The first thing Abel noticed was the incredible softness of the silk sheets beneath his body. Nothing like the worn out ones that he knew he had fallen asleep in the first place.
His eyes focused on an unfamiliar ceiling. High, pristine white, with crown molding that probably costed more than his entire bedroom back home. Back home...
Just the mere thought of back home struck his mind like he had just plunged into an icy cold lake. This was most definitely not his room.
Abel bolted upright, his heart hammering in his chest. The bedroom around him just oozed tasteful luxury. Mahogany furniture that gleamed in the morning light, floor to ceiling windows draped in heavy curtains, a crystal chandelier that caught the sun and scattered rainbows across the cream colored walls.
It was almost too much. Everything just screamed money. Old money to be precise. The kind that didn't need to announce itself.
"Where in the hell am I?" he whispered, his voice cracking with a bit of fear.
His mind raced backwards as he tried to conjure up past memories. Last night he knew he had gone to bed. His own bed. In his own cramped apartment.
He'd brushed his teeth, set his alarm, pulled the covers up to his chin and closed his eyes. Nothing unusual. Most certainly nothing that would explain...whatever this was.
He wondered if he had been kidnapped while he slept. Perhaps someone drugged him somehow. Some crazy elaborate prank gone too far. Anything that would explain how or why he was where he was.
As he thought about it his eyes caught movement in the corner. It was a mirror on the far wall of his room. No, it wasn't just any mirror. It was an enormous full-length mirror that reflected whatever was in front of it with precise accuracy.
Through an open doorway, he could see what had to be the bathroom, all marble and gold fixtures. It reminded him of those bathrooms that belong in only the richest of families or celebrities.
Abel threw off the silk sheets and stood up from his bed. He was a bit unsteady on his feet, but he managed to walk across the plush carpet into the crazy luxurious bathroom.
He was desperate for answers. For anything that might make sense. However, when he reached the comically large mirror he simply froze.
The face staring back at him wasn't his own. Not even close.
"No. No, no, no , no..."
He stumbled a bit as his palms pressed against the cool marble of the bathroom counter and leaned close to the mirror. The reflection mimicked his movements perfectly, but the person in the glass was a stranger.
Sharp jawline. Flawless porcelain skin. Eyes that were impossibly bright and expressive, framed by long dark lashes. Hair that fell in perfectly tousled waves, catching the light like it came straight out of a shampoo commercial.
It was if someone had taken the idealized protagonist from a Japanese anime and made him real. All smooth lines and elegant features that bordered on the ethereal.
He looked about eighteen years old. Young. Handsome in a way that didn't seem entirely human.
Abel touched his face, watching the reflections fingers trace the same path. High cheekbones. Straight nose. Lips that were neither too thin nor too full, just... perfect. Everything was perfect. Too perfect.
"This isn't real," he muttered, but the reflections mouth moved with his words, and the voice that came out was anything but his. It sounded clearer, smoother, like someone had auto tuned his vocal cords.
"This can't be real." He was still staring at himself, still trying to reconcile the impossibility of his situation, when a soft knock echoed through the bedroom.
"Sweetheart? Are you awake?"
Abel's blood ran cold. The voice was female, warm, and completely unfamiliar. He spun towards the sound just as the bedroom door opened.
The woman who entered was stunning. She looked to be in her early forties, but carried herself with the grace of someone who had never known a hard day's of work.
Her hair was swept up in an elegant twist, her dress crisp and clearly designer. Diamond earrings caught the light as she smiled at him. A smile full of genuine affection that made his stomach twist with guilt.
"There you are! Still in your pajamas?" She crossed the room with easy familiarity, and Abel had to fight every instinct in his soul to not back away from her.
"You will be late for school if you don't start getting ready."
School? His mind raced. Play along. He absolutely had to play along.
"Sorry, I... just woke up," he barely managed, trying his hardest to keep his voice steady.
The woman didn't seem to notice anything wrong. She reached out and straightened the collar of his silk pajama top with the casual intimacy of someone who had done it a thousand times before.
"I swear, you would sleep until noon if I let you." She laughed, the sound light and musical. "Your fathers already left for work, but breakfast is ready downstairs. Don't take too long, alright?"
Father. Work. Breakfast. The words swirled in his head like each one was a piece of a puzzle he didn't have the box for.
