Empty Spaces

One Day, Everything Changed

My closet door was slightly open, revealing clothes that looked designer, all perfectly hung and color-coordinated. Confused, I pulled on my usual casual outfit: black ripped jeans, a flannel shirt, and my favorite beanie. But somehow, even this outfit looked fresher and newer than usual, as if everything had come straight out of a store display.

I headed downstairs, where my parents were in the kitchen, laughing and talking like they were in a sitcom. My mom spotted me and grinned.

"Morning, sweetie! We made breakfast—your favorite, French toast."

I blinked at her. My parents rarely made breakfast together, let alone French toast. "Uh... thanks?" I mumbled, still feeling like I'd woken up in someone else's life.

As I finished eating and stood up to leave, my dad called out, "Lauren, you're forgetting something."

I patted my pocket. "No, I have my house keys."

He chuckled. "Your car keys, honey." He tossed them over, and I caught them instinctively, staring down at the sleek key fob in my hand. My mom shot me a warm smile, completely unfazed by my obvious confusion.

I barely registered saying goodbye as I made my way to the driveway, hitting the unlock button on the key fob out of habit. That's when I heard a soft beep from the sleek Shiny black jeep car parked outside. I stared at it, stunned. Somehow, this car was mine.

By the time I got to school, it was clear something even stranger was going on. As I walked down the hall, people I'd never spoken to waved, smiled, and even stopped to chat. My heart raced, half-worried this was some elaborate prank. But then I saw her—Camila Cabello, the most popular girl in school, walking right up to me with a dazzling smile.

"Hey, babe," she said, leaning in to give me a peck on the cheek.

I froze, feeling every eye in the hallway on us. "Um... babe?" I stammered, feeling completely out of my depth.

Camila tilted her head, giving me a slightly confused look. She stepped closer, wrapping her arm around my neck in a familiar, intimate way, her face inches from mine.

 "Is that a joke, or are you just being cute? Dinah and I were thinking that after your soccer tryouts, we could maybe go see a movie?"

The closeness of her, the way she leaned in with that effortless confidence—it was like something out of a rom-com.

I blinked. "Soccer... tryouts?"

Dinah snickered, raising an eyebrow. "Uh, yeah, captain. Don't tell me you forgot about finding new dummys to possibly torment?" 

She shot me a grin, clearly joking, but I was too lost in confusion to even pretend to play along.

Camila's smile faded a little as she studied my face. "Hey, is everything okay, Lauren?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but before I could get a word out, Ally, the school's top reporter, came rushing over with her phone. 

She snapped a few quick pictures before launching into questions like a one-woman paparazzi crew. "Lauren, are you ready for soccer tryouts? Do you have anything to say about the upcoming season?"

I stammered, awkwardly trying to appear confident, even though I felt like I'd wandered into some bizarre dream. "Um... yeah, I'm, uh... really looking forward to it," I said, my voice wavering as I forced a smile.

The bell rang, jolting me back to reality—or whatever version of it I'd landed in. I spotted Normani in the hallway and rushed over, grabbing her arm and pulling her into an empty classroom. She looked at me with wide eyes, clearly caught off guard.