Typical. Only a science nerd would track lateness down to the damn seconds.
"Sorry I'm tardy!"
Tardy? Who even says tardy anymore? Is this the 1950s? Katherine, sweet baby Einstein, please.
"Had to grab coffee. You know how I get without it."She said it like a TED Talk opener. Which, fair, caffeine is her religion.
"Don't remind us," a guy groaned.
"And who's this beautiful lady you brought with you today?"
Oh no. No, no, hell no.
"Guys, this is my BFF Isabella," Kat announced proudly. "We've been friends forever. My soul sister."
True. But must she say it like we're starring in a Disney Channel flashback special?
"Hola, Bella. Or should I say beautiful? 'Cause, you know, that's what your name means in Italian."
Didn't know. Still don't care.
I gave him the smallest smile on record, polite, but not enough to encourage future flirting.
"I'm Polo," he added with a wink, kissing the back of my hand.
Ew. It was… moist.
"Let go, Polo," Kat warned. "He's a flirt. Major flirt. Anyway, meet the rest of my partners in crime, ugh, that sounded so much cooler in my head."
"Hello, mate! I'm Timóthy," said a guy with a full accent and the confidence of a royal.
Scottish. Definitely Scottish.
"He's an exchange student," Kat explained. "From Scotland. Fits right in."
I smiled and shook his hand.Internally? Winter is coming.
"And this nerd here is Yukio Chise-"
"Kio for short," he cut in smoothly. "Nice to meet you."
Cute smile. Annoying.
"Bella speaks Japanese," Kat said, way too proud.
I do not. Not fluently. Barely at all. If he tests me, I'm doomed.
"Really?" he asked, smiling wider.
"Yup," I lied cheerfully, praying he'd move on.
The air smelled like metal, math, and poor life choices. My soul was shriveling.
"So?" Kate asked, "what's with the mysterious call yesterday?"
"The socket keeps malfunctioning," Kio said as Kat sighed. "Every time we power the machine, it fries the fuse."
"Did you calculate accura-"
"Yes! We calibrated everything. It's still giving us crap."
"And what do you hate, Katy?" Polo teased.
"Shitty results!" they all shouted in unison.
Great. A synchronized cult.
I scanned the lab: steel doors, reinforced windows, wires snaking like horror-movie veins, and at the center, a monstrous machine pulsing under flickering lights.
"That's a time manipulation prototype," Timóthy said, appearing beside me like a Netflix villain. "The goal is to stop or slow time at will. Imagine freezing a moment, catching up before the world resumes."
Oh, wow. Nerds with ambition. Terrifying.
"If it would just stop frying the fuse," Kat muttered.
"And draining power from everything within a hundred meters," Kio added.
"Which is why we got kicked off campus," she finished.
Wonderful. Illegal science club. My weekends officially suck.
I could be at brunch right now. But no. I'm here, inhaling dust and nerd sweat.
Then the door creaked open.
"Hey, guys, I brought the good stuf-f"
I froze.
"Bella?"
"Dylan?!"
No. God, no.
Kat's eyes widened. "Wait, you two know each other?"
"We met in a club," Dylan said, looking right at me. "Then she disappeared the next morning. No goodbye. No number."
Kill me now.
"I woke up and you were gone," he added. "Was I that bad?"
"No! I just… didn't want you to get the wrong idea. Like, that would become a thing." I was halfway inside my hoodie.
Kat gasped, delighted. "He's the one-night-stand guy?"
"It wasn't planned!" I hissed. "It just… happened."
"Didn't you say you don't do nerds?" she whispered.
I glared. "Shut. Up."
Dylan smiled. "So you're Kat's famous friend. You're even prettier in daylight. Hopefully you won't ghost me this time."
"That was one time."
"Can we talk later?"
I nodded, mostly to end the public humiliation. His eyes didn't leave mine, and I hated that it made my pulse stutter.
"Alright, lovebirds, focus," Polo interrupted. "Project due Monday. Let's get this over with."
Kio cracked his knuckles. "Everything's ready. 4000-watt fuse installed. And yes Dylan, circuits recalibrated."
"I didn't say anything," Dylan muttered.
"You thought it," Kio said.
"Okay, team, moment of truth."
He flipped the switch.
The floor vibrated. Static crawled up my legs.
"Power at 500 volts… 1000… 2000…" Kio's voice grew tense.
"Too much power!" Kat yelled.
"6000 volts!" Timóthy shouted.
Sparks flew. The lights blinked violently.
"TURN IT OFF!" Polo screamed.
"It's stuck!" Dylan shouted back.
Glass shattered. Wind roared. The world tilted.
Then, everything went silent.
Floating. Weightless.
My hair drifted like we were underwater. A coffee cup spun past my face in slow motion, bumping the machine.
BOOM!
A blinding light split the room. A black hole, yes, an actual freaking black hole—ripped open above the machine, sucking in everything not bolted down.
"Katherine!"
"Bella!"
"HELP ME!" I screamed, grabbing a loose cable. My fingers slipped. The wire snapped.
Dylan lunged, catching my wrist.
"Don't let go!" His voice cracked. He was crying.
Crying.
"Figure out a way to bring me back," I said. "And take care of Kat. She looks terrified."
"Bella, please-"
I smiled. Bright. Unbothered. New Yorker till the end."Good thing I've got nice teeth." I thought.
Then I let go.
His scream followed me into the dark.
And I thought to myself, If only I stayed home.