“Wait, what?” I questioned my history teacher, Mr. Solano.

“Can you name the two major countries involved in World War I, Mr. Fath?” he said, a smirk playing at his lips. I’m assuming he finds using the last name I absolutely hate amusing. I looked at him with hateful eyes and began to think of an answer to his question. When I couldn’t think of one, I suspected that he just wanted to pick on me. He knows I wasn’t listening to a word he said about World War I but wants to embarrass me nonetheless. Even though I do recall him saying something about the countries being “strong and powerful” but I can’t remember. It has to do with European countries, that’s for certain, but I don’t really pay attention to what Mr. Solano teaches. I figure I’ll never really need to know about it for my future. Whatever my future may be... “Well,” he murmurs, startling me out of my thoughts. “Seems you don’t know… I guess you’ll be staying after school with me.” He spares me one last glance before going back to the front of the room. “And, Fath, the answer was the United States and Japan.” I heard a few snickers behind me. They must think it’s funny that I got detention. Again. I turned behind me and saw Noah, my crush, trying to quiet down his snickering friends. My immediate instinct when he met my eyes was to screech but that’d make me look stupid so I ran. Yeah, doesn’t really help, but that’s all I could think of. In the middle of class too, I’m probably going to miss something important today, I just know it.

I ran out of the classroom, down the stairs, through the hallway, out of the building. I didn’t have a set destination, I just ran as far as I could until I had to sit on the floor of some sidewalk to catch my breath. 39th Street, the sign overhead read. Yes, I know skipping classes was an irrational thing to do and I’m probably going to get into a lot of trouble for doing that, I also now realize that I left all my stuff under my desk, but the damage has already been dealt so I can’t go back now. And that’s what I’m currently doing right now. Running from my problems. Literally.

But something about this day feels familiar, like deja vu, I could have sworn this happened yesterday. The exact same thing, I’m sure. But, then, why did no one mention it? Wouldn’t someone notice and start asking around? I know I would if I had realized it sooner. And why did I not know the answer to Mr. Solano’s question if he told me the answer the day before? I know I’m forgetful but it wasn’t that hard to remember. Just two countries, that’s all. I stopped at a nearby bench and began to collect my thoughts. What’s today again? I quickly turned on my phone and looked at the screen. Tuesday, September 4, 2018. I blinked my eyes a couple of times. Am I seeing this right? Today is Tuesday, so was yesterday, but how?

Such a peculiar thing, time, isn’t it, Callum?

“Who’s there?!” I shouted turning my head in all directions. I looked, but nobody was around.

You won’t find me around these parts, kid. Now, mind getting back to class? Don’t you have detention? And get your bag, it’s kind of important for your pop quiz tomorrow. Of course that’s only if tomorrow comes.

“What do you mean by that? And where are you? This is freaky…” I looked around one more time, got up from my unusually comfortable seat on the cement, and peeked around the corner just to make sure he wasn’t pulling my leg and actually was around a corner stalking me. After I was sure he was telling the truth, I asked yet another question I wanted an answer to. “What do you mean ‘if tomorrow comes’’? Of course tomorrow will come!”

Ugh, stop yelling, it’s giving me--us a headache. And before you ask, you have experienced this day before. You probably thought you dreamed about it or something but, in truth, you’re reliving this day over and over again. It will never stop unless you do something about it.

Okay, I’m officially insane. I should just go home and clear my mind. You know, listen to music, read, take a shower, eat, and fall asleep. Yeah, sounds like a good plan.

That’s funny. Look, kid, I’ll help you break this cycle if you promise to do everything I say. It’ll be hard but it’s doable. And then you can go to school like a normal person without feeling like a psychopath.

“How do I do that?” I asked aloud. “How do I stop living this day over and over again? What mistake did I make?”

That voice in my head begins again. First, stop speaking aloud, people are staring. I looked around, and, sure enough, people were definitely giving me the eye. Next, go back to school. Everything will be the same as yesterday if you don’t change something. Good point. But something already changed, didn’t it? I met you, so isn’t that a change? I suppose it is but it’s not as a big a change as you going back, I mean, I’ve been trying to speak to you for a while now. The Voice must have known I was going to say something so he purposely told me to hurry up. So go. Rolling my eyes, I stepped in the opposite direction from the school. I’ll go tomorrow. No, now. Alright, fine, I’ll go. Also, I’m not just some voice inside your head, Callum. I’m something much greater. The Voice’s statement left me quite perplexed. Something much greater, huh? What like a superhero?

You’ll know soon enough, Callum. Very soon.

After that, I figured he wouldn’t continue so, not fully grasping what he meant, I pushed it out of my mind and began moving.

The walk back to school was uneventful but as soon as I got to my destination, everybody stared at me. Seems the news of my outburst got around quickly. Someone from my class came up to me and asked, “Hey, why are back here, you already left? And by the way, you left your stuff in the classroom.” He patted my shoulder as he walked away. He probably thought he was out of hearing range but I could still hear his and his friends’ snickers.

So all I’m here for is to get my stuff and talk to the teacher?

Precisely. I raised my eyebrows at the short response and did what the voice suggested. I entered through the large glass doors of the school and the smell of sweat hit me. The distant sound of chatter and sneakers could be heard from one of the hallways. Must be the basketball team, I assumed. I turned left and reached an elevator. I almost pressed the button when I remembered; only staff members are allowed to use it. Sighing, I started walking up the long staircase of my high school that was right next to it.I took some time to study my surroundings, I was in no way a rush. The huge glass windows, plain white walls, and clean tile floors around me was very simplistic. As I reached the second floor, the ninth grade floor, I saw a lot of doors. One had a sign above it that read “Science Resort”. I remember from last year that it was where the science geeks would go during lunch and after school to work on projects. There were around 9 classrooms on this floor, each had 23 or so black desks with comfortable black chairs to match. The staircase was a light gray and had a railing the same color, only a tad bit darker. I climbed the stairs leisurely until I reached the third floor, the tenth grade floor.

I knocked on the door and waited for a response. After a few seconds I heard the words “come in”. I opened the door and saw my thirty-four year old teacher chatting away happily with Noah, my crush. I took a deep breath, attempting to suppress the growing feeling of wanting to vomit, and entered the classroom.