shards of time

one

Lydia's certain that today's been the worst day in her entire life.

With a turn of her key, Lydia lets herself into her modest apartment, taking care to toe her shoes off before she accidentally sullies the already dirty rug. Her shoulders are slumped as she shuffles inside to set her things down, and her feet drag behind her as she makes straight for her small, cushy sofa.

Lydia collapses onto it with a prolonged sigh of relief and bliss, and finally lets herself relax for the first time that day.

Ugh. Thank God it's Friday, indeed.

It feels like shedding a heavy weight off her shoulders, and she wishes she could stay in this position longer. Forever. But she's already messed her schedule up for today, and if she doesn't try and stick to it she might as well wave goodbye to her streak of A's. (And one A-, but she doesn't like to think about that.)

As Lydia reluctantly picks herself up from where she sprawls, her stomach rumbles, and she feels a pang of regret that she hasn't stopped by A-go's, as is usually her habit. She could really use some dumplings right now.

Honestly, with the way this day has been, it doesn't come as a surprise to her—the fact that she'd forgotten. Her already spotty memory has been insanely horrible today, and because of that she'd even—she shudders—had to cram for an exam. Earlier, someone had spilled water on her, and she'd had to just wait for it to dry, as she'd had no change of clothes with her.

It was like the universe had decided, for some sadistic reason, to curse her with unfairly terrible luck.

With an ease born of years of subsisting on go-to meals and quick bites, Lydia throws together a meagre dinner of instant ramen, and eats as fast as she dares, careful not to burn her tongue. Ten minutes later, she slurps the last of the soup, and she stands and dumps her dirty dishes in the sink, eyes brighter now that she's gotten some sustenance.

She makes her way to her room, sipping from a glass of water and ready to tackle the last of the week's work. If she manages to complete everything by tonight, she'll have the entire weekend off, and already she's grinning at the thought of waking in the afternoon and doing absolutely nothing.

Lydia stops by the bathroom before she enters her bedroom, with the intent of throwing some water on her face in an effort to energize herself. As she walks in, she undoes her ponytail with a quick pull of the hair tie, shaking her head as she does so. 

She looks up to glance at herself in the mirror—

"Who are you?"

—and promptly drops her glass of water. 

It shatters as it hits the floor, shards catching on her fuzzy socks and water soaking through the cotton, but she can't even register the chill, too panicked to care.

Because there's a guy in the place of where her reflection should be, eyebrows knitted in confusion as he says, "Hello?" 

She's at a complete loss for words.

So she screams.

A small, more subdued part of her mind thinks, It seems I really have been jinxed today.

a/n: the chapters will get longer, i swear! votes & comments fuel my motivation and are much appreciated. shoutout to you know who for accompanying me while i wrote this <3