The first time it happened, Adam thought it was just a dream.
It was the middle of the afternoon, and he had been reviewing financial reports in his glass-walled office. The numbers blurred together, exhaustion settling into his bones. He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples.
Then, the world shifted.
In a blink, he wasn't in his office anymore. The dull hum of the city outside was gone. Instead, the sharp chatter of students filled his ears, the scent of fresh-cut grass and warm pavement flooding his senses. He stood in the middle of a university campus—his university.
The realization struck him with the force of a train. He was here. But not as the man he had grown into—the tired, worn-out 44-year-old executive—but as someone else. Or rather, as himself... twenty-five years ago.
He glanced down. His hands—no longer calloused from years of work—looked youthful, unmarked. His suit was gone, replaced by a simple hoodie and jeans. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a student ID.
Adam Carter, Freshman.
A rush of memories—new and old, overlapping and clashing—threatened to overwhelm him. He remembered being here. He remembered these very steps, this very moment. And yet, part of him—the part that had just been in an office, stressed over deadlines—felt completely displaced.
Before he could process what was happening, a voice called out behind him.
"Hey, Adam! Are you coming or what?"
He turned. A girl stood a few feet away, waving at him. She was familiar. Too familiar.
She was smiling, her eyes bright with laughter, completely unaware that he was looking at her as if he had just seen a ghost. Her name hit him before she even spoke again.
Lena Harper.
His chest tightened. He hadn't thought about her in years. And yet, seeing her now, in this moment, made something crack open inside him. A memory. A feeling. Something unfinished.
She raised an eyebrow. "What's with that look? You forget your own name or something?"
Adam swallowed. His heart was pounding in his chest, but his voice came out steady. "No, I just—" He hesitated. What could he say? That he had just been a middle-aged man moments ago? That he was trapped between two versions of himself?
He forced a grin instead. "I just zoned out for a second."
Lena rolled her eyes but smiled. "Right. Well, come on, we're gonna be late."
Late? Late for what? His brain scrambled to adjust, but his body moved instinctively. He followed her, memories of this day surfacing in fragments. A lecture. A study session. A moment on the library steps.
This had already happened before.
And yet, somehow, he was living it again.