It started like any normal day.
The classroom was noisy, filled with random conversations and the sound of chairs dragging across the floor. Someone was laughing loudly in the back. Another was scrolling endlessly on his phone.
I sat by the window, as usual.
The sky was clear. Too clear.
I don't know why that bothered me.
Maybe because everything else felt… slightly off.
"Focus," the teacher said as he wrote on the board.
White chalk. Slow movements.
"The solution to this equation is simple if you follow the steps carefully."
I tried to listen.
I really did.
But something felt strange.
Like I had already heard this.
"The solution to this equation is simple if you follow the steps carefully."
…
My head snapped up.
Same sentence.
Exactly the same.
Same tone. Same pause.
Even the way he tapped the board at the end.
I frowned.
Did anyone notice?
I looked around.
Nothing.
The guy next to me was still drawing something in his notebook. A girl in front of me was fixing her hair using her phone camera.
No reactions.
No confusion.
Just… normal.
"Did you hear that?" I whispered.
"Hear what?" he replied without even looking at me.
I hesitated.
Maybe I imagined it.
Maybe my brain was just tired.
I hadn't slept well.
Yeah… that must be it.
I looked back at the board.
The teacher continued explaining.
Different words this time.
Everything seemed fine again.
But the feeling didn't leave.
That small crack in reality…
It stayed.
After school, I walked home alone.
The street was busy, like always.
Cars. People. Noise.
But something felt delayed.
Like everything was happening a second too late.
A car passed by me.
For a moment…
I felt like I saw it twice.
I stopped walking.
"No… that's not possible."
I shook my head and kept going.
At the traffic light, I waited.
Red.
I checked my phone.
Green.
I looked up.
Then suddenly—
Red again.
Too fast.
Way too fast.
My chest tightened.
This time, I was sure.
"This is wrong."
A man next to me crossed the street like nothing happened.
No hesitation.
No confusion.
Just me.
Only me.
That night, I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling.
My phone was in my hand, but I wasn't using it.
For once… I wasn't distracted.
I kept replaying everything in my head.
The classroom.
The repeated sentence.
The traffic light.
The strange delay.
And then a question appeared.
Simple.
But heavy.
"What if… the problem isn't the world?"
I slowly raised my hand in front of my face.
Looked at it.
Moved my fingers.
Everything responded.
Everything worked.
But it felt distant.
Like I was controlling something…
not being it.
"What if…"
I whispered in the dark.
"…I'm the one who's out of place?"
Silence.
No answer.
But deep inside…
Something shifted.
A doubt.
Small…
but dangerous.
And for the first time in my life…
I didn't feel like I understood the world anymore.