New to what?”
But before he could answer
The café lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then—
Everything… skipped.
Not froze.
Not slowed.
Skipped.
Like a video jumping forward a second too far.
Lila blinked.
And suddenly
She was standing.
Her chair was pushed back.
Her bag was in her hand.
Her heart was racing like she’d just run.
“…What?”
She looked around wildly.
“What the hell just happened?”
The guy was still sitting there.
Unbothered.
“Yeah,” he muttered. “That’s getting worse.”
“Getting worse?!” Lila snapped. “I just—how did I—why am I standing?!”
He didn’t answer.
Because something else happened.
The girl at the counter laughed.
Too loud.
Too sharp.
Then she laughed again.
Same exact way.
Same tone.
Same timing.
Lila frowned.
“Wait…”
The girl laughed again.
Same.
Exact.
Sound.
“Okay, no. No, no, no”
The entire café started to glitch.
A man walking past repeated the same step.
Over.
And over.
And over.
A spoon dropped—
Clink.
Clink.
Clink.
Clink.
Same motion.
Same sound.
Like someone copy-pasted it into reality.
“Make it stop,” Lila whispered.
“It’s not me,” the guy said.
“Then who”
“Her.”
Lila turned.
Ava was standing at the entrance again.
But she hadn’t come in.
She was just…
There.
Like the scene had reset.
“...No way,” Lila breathed.
Ava stepped forward.
And everything snapped back into place.
The looping stopped.
The sounds normalized.
People moved again.
But slower this time.
Like the world was struggling to keep up.
Ava’s gaze locked onto Lila immediately.
Then shifted
To the guy sitting across from her.
And for the first time
Ava looked… shocked.
“You,” she said.
The guy smirked.
“Miss me?”
Lila looked between them.
“Wait you two know each other?”
Ava didn’t answer her.
Didn’t even look at her.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” Ava said, her voice colder now.
“Funny,” he replied. “I was about to say the same thing to you.”
“What is going on?” Lila snapped. “Can someone explain something for once instead of talking like like this cryptic bullshit?!”
Silence.
Then
They both looked at her.
At the same time.
And that was worse.
So much worse.
Because their expressions…
Matched.
Interest.
Ava spoke first.
Softly.
“She can see it now.”
The guy nodded slightly.
“Yeah. Took her long enough.”
“I’m right here!” Lila snapped.
“Exactly,” he said.
That didn’t help.
At all.
Lila stood there, heart pounding.
“Okay. Enough. I’m done with this. Both of you are weird as hell and I’m leaving.”
She turned
And walked straight into someone.
Hard.
“s**t sorry”
She looked up.
And froze.
It was her.
Not “looked like her.”
Not “similar.”
Her.
Same face.
Same eyes.
Same everything.
Wearing different clothes.
Lila stumbled back.
“What the”
The other girl smiled.
Slowly.
“Hi,” she said.
Same voice.
Same tone.
Lila’s stomach dropped.
“...No.”
Behind her, she heard Ava whisper
“No, no, no this isn’t supposed to happen.”
The guy stood up abruptly.
For the first time, he looked serious.
“Well,” he muttered. “That’s bad.”
“Bad?” Lila echoed. “There’s another me and all you have to say is ‘bad’?!”
The other Lila tilted her head.
Watching her.
Like she was interesting.
“You’re louder than I expected,” she said.
Lila’s breath shook.
“Expected?”
The girl smiled wider.
“Yeah,” she said.
“Because I’m the one they were supposed to keep.”
Silence crashed down.
Lila’s heart stopped.
“…What?”
Ava stepped forward.
Tense.
Dangerous.
“Don’t talk to her,” Ava said.
The other Lila ignored her completely.
Instead
She looked at the guy.
“You didn’t tell her?” she asked lightly.
He didn’t respond.
“Oh,” she laughed softly. “That’s messy.”
“Tell me what?” Lila demanded.
The girl stepped closer.
Too close.
“You’re not the main character,” she said.
A pause.
A smile.
“You’re the glitch.”
Lila’s chest tightened.
Hard.
Painfully.
“That’s not true,” she whispered.
The girl shrugged.
“Then why am I here?”
No one answered.
Not Ava.
Not the guy.
No one.
And somehow
That silence said everything.
Lila took a step back.
Then another.
Her head spinning.
Her chest tight.
Her thoughts breaking apart.
“...This isn’t real,” she said.
But even she didn’t believe it.
Because across from her
Ava was staring at the other girl like she wanted to destroy her.
And the guy?
He was staring at Lila.
Not the other one.
Her.
Like she was the problem.
And the answer.
At the same time.
And that look?
It wasn’t normal.
It wasn’t curiosity.
It wasn’t even interest.
It was something darker.
Something close to
obsession.
“Yeah,” he said quietly.
“This just got a lot more complicated.”
- Writer