"Mom?" the world alone felt foreign on his tongue, but it was the undoubtedly the right one. He could see it in the way her expression softened, the way she looked at him like he was the most precious thing in the world.
"Yes, darling?"
Abel swallowed hard. He needed information, but he had to be careful. Too many questions and she would know something was wrong.
"I... had the weirdest dream last night. Everything felt so strange when I woke up. Like I couldn't quite remember where I was."
She frowned slightly, concern flickering across her face. "Are you feeling alright? You're not coming down with something, are you?"
She pressed the back of her hand against his forehead, and he had to force himself not to flinch at the touch of this stranger who thought was his mother.
"No, I'm fine. Just... groggy, I guess." He tried for a sheepish smile, and judging by the way her expression relaxed, it seemed to work. "Actually, um... what day is it again?"
"Monday, of course. Though I suppose that's reason enough to want to stay in bed." She laughed again, already turning toward the door.
"You're starting your final year at Hearts Academy today, remember? Senior year! Can you believe it? Feels like just yesterday you were starting middle school."
Hearts Academy. Senior year. Eighteen years old.
"Right. Yeah. Senior year." Abel nodded, his mind frantically cataloging every detail. "I guess I'm just... nervous about going back."
"That's understandable, sweetheart. It's a big year. University applications, final exams, all of it." She paused at the door, her hand on the ornate handle.
"But you will do wonderfully. You always have. You are brilliant, just like your father after all."
Her words hung in the air, loaded with expectation and pride that wasn't meant for him. He felt like an imposter wearing someone else's skin. Which, he supposed, he was.
"Mom?" The word came easier this time, or maybe he was just getting better at lying. "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course, darling."
"What... what was I like? As a kid, I mean." It was a risk, but he needed more. Needed to understand who he was supposed to be.
She tilted her head, her smile turning nostalgic. "You were always so curious. Always reading, always asking questions about how things worked. You drove your tutors crazy with your endless whys" Her eyes sparkled with the memory. "You have always been special, Abel. Never doubt that."
Abel. She had said Abel. At least they shared that. At least his name had followed him to wherever or whatever this was.
"Thanks, Mom. That... that helps. I'll get ready now."
"Good. Ando don't forget. Kenji's mother called last night. He'll be picking you up at nine, so you two can drive to school together like always."
She blew him a kiss, something that felt both foreign and strangely touching. "Love you, sweetheart."
"Love you too." He heard himself say, and then she was gone, the door clicking softly shut behind her.
The silence that followed was deafening. Almost creepy.
Abel sank onto the edge of the enormous bed, his head in his hands. The reflection in the bathroom mirror caught his eyes again. That impossibly handsome stranger wearing his confusion like an ill-fitting coat.
Facts. He needed to focus on the facts for now.
First. He had gone to sleep as himself and woke up as someone else. Someone who was strangely also named Abel that looked like he had stepped out of an anime.
Second. He was apparently eighteen, a senior at some place called Hearts Academy, and came from serious money if this house was any indication.
Third. He had a mother and father here. A life. Friends, maybe, if this Kenji person was anything to go by.
Fourth. Everyone believed he belonged here. No one questioned his presence because, to them, he had always been here.
Fifth. The last and most terrifying fact of them all. He had no idea how to get back home. Or if there even was a back home anymore.
Abel looked around the room again, really taking it in this time. The expensive furniture, the walk-in closet he could see through another doorway, the casual wealth that surrounded him like water surrounds fish. This was someone's life. Maybe his life now, whether he wanted it or not.
A laugh bubbled up in his throat, slightly hysterical. Hours ago, his biggest worry had been making rent. Now he was apparently some rich kid with a face that could launch a thousand Instagram followers and a mother who looked at him with unconditional love.
He should be panicking. He should be screaming. But instead, a strange calm settled over him. The kind that comes when the situation is so absurd that panic seems almost pointless.
"Okay," he said aloud to the empty room. "Okay. I can do this. School. Act normal. Figure out what the hell is going on."
He stood up, squaring his shoulders, and caught sight of his reflection again. The handsome stranger stared back, looking just as lost Abel felt.
"Guess we're in this together buddy," he murmured to his new face.
Somewhere in the house, a clock chimed. Eight o'clock. One hour until this Kenji person showed up to pick him up. One hour to transform himself from a confused interdimensional transplant into a convincing rich kid ready for his senior year.
Abel took a deep breath and headed for the walk-in closet.
It was time to see just how good an actor he could be.