Lavinia stared at the photo she had taken from Earth—her eyes wide, her face pale as if life had drained from it.
"This… is me. And that's… the same boy! The same collision… the same expression on my face!"
She sat on the edge of her bed, trying to organize her thoughts, but her mind spun like a whirlpool.
"Was someone following me?! Who took that picture? Is there… a spy?!"
She suddenly stood up, remembering the strange album she had taken from the alley.
She ran to her bag, pulled it out, and sat on the floor. Her heart pounded hard, her hand trembling as she opened the cover.
The light reflected off the page—faint and dim, but enough to catch her attention.
"What is this?" she murmured, leaning closer.
She turned the first page, then the second—and then came the shock.
Photos. Many photos.
The album that had been empty a moment ago was now filled with pictures—and not just any pictures, but her entire life captured within them.
Filled with images from her birth until today.
There she was, a little girl playing in the park with Mikel (both trading punches), fights… quarrels… tears… and shouting.
There she was on her first day of high school (Mira laughing while Mikel pulled her hair from behind…).
She laughed for a moment. "Oh my God, I looked like a creature from the Cretaceous period!"
Then she froz her eyes locked on another photo… one showing her pushing Mikel into a pond.
"Oh, that was in elementary school! But who took this one?!"
"Im… im… impossible… how could this photo even exist…"
Page after page, the moments unfolded so many of them.
There were pictures of her at school with Mira and Mikel, others at home, at the mall… countless photos.
Even ones that were never taken like her sleeping in her room last night.
And there it was…
An empty spot where the photo from the ground had been…
The same boy she had bumped into today.
But the next page… was stranger.
A picture of him standing in front of the classroom blackboard, the teacher introducing him as a new student.
And her… standing there, pointing at him, eyes wide open, while the rest of the students stared in astonishment.
"Impossible…" she whispered.
She turned to the next page. In it, they were sitting together in the schoolyard, laughing, a heart drawn on the bag between them.
"This… a date? Are we going to go out together?!"
One after another, the photos spoke:
Them holding hands… a soft kiss in the park… his birthday with her bringing him a cake… even university and work scenes…
And she kept turning page after page… until she reached…
A photo… of a white dress.
"I'm… getting married? To this person?!"
Another page… she was holding a rounded belly.
"I'm pregnant?! That's fast!"
Then came the final pages.
A picture of her entering the house, face tear-streaked, bag in hand.
Then… a photo of her husband with a blonde woman—in a position that needed no explanation.
A scream tore through her from the inside.
Then… the last photo—her leaving the house, crying, shocked… and then being hit by a car in a pitiful state.
The greater shock was the next image—her lying on the ground, blood everywhere, and the driver stepping out… it was Mikel, with Mira beside him, looking like a married couple.
She froze.
"Im… impossible. No way this is real. How could I die in such a ridiculous way…"
"Maybe I should pinch myself to wake up from this stupid dream…"
"Wait… ow… that hurts. I feel pain…"
Lavinia put her hands over her head.
"Ahhh… this isn't a dream. That means the boy I bumped into by accident will transfer to my school, become my boyfriend… then my husband… then cheat on me with a blonde girl… and I'll die in a car accident caused by my childhood friend and my best friend… Aaaaaah! Impossible!"
"This isn't a love story… it's a tragedy!"
She jumped up and ran toward her mother.
"Mom! Mooooom!! This album… it has pictures from the future?!"
Her mother laughed.
"My dear, what kind of imagination is that? Maybe you watched too many movies today! The album is empty—there are no pictures in it!"
Lavinia stared in disbelief.
"What do you mean, empty? You're joking! Look closely, it's full of pictures—!"
Her mother replied,
"Lavinia, it's a new album. There aren't any photos in it. Where did you even find it? Did you buy it?"
That's when Lavinia realized, in shock, that she was the only one who could see the photos.
She had no choice but to return to her room.
"This is real. This is my future… and this album knows everything. But if the pictures show what will happen… can I change it?"
She decided she would.
She picked up the photo showing the new student's arrival and flipped it over—there, in small writing, was a date:
11/02/2009
Her hand flew to her mouth.
"That's… tomorrow! Impossible! So he's transferring tomorrow!"
"Damn it, I'll avoid him at all costs. I'll delay going to school. No collision, no love… no betrayal!"
The next morning, she left home later than usual, her bag messy, her hair hastily tied.
"Today's plan: no collisions, no new students, no future!"
She walked into the empty hallway, her footsteps echoing as if she feared the shadows themselves.
Then Lavinia let out a mischievous laugh, rubbing her hands together.
"Bwahaha! This way, I won't have to stand there and point at him like in the picture… haha! I'm a genius…"
She pushed the classroom door open slowly, took a deep breath, and then—
Opened it wide.
There he was, standing right in front of her, exactly like in the photo… except the angle and setting were slightly different.
She couldn't hold herself back. She screamed:
"Youuu?! Why?! Damn it!"
Before she could collapse, he stepped forward quickly and caught her, holding her tightly in front of everyone.
Silence.
Shock.
Even Mikel and Mira gasped together.
"Oh my gosh… he caught her!" said Mira, while Mikel just stared in disbelief.
Lavinia was taken to the infirmary, where she woke up, lightly hitting her forehead.
"No… nooo! A romantic scene?! In front of everyone?! Oh God, what kind of nightmare is this?!"
She jumped off the bed and ran out of the school.
The school guard shouted from behind,
"You… you troublemaker, Lavinia! I saw you—come back here or you'll be punished!"
She left everyone behind…
running toward the alley where she had found the album, searching for the old man.
But there was no sign of him.
No shadow. No stall. Nothing.
"Damn you, old man… this is all your fault!"
"Was he an illusion? And the album too?!"
She returned home—exhausted, shaken.
But when she opened the album again, she found something shocking.
The picture that yesterday had shown her standing in surprise, pointing at him—had changed.
Now it showed him catching her as she fainted from shock.
"The picture… changed?!"
She laughed in disbelief, then gasped.
"Does that mean… I can change my future?!"
She shut the album firmly, her eyes gleaming.
"I won't be the girl who gets betrayed, cries, and breaks. I won't follow the pictures—
I'll create them myself!"
And there… the game of fate began.
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