I took my time walking back to the gym. I didn’t even care if I missed my turn taking photos. I just wanted to make sense of what was happening to me.

This medallion—and the guy who gave it to me—were not supposed to be real. And yet, I was wearing the necklace and someone eerily similar to that guy had just enrolled in my high school.

There’s no way it was just a coincidence. Besides, he had reacted to the medallion. I was sure he recognized it.

I wanted to scream. Why was this happening now? I’d worked so hard to try to let go of what I thought I saw that night and just believe what Dr. Millner told me to believe.

There was no one else there that night. She’d told me there was no way. The cops had gotten there so quickly, there wasn’t time for someone to run from the scene.

The car we’d been driving—Hailey’s car—had already been reported for reckless driving before we even made it to the bridge, so police were already out searching for us. Mr. Wells, an elderly man who lived on the edge of town near the abandoned factory had been out walking his dog and had seen us drive by at full speed.

He hadn’t seen the accident, but he’d heard it and called it in right away. Police and paramedics had responded within minutes. If anyone else had been there that night, the cops would have questioned them. If I remembered someone else being there, it was nothing but a dream.

So how had I gotten this medallion?

Something strange was going on, and I wanted to find out what it was.

“There you are,” Nicole shouted as she ran into the parking lot. “People are looking for you everywhere. Your mom is totally freaking out.”

“Awesome,” I said.

She fell in beside me as we walked back to the school.

“Where did you go, anyway?” she asked. She turned and looked into the distance, squinting toward the parking lot.

“I just needed some air,” I said. Not exactly the truth, but I wanted to keep the whole dream thing to myself. At least until I figured out what was really going on here.

“Well, Lena apparently told everyone you got so jealous and upset about her and Troy that you ran from the gym crying,” Nicole said, snorting. “She’s such a witch.”

“Seriously?” I asked, already feeling exhausted by the whole thing. School hadn’t even started back yet and people were spreading new rumors about me and my mental health. “I couldn’t care less about the two of them.”

“That’s what I said, but you know how these people are,” Nicole said. “Drama-llama.”

We stepped into the courtyard from the parking lot, and my stomach immediately tightened. My mother stood near the doorway to the gym, the black drape in her arms and the familiar look of worry in her eyes.

As soon as she saw me, she started jogging toward us.

“Marayah, oh my goodness, where did you go?” she asked, the worry turning to anger. “I give you a little bit of space and you disappear completely? You had me worried sick. Troy told me you just threw this at him and ran.”

I glanced at Nicole and swallowed, trying to stay calm.

“I’ll just head inside,” Nicole said, throwing me an apologetic look as she walked away.

“I didn’t throw it at him,” I said.

“Where did you go?” she asked again.

“I saw someone I knew, and I just wanted to talk to them for a second.” It was only a half-lie, but it still tasted bitter on my tongue.

“You missed your place in line, and everyone is looking for you,” she said. She lowered her voice. “Can you please not make this any more difficult than it has to be? I don’t understand you lately.”

Right. Like I wanted to make things harder.

“Sorry,” I mumbled.

I took the black drape and tube top from her arms and walked back into the gym. If I’d thought there were people staring at me before, now they were openly gawking.

No doubt Troy and his little girlfriend had told everyone their version of the story. Rumors spread so fast in this town that by now, people were probably saying I’d threatened to kill myself over their relationship.

Oh well, let them say whatever they wanted to say. I couldn’t stop them if I tried.

I disappeared into the girl's’ locker room, changed into the stupid black top, and stood at the back of the line, waiting for my turn. Nicole sacrificed her place in line and waited at the back with me.

My mom sat on the bleachers, chewing on her fingernails and watching me like a hawk.

So, this was my life now. I had gone from being one of the most popular, well-liked girls in school to being the one everyone liked to whisper about behind her back.

I lifted my chin and stood as still as I could, as if bracing for the storm ahead.

But inside, I had never felt more scared or more alone in my life.