A Wrinkle in Time and Space
"Brrr," I shivered as the morning chill had finally caught up to me.
The chill was a lot worse for me, especially because of this stupid skirt that I was wearing. That and because I'm a whole lot skinnier now.
Wait, this chill,...
It was just like that time, this same Tuesday morning...
I looked at my watch,
7:02 AM
Trying my best to ignore my rumbling stomach, I peered closely at the cafe with bated breath.
If what the mysterious being said was true, then...
I need to know, I need to know if it's really me.
I began to quickly walk over to the cafe, I didn't know what to expect once I was to enter its doors.
What if my old self was more of a variant copy? Like a multiverse thing?
What if I was skinny? What if I was handsome? What if I was also a girl?
I felt my heartbeat rise the more I thought about all the possibilities of how my old life was going to look like.
Was it still me? Was it my past self living in it, or was it something entirely else?
I was now standing at the front of the cafe, through its tinted windows I could make out a large figure sitting by themselves at the corner of the cafe.
Without a doubt, that was me.
"Here goes nothing," I thought as I opened the doors to the cafe.
---
The door chimed its bell as I took a step in.
"Good morning! My, you're such a pretty little thing!" The barista behind the counter greeted me with a strangely familiar phrase.
Wait, didn't she say that to Ria?
"H-Hi, um, t-t-thanks." I forced myself to stutter out, I wasn't used to any sort of compliments directed to me.
"Are you okay? You look like you're about to freeze over!" The barista asked worryingly as she studied me up and down.
"N-No, I'm okay, hehe." Oh god, I laugh like that?
"Okay! Well, may I take your order? I'm just finishing up this one right now," The barista said as she not so subtly shot an annoyed glance at the corner of the cafe.
I was too nervous to look, I couldn't bear to look at my old self just yet.
"Can I have an order of..."
The door's bell chimed before I could tell her my order.
I instinctively looked to my right and saw her.
Platinum blonde hair, sky blue eyes.
It was Ria Goodgarden.
"What a cute place, ah, good morning!" She bid the barista and to me as well as we briefly locked eyes.
I felt my heart squeeze as she walked over to where I was and stood behind me; she was checking her watch.
The barista hadn't greeted her back this time, she was busy dealing with me first.
"Ah yes, could I please have an order of--"
If I were to order a plain bagel, and if Ria was to order a plain bagel, she would run out with one of them leaving myself and... my other self without an order.
I remember now, having missed out on breakfast as I had run out of time in the morning to eat before school would start.
It's cruel to brave your first day as a transfer student on an empty stomach.
"--a black coffee and two plain bagels?" I ordered.
The barista nodded with a smile as she processed the order on the register.
"That'll be $12"
I looked through my wallet, it was a girl's light green wallet with the design of an orange tabby cat imprinted onto it; the same as the mysterious being. I looked for cash, but I had none.
Wait, is that a...?
I swiped a black credit card onto the machine, paying for my order.
I never had a credit card before, this is crazy.
"Please take a seat until your order's done," She politely asked as I went ahead and finally turned around.
It was me, my old life, sitting by myself in the same corner booth that I had taken on this exact day and time.
But instead of him staring at Ria Goodgarden, he was instead staring at me; I had caught his gaze briefly as I had turned around.
It felt electric, our eyes catching each other, a kind of otherworldly feeling. I knew at that very moment that it was me, my true self, inhabiting his body.
It was a morbid pit in my gut knowing that in no more than a month into the year; I'd be dead.
"I'm so sorry, your order will take ten minutes as I have to complete these other two first," I heard the barista explain behind me, pulling me back into reality; she was talking to Ria.
"Ah, what a shame, I can't afford to be late on my first day back!" Ria said tiredly.
I looked at my watch, it was already 7:15. The walk back to school from here was an easy seven minutes of walking, if she'd waited that long she would be late.
I shot a glance at my old self, it seemed like he was about to say something.
"Y-You can have my other bagel," I butted in as I caught the barista and Ria's attention.
Ria had a look of surprise as she saw me offer her my bagel.
"Great, I'll put them in the oven now then," The barista said as she immediately went back to work.
Ria and I were still standing there, there was a strange air between us as we hadn't greeted each other beyond saying good morning. And now, I will be sharing my breakfast with her of all things.
"That's very nice of you, I'm Ria by the way," Ria thanked me as she introduced herself.
"No worries, I'm... Lia," I replied in turn, it annoyed me how similar our names were.
"Lia and Ria, haha," Ria noted as she laughed.
I giggled in response too.
"Let's sit down and wait for our food then," Ria said as she motioned to a table.
We sat down and within a moment, we heard the Barista call out an order.
"One black coffee and plain bagel ready." She said as she left it at the counter ready to be picked up.
"That's not my order," I told Ria as she looked like she was about to stand up.
"Oh, my mistake haha," She laughed as she got back into her seat.
I then saw my past life stand up from his booth and walk over to the counter. I could see he was trying his best to not garner too much attention with the way he quietly walked and chose to circuit around the cafe without going near our table.
Just as he picked up his order, Ria suddenly asked me a question; diverting my attention away from him.
"If I'm not mistaken, this blazer you're wearing means you're also going to Lockhart, yes?" She said with an innocent smile.
"Y-Yes, I'm a transfer," I told her as I tried looking at my old self again.
But he was gone now with the chime of the door signaling his exit.
Ria caught me staring at my old self leaving, causing her to ask another question.
"Do you know him?" She asked as she rested her head on her palm. Was it just me or did she look a little annoyed?
"No, not really," I lied, there was no way I could explain the reality of my two selves to anyone, more so with the girl who would witness his death in a month.
"Hmmmm," She said, she looked unconvinced.
"Well, anyways," Thankfully she decided to drop it, "You said you're a transfer. Wow, transferring in your senior year? That's so... brave of you," she said with an empathetic smile.
"How did you know it's my senior year?" I asked her.
"Your blazer, haha. I guess no one told you that they're given a special symbol to signal your seniority," She explained as she showed me her blazer cuff, on it was a small symbol indicating a diamond.
Strange, I had never noticed that before. Maybe because no one had ever pointed it out to me.
"One black coffee and two plain bagels ready." The barista called out.
"That's us," I said.
"Ah, thank you once again! Do I owe you for it?" She said as she took out her wallet; it was clean black leather, it looked like a man's.
"You're welcome, and no, please, just take it," I reassured her as I took my bagel and coffee, it would've been weird to order two orders of coffee so she would just have to make do with a bagel.
"It was great meeting you, Lia. I have to run now, but I hope we get to see each other in school!" She said as she quickly exited the door with the plain bagel in hand.
I stood there in the cafe with my coffee and bagel, happy to know that my current self and past self wouldn't be going hungry on the first day of school.
But, suddenly, something strange caught my attention as I thought about it a little more closely.
Wasn't it the first time, meaning my past life...
Ria didn't have her wallet...?