Tears streamed down Ameya's cheeks as she curled up on her bed, her arms tightly wrapped around her old teddy bear. She pressed her face into its fuzzy belly, the only thing that still felt warm and comforting in the silence of her room.
"Why does no one understand me?" she thought bitterly, muffled sobs escaping her lips.
"Why did Mom plan everything about my future... without even asking me?" Her voice trembled in her head.
"This is my life, right? Then why does it feel like I have no say in it…"
She shut her eyes tight, but the flood of thoughts wouldn't stop.
"She doesn't even know how painful it is for me to live like this—to follow her dreams while burying mine..."
She hugged the teddy tighter.
"I even hid my passion for dance... just because she doesn't like it. But why? Why won't she understand me?"
Yet deep inside her anger, her love remained.
"I still love her… I can't go against her… not in the past, not now… maybe not even in the future."
Her mind spiraled deeper.
"What if I was born somewhere else?"
"What if I could just choose my path freely, with no one stopping me?"
Her eyes blinked slowly, one last teardrop landing softly on the teddy bear's ear. And without realizing, she drifted into sleep.
---
Chatter.
Soft giggles.
A warm light pressing against her face.
Ameya flinched, groaning lightly as the morning sun touched her skin. She raised her hand to block the light, not yet opening her eyes.
Something felt… wrong.
Her cheek wasn't resting on her soft pillow—but on something hard and cool, like tile. Her brows furrowed.
"Hey… hey, wake up!" a girl's voice called, clear and close.
Ameya mumbled sleepily, "Asina, don't wake me up… I want some more time… go away…"
A pause.
"Huh? Who's Asina?"
Ameya's eyes flew open.
She shot upright in confusion and panic, looking into the face of a girl she had never seen before in her life.
"W-who are you?! Why are you in my bedroom?!" she asked, her voice shaking.
The girl blinked, then laughed. "What are you talking about? Is this your bedroom? Did you hit your head or something?"
Ameya looked around.
The walls weren't her room. Mirrors lined one side. Music played softly from a corner speaker. Dozens of girls were stretching and practicing routines on the studio floor. A dance studio?
Her voice trembled. "Why… why am I here?"
The girl raised an eyebrow. "You seriously don't remember? You've been practicing dance since yesterday—and you didn't even come back to our dorm last night. Are you okay?"
Ameya's heart began to race. Her chest tightened.
Then the girl frowned and asked, "Also… why do you have red marks around your right cheek mole? That wasn't there before…"
Ameya froze. "Mole? I don't… have a mole on my right cheek…"
She slowly turned toward the mirror.
Her breath stopped.
It wasn't her face staring back. It was someone else. A girl with medium-length, wavy, silky brown hair. A gentle, unfamiliar face. A mole under her right eye. Still, the mirror moved with her.
She raised her left hand.
The reflection did the same.
Her body began to tremble.
Behind her, the voice called out again, "Hey… hey, are you alright?"
Everything spun. Her heartbeat was deafening.
Her vision blurred.
And then—
Darkness.
---
Light again. But softer. White.
Ameya opened her eyes slowly, the smell of antiseptic hitting her nose. She was now lying on a bed in a small nursing room, surrounded by unfamiliar faces.
"Where am I?" she whispered.
A girl leaned over her. "Hey Jenna… are you okay?"
"Jenna…?"
Her heart dropped.
"Who's Jenna…?"
She looked around helplessly, and then asked, "Mirror… I need a mirror…"
A nurse handed her a small compact.
She opened it, her fingers shaking.
It was the same face she had seen earlier. Not a dream. She wasn't looking at Ameya anymore.
It was real. Or… at least it felt real.
"What happened to me? Why do I have a different face? Why am I here? Am I in a dream? Did I… time travel? Or did I die… and wake up in someone else's life…?"
She whispered aloud, "No…"
The girls around her jumped, startled.
One girl whispered to the others, "Should we… give Jenna a day off?"
Another nodded. "Yeah, I don't think she's okay…"
Ameya—now Jenna—closed her eyes again, her soul trembling.
The dream had taken over.
---