A Twist Of Time

one

Today was great. Actually—everyone I knew thought it was great. We had a parade at school earlier wherein the sun smiled at us; all bright and hot, yet the clouds were battling to cover it. Along with that, all of our teachers were in a good mood and one of them even gave us a 5-point addition to our final grades, though a lot of us were doubting if that was even legal. But who would say no to free grades?

People were smiling, colorful balloons filled the air in honor of the birthday of our city's mayor, and Mom at home was very happy.

"You're back! Look, I made the two of us snacks. Don't want you going to bed with an empty stomach," she beamed, handing me a plateful of pancakes. She had her own and sat down beside me. I ate mine as we watched TV. "What did you learn today?"

"The usual. Math. Hell math. Why was it even created?" I asked, frustrated. Even though we got a five point addition, I couldn't hide the fact that math was hell and there was a high chance that I wouldn't have passed it without the bonus. Mom chuckled.

"Math is great. You just have to give it a try."

"Nah, I'd like to keep my sanity, thank you very much."

She could say she was great at math; she was an accountant for Zeus's sake.

I finished my meal and dumped the empty plate on the sink, kissed Mom on the cheek, and ran upstairs to my room. I opened up my laptop and went to my squad's group chat, Ponching for President.

I typed: anyone online? i'm free to chat.

Within a few minutes, Beatrice, my best friend, replied.

Beatrice Estrella: VALERIE UR HOME HALLELUJAH I HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL U

I smiled. what?

Beatrice Estrella: HE SMILED AT ME! HE TALKED TO ME! SHAUN ACTUALLY NOTICED ME!

My smile widened. I started typing.

really? OMG WHAT DID HE SAY

Beatrice Estrella: WAIT LET ME SCREENSHOT IT

Suddenly, my other friend, Janine, sent a link with the caption "IMPORTANT." I stopped typing my message and clicked on it.

As soon as my cursor landed on the link, a lady jumped out of the screen. My eyesight went black. My head was starting to fall into a deep spiral of dreams and warped colors, down and down until—

POOF!

I put my hand to my head and touched it; making it hurt more than it already was. My eyes couldn't lift themselves. Then I wondered if I was dead.

I moved my neck around as it made cringeworthy cracks; the pain of my body synchronizing with the agonizing pain of everything. Nope. Not dead.

But I stopped for a moment and took a deep breath and the smell of champagne surrounded me. I rapidly touched the floor and realized that it was made of marble and not the creaky wood of my bedroom.

This is not my room.

I opened my eyes and saw that I was in a corner of a fancy formal dinner where people in bow ties were everywhere around the large room, dancing with girls in tight dresses. My eyes widened as I looked around, everything flashing and hitting me so quickly. My head was trying to take in where I was.

I didn't know that place. I was scared, thinking was kidnapped and put wherever I was. I stood up and walked around. The loud voices and luxurious laughs of the rich-looking people became gradually louder; confirming that I was definitely lost.