You know that feeling when you wake up and you’re just out of it? Like, you have that feeling that today is going to be wonky, so why get up?

That was today.

I woke up, I just knew it would suck. Unfortunately, the high school bus waits for nobody.

I won’t lie, I’m not the best student. I’m smart enough, but studying bores me and I end up partying instead.

I’m also a little bit concerned I have epilepsy or hallucinations or something along those lines, because I keep having moments where everything and everybody just stops except for me, and then continues like nothing has happened and the whole world is great.

Anyway, I rolled over to check the time and fell out of bed. I sat on the ground and tried to fall asleep under the plush blanket. The blanket was one of those super soft ones that make you want to do nothing but sleep for the rest of your life. But of course, the alarm was still blaring on my phone, so I had to crawl back up and hit snooze. I stared at the screen for a second, eyes blurry, trying to figure out how many more minutes I could get away with before I absolutely had to be human.

Seven minutes.

I closed my eyes, but I couldn’t get comfortable again. My mind kept going back to that weird thing. You know, the freezing thing. The world stops moving, people freeze mid-laugh, mid-blink, mid-breath. Like someone paused the universe, but I can still move. It happens randomly, and it’s starting to freak me out. The worst part? No one else notices. No one says, “Hey, wasn’t time frozen just now?” It’s just me.

I dragged myself out of bed for real this time and shuffled to the bathroom. I splashed cold water on my face, hoping it’d wake me up or at least shock some motivation into me.

Nope.

By the time I got dressed and grabbed my backpack, I had exactly three minutes to catch the bus. Perfect. I ran out the door, skipping breakfast because who has time for that when you’re trying to survive high school?

The bus ride was normal—people zoning out with their earbuds in, the occasional loud conversation from the back seats. I plugged in my own headphones and stared out the window, trying to push the weird time thing out of my head.

The day went by in a blur. Classes, lunch, more classes. Nothing special. But when the bell finally rang, I was already planning on ditching homework and hitting up a party I’d heard about. Maybe I could just forget all this weirdness and be a normal, carefree teenager for a few hours.

That night, the party was packed. The kind of crowd where you can barely move, but no one cares because the music is loud, and the drinks are flowing. I was laughing with some friends when it happened again.

Everything. Just. Stopped.

The music cut out, mid-beat. People were frozen, stuck like mannequins. Cups in the air, mouths open. My heart raced, but I was kind of getting used to it at this point.

But then I saw him.

At the far end of the room, leaning against the wall. He wasn’t frozen. He wasn’t stuck like everyone else.

He was looking right at me.