The scattered papers on the table tremble, filling the space with the echo of their soft collisions.
They shake at times, then flatten their touch along the edges of the table that Lina leans on, staring out the window for long moments.
She wonders… is it me? That memory from the past?

A faint, ironic smile forms at the corner of her lips. She raises her eyebrows in disbelief, then pulls the curtain shut with force, closing the window in front of her—as if drawing the curtain over that memory in her mind.

She steps back with heavy steps and stops, murmuring,
“So… what was that cursed dream?”

She grips her head tightly, then takes a deep breath.
“Damn those cursed dimensions.”

Then she steps forward with confidence again…
and starts her day as usual.

As usual, glances and whispers cross with every step.
Lina smiles here and there as her strands of hair sway each time her body moves, smiling and laughing with her friends at school.

There, on the second floor, students move around—some climbing the stairs, others going down.
At the edge of the balcony overlooking the schoolyard, Lina leans while listening to her friend’s stories. She stares ahead… yet she also watches the people passing beside her—searching for something… or perhaps wishing to stumble upon something.

The bell rings, signaling the return to class.
Students’ steps quicken, their voices grow louder in the chaos as they pass one another.
At the turn of the staircase, just as Lina is about to go down, time seems to stop for a moment—when her eyes collide with two shining brown eyes.

She drifts into them.
Her mind freezes for a moment, while a voice from a nearly fading memory echoes in her ears.
The smiles of the four people from the photo in her dream pass before her eyes.

The silence breaks, and she quickly returns to herself when her friend pulls her along while descending the stairs as well.

It was only seconds… maybe.
Or perhaps fragments of seconds.

Lina remembers the eyes.
While the owner of those eyes remembers the scent.

Lina leaves…
but Laith remains frozen in his place.

A flood of memories passes before his eyes, and he murmurs,
“That scent…”

He smiles, then says,
“Completely unfamiliar.”

Then he smiles again, staring at the ground,
“Déjà vu… I think I’m starting to lose my mind because of the many dreams lately.”

And then he continues on his way as well.