I look around the room, searching for a ‘flaw in the Matrix’, something that will give this away as a trick created by my subconscious. There has to be a piece out of place, but as I look around it seems everything’s exactly where it should be.

‘Zach?’ Chase says again. ‘Is something the matter?’

‘I’m fine,’ I finally say after a long pause, even though I’m absolutely not.

Act normal, Zachary. At least until you can figure out what’s going on here.

‘Go long!’ Ethan yells from outside, tossing the ball.

‘Car alarm!’ I say, watching as Cameron sprints after it and tumbles straight into Mr Harrington’s car. Sure enough, the alarm starts blaring, and the boys all scatter.

‘They have the coordination of a bunch of drunken toddlers,’ Chase says, watching them. ‘No wonder they didn’t bring back the trophy.’

‘That’s exactly what you said yesterday,’ I squeal. ‘This can’t be a coincidence!’

‘What can’t be a coincidence? You’re not making any sense, Zach.’

‘This has all happened already,’ I explain, my mind spinning as I try to process it. I look around the room, searching for something – anything – that might explain it.

‘OK, slow down,’ Chase says, gripping me by the shoulders. ‘Zach, can you chill out for a second, or do I need to call someone?’

‘OK,’ I say, trying to take deep breaths. ‘I’m calm. I’m chill.’

Notifications start pinging through on Chase’s phone.

‘It’s the results!’ I say, entirely losing my chill.

‘Huh?’ Chase says, looking at his phone. ‘Oh …’

‘Tiffany wins everything,’ I say, pointing at his phone wildly. ‘Hottest girl. Most likely to be prime minister.’

Chase snorts at that.

‘Just check it!’

‘All right, all right,’ he says, scrolling through the results. ‘Huh, you’re right! Well, whaddya know?’

‘That’s all you have to say? “Well, whaddya know?”’

Chase gives me a confused little laugh. ‘I don’t know what you expect. It’s not exactly rocket science, Zach. Obviously she was going to win everything. It’s Tiffany. She probably made a bunch of fake accounts just to vote for herself. Look, these results don’t even add up. Bec got forty-nine votes for hottest girl. Tiffany got fifty-one.’

‘There’s not even that many students in our year,’ I say before he can. ‘I know.’

‘I’m half tempted to hack in and fix it.’

‘Don’t,’ I say firmly. That’s where everything started to go wrong yesterday.

‘I’m not going to,’ he says with a laugh. ‘Can you imagine Tiffany’s reaction?’

‘I don’t need to imagine,’ I say, the image of him drenched in blood still prominent in my mind. ‘I need you to listen to me. Something weird is going on. It’s like everything is happening all over again. Like … twice. Like we’re in some kind of time loop or something!’