Lena awoke the next morning with a slight headache, feeling strangely off. The memories of her night were muddled, and she couldn’t quite piece together why she felt this lingering heaviness in her chest. Glancing at Jake, she noticed he was watching her closely, an unreadable expression on his face.
“You okay?” she asked, her voice hoarse with sleep.
“Yeah,” he replied, though his tone was cautious. “You just… seemed different last night. In a good way, I mean.”
Lena blinked in confusion but didn’t question it further. She got out of bed and padded to the bathroom, where she washed her face and brushed her teeth. As she looked in the mirror, something felt… off. Her skin looked smoother, her lips fuller. Even her eyes seemed to have a different spark, though she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Dismissing it as fatigue, she got dressed in her usual sweater and jeans and prepared for another day.
But throughout the day, Lena couldn’t shake the strange feeling inside her. She found herself more aware of her body, how her clothes hugged her figure. In class, she caught herself staring at a boy across the room and biting her lips, noticing the shape of his shoulders, the line of his jaw. These weren’t thoughts she normally had, and it unsettled her. And then there was the bracelet. She couldn’t bring herself to take it off, even though she hadn’t worn jewelry in years.
The day dragged on, and Lena’s mind kept wandering back to fleeting, foreign thoughts—images of smoky rooms, laughter, and indulgence. She shook her head, trying to clear her mind, but the strange pull of the bracelet was always there, like a whisper at the edge of her consciousness.