"Liam Scott, wake up!" the teacher called out.
Peter, who was fast asleep, twitched slightly. He felt like someone had called him, but his eyes stayed shut. Just then, he felt a light tap on his shoulder.
"Hey, Liam, get up," his seatmate said.
Peter slowly opened his eyes and sat up, blinking as the bright classroom lights hit his face. "Liam? I'm not Liam, I'm Peter Anderson."
The whole class went silent for a second. He looked around and realized that nothing around him looked familiar. The classroom looked… old. Not dirty, but old-fashioned. Desks and chairs neatly arranged, students sitting in groups, notebooks and pens on tables, a teacher writing on a whiteboard.
He was in a classroom, yes, but not one from his world.
"This can't be real," he whispered.
In his world, there were no classes like this anymore. People didn't sit in classrooms or use pens. In the cybernetic age where Peter was from, learning was done differently. No teachers were standing in front of the students. Instead, people learned through the MindLink, a small chip inserted near the head. Once connected, it downloaded whatever knowledge you needed directly into your brain in minutes.
But this... this was nothing like that.
He looked around again in disbelief. "Where am I?" he muttered.
The teacher frowned. "You can't keep disturbing my class like this, Liam Scott. Sit down right now."
Some of the students giggled and whispered.
"Creep."
"Weird as usual."
"Strange."
"Abnormie."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Mrs... Mrs. Allison," he said quickly as he sat down.
Then he froze. Mrs. Allison? How did he know her name?
He swallowed hard. "Oh no," he whispered to himself.
He had no memories of this life, no idea who Liam Scott was. Yet, somehow, the name, the faces, and even the teacher's name came naturally to him, like they had always been there.
But he remembered something else, his dreams.
When Peter was still in his own world, he used to dream about another life. A life where he was called Liam. A life that felt so real, that sometimes he'd wake up sweating and confused.
But now, sitting here in this classroom, surrounded by people who called him Liam, he realized, it wasn't just a dream.
It was real. He was inside that world.
"But how did I get here?"
He closed his eyes, trying to remember the last thing before this. Then it came back to him, the fall.
He had fallen from the staircase back home and had hit his head hard.
"Oh, that's it," he muttered. "The fall. That's when it happened."
But if he had fallen, shouldn't Slurp have healed him?
Slurp was his personal robot, just like everyone else had one. Then it hit him. Slurp had shut down earlier that day because it ran out of power, and Peter had gone to get a battery for it. That's when he fell.
He gasped. "Slurp couldn't save me," he whispered. "He wasn't active."
Then another thought hit him. "Mom."
His mother, though not his real one, had always loved him deeply. She'd be devastated. His father wouldn't care much; he never liked Peter and often treated him badly.
Peter remembered how he used to tell his mother about the dreams, the other world, the other life, and she'd always laugh. "It's all in your head," she'd say.
But now, sitting here in this strange classroom, Peter whispered to himself, "It's not in my head anymore. I'm living it."
Krrrrrrr!
The bell rang loudly, signalling dismissal. Students began packing their books, and getting up from their desks.
Peter sat still at his desk, staring blankly at the whiteboard. His mind was spinning with thoughts. He wasn't sure if he should move or speak. Everything still felt so unreal.
Then someone walked up to Peter's desk.
He looked up. "Theo?"
Standing before him was Theodor Langston, Liam Scott's best friend. In Liam's memories, which Peter now seems to faintly remember, Theo was the kind of guy everyone liked. They hung out almost every day, did almost everything together, and even lived close by.
Theo folded his arms and looked down at him. "Oh, so you do recognize me. You've been acting like you don't know anyone. What's going on with you, man? You look like you just appeared here out of nowhere."
"I did appear here," Peter said quietly.
Theo frowned. "What are you talking about?"
Peter leaned forward slightly. "Look, I know this might sound crazy but I mean it. I… I'm not who you think I am."
Theo tilted his head, raising an eyebrow. "Here we go again."
Peter's voice lowered. "No, it's not a joke. I'm not Liam. I'm not from this world."
Several nearby students turned their heads at Peter's last words. A few snickered. Others just gave them weird looks. Theo noticed, he leaned closer and lowered his voice.
"You really enjoy this, don't you?" he whispered harshly. "The constant creepy acts, the weird talk, the strange things you say. Do you even realize what people call you because of that? They call us freaks, Liam. Freaks. You and your little world of nonsense are dragging me into it too."
"You have to stop this, Liam, please," Theo continued. "First, it was saying you see yourself in another world. Then you started claiming you see people with magical powers. Okay, fine, at least you got that part right. But now you're saying you're not even Liam? Come on. You've got to be kidding me."
Peter frowned. "Wait, what did you just say? I also said I dreamed about another world?"
Theo sighed deeply and stepped back, running a hand through his hair. "Oh no, not this again. Don't tell me you don't remember your own words, Liam."
Peter shook his head slowly. "As bad as it sounds, I don't. I really don't remember saying any of that. I know how this sounds, Theo. I know it's unbelievable. But you've always trusted me before, right? You know I'm not a liar. So please, believe me when I say I'm not Liam."
The classroom was almost empty by now, and only a few students were by the door. Liam and Theo stared at each other for a while, then Theo covered his face with both hands and said in a low, pained voice.
"Oh my God. Please, Liam. Life is already hard enough for me as it is. Don't make it worse with this talk. I'm begging you."
Peter just watched him, realizing how impossible this situation was. No one would believe him. He was even finding it hard to believe himself.
Maybe he should stop talking about it. Maybe he should just live as Liam Scott.
He took a deep breath and forced a small smile. "You're right," he said quietly. "I'm sorry. For all the confusion, don't mind what I said earlier. I fell asleep, and when I woke up, I couldn't remember anything. I think I lost my memories."
Theo's eyes widened. "You what?" He stared at him for a few seconds, then sighed heavily. "That… actually explains a lot." He slung his bag higher on his shoulder and looked at him with concern. "But how? How could you just lose your memory like that? And why now, of all times?"
Peter, or Liam, as everyone still called him, rubbed his forehead. "I honestly have no idea."
Theo's voice softened. "So what about us then?"
Peter blinked. "Us?"
"Yeah. You promised to meet the others after this class. You said you were finally going to tell us what's happening to us… about the strange things we can do. You called it our Gifts."
Peter widened his eyes. "Gifts?" he repeated slowly.
Theo nodded. "You don't remember that either?"
Peter shook his head,.
Theo let out a small sigh. "According to you, they're from your dreams. And like I said… You kinda got that part right."