I didn't go to class.
I couldn't.
The words in the notebook kept replaying in my mind.
She wasn't supposed to talk to you.
Now they know.
My hands were still shaking when I reached the end of the hallway.
I turned around.
The window.
The exact spot where she had been standing.
Empty.
Just sunlight pouring through the glass like nothing had happened.
Like she had never been there.
I swallowed hard.
This was stupid.
She was a student.
Of course she was a student.
People don't just appear out of nowhere.
Right?
I walked toward the administration office.
Each step felt heavier than the last.
The fluorescent lights above buzzed faintly. Too loud. Too sharp. Like they were inside my skull.
Calm down.
Just check the student list.
That's it.
Simple.
Normal.
I reached the door and hesitated.
Why did my chest feel tight?
Why did this feel like a mistake?
I pushed the door open.
The secretary barely looked up.
"Yes?"
"I… uh… I'm looking for a student."
She sighed softly. "Name?"
And that's when I realized.
I didn't know her name.
I had never heard it.
My mind scrambled for something. Anything.
"Dark hair. Always near the window in the east hallway."
The secretary frowned.
"That's not a name."
"I know. I just— I see her every day."
She turned her monitor slightly away from me and began typing.
The sound of the keyboard echoed too loudly in the room.
Click. Click. Click.
She stopped.
"There's no student matching that description who spends time alone in that hallway."
"That doesn't make sense."
She looked at me now. Fully.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Are you feeling alright?"
The question hit harder than it should have.
"I'm fine. I just saw her this morning. She talked to me."
The secretary stared for a moment longer, then turned the screen toward me.
"This is the complete student list for your grade."
Dozens of names.
I scanned them quickly.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Nothing.
No unfamiliar name. No face that matched her.
Maybe she was from another grade.
"Check other years," I said quietly.
She hesitated.
Then typed again.
More names appeared.
More scrolling.
More silence.
My pulse began to pound in my ears.
"She's not here," the secretary said firmly. "There's no record of anyone matching what you described."
No record.
The words felt unreal.
"That's impossible."
"Maybe you're confusing her with someone else."
"I'm not."
My voice sounded distant. Like it wasn't mine.
"I talked to her."
"When?"
"This morning."
She paused.
"You arrived late today."
Ice ran through my veins.
"How do you know that?"
"You signed in at 10:42."
That wasn't possible.
I was in the hallway before that.
I saw her before that.
The memory was clear.
Wasn't it?
My breathing grew shallow.
"What time does first period start?" I asked.
"9:00."
"And I signed at 10:42?"
"Yes."
That meant…
More than an hour was gone.
Again.
My stomach twisted.
The secretary's expression shifted from annoyed… to concerned.
"You should maybe visit the nurse."
"I'm fine."
But I wasn't.
I stepped back slowly.
The room felt smaller.
The air heavier.
"No record," I whispered.
I left before she could say anything else.
The hallway outside felt distorted.
Voices were muffled.
Footsteps echoed strangely.
I walked to the east corridor again.
The window.
The light.
The same place.
Empty.
I approached it slowly.
My reflection stared back at me from the glass.
But something felt off.
For a split second—
My reflection wasn't moving.
I blinked.
It moved again.
Normal.
Just stress.
Just exhaustion.
I pressed my forehead lightly against the cool glass.
"Am I losing it?" I whispered.
A shadow passed behind me.
I turned quickly.
No one.
My heart raced.
Slowly, carefully, I pulled out the notebook.
My fingers trembled as I opened it.
Blank page.
Nothing new.
I exhaled shakily.
Maybe it was all in my head.
Maybe I needed sleep.
Maybe—
The page shifted.
Ink bled slowly into the paper.
Not instantly.
Not suddenly.
Slowly.
Like something was writing from beneath the surface.
My breath caught.
Letters formed one by one.
You weren't supposed to look for her.
I couldn't move.
More words appeared.
There are consequences.
My hands went numb.
"I just wanted to know who she is," I whispered.
The ink continued.
That's the problem.
A sudden pressure filled my ears.
Like the world had dropped underwater.
The hallway noise faded.
My vision blurred.
And then—
Darkness.
When I opened my eyes, I was sitting on the floor.
Students were walking past me.
Normal.
Laughing.
Talking.
No one seemed alarmed.
No one seemed confused.
Like nothing had happened.
I checked my phone.
12:16 PM.
Another gap.
Another missing piece.
Terror crept slowly into my chest.
This wasn't random.
This wasn't stress.
Every time I got closer to her…
Time disappeared.
I looked down at the notebook again.
The last sentence was different now.
It no longer said There are consequences.
It now read:
Next time, it won't just be time you lose.
My blood ran cold.
I slowly lifted my head.
And across the hallway—
Near the window—
She was standing there.
Watching me.
But this time…
She wasn't alone.