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"Are you kidding me?" Abby jumped back, her arms outstretched, the crimson stain blooming across her chest. "This dress cost more than you make in a week!"

"I'm so sorry, ma'am, I—" The waiter fumbled for napkins.

Abby's dramatic backward step knocked her into another server, sending a tray of empty glasses crashing against the table. The domino effect sent water glasses toppling, bread baskets overturning, and silverware clattering to the floor.

Seraphina froze, her mouth hanging open. It wasn't in her head. This was happening exactly as she'd seen it.

"Sera!" Someone called her name, snapping her from her trance.

A restaurant manager soon appeared while servers rushed to clean the spilled drinks. Seraphina barely registered the action, her mind swimming with implications.

"Nice birthday surprise," Seraphina said with a weak laugh as the manager apologized profusely, offering free desserts and drinks.

Abby, dabbing at her dress with club soda, shot her a concerned look. "Are you sure you're okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Not a ghost," Seraphina said. "Something far stranger."

"Well, your night can only get better from here." Abby's smile returned, irrepressible as always. "And this dress was last season anyway." She leaned closer, lowering her voice. "Plus, the cute waiter who ruined it gave me his number while apologizing."

Despite everything, Seraphina laughed. "Only you could turn this disaster into a date."

"Speaking of which," Abby's eyes glinted mischievously, "we're still hitting Eclipse after this, right? Birthday girl needs to dance off her weird incident."

"I don't know if?—"

"Non-negotiable," Abby cut her off. "Thirty means you party harder, not smarter."

Twenty minutes later, Seraphina absently traced the edge of the tablecloth while the dessert plates were cleared away. The restaurant staff had been falling over themselves to make amends after Seraphina's freak accident.

"So, ready for Eclipse?" Abby leaned in, her blue eyes sparkling despite the dried wine stain across her chest.

Seraphina hesitated. All she wanted was to curl up at home with a book on astrophysics and try to rationalize what had happened. But the look in Abby's eyes made her pause.

"Fine." She sighed. "But I'm not staying too late."

Abby squealed and clapped her hands. "Perfect! We'll swing by my place first. I need to change out of this disaster, and you need to borrow something that screams 'I'm thirty, flirty, and thriving.'"

Thirty minutes later, Seraphina sat perched on the edge of Abby's king-sized bed, surrounded by discarded dresses. Her mind kept replaying the restaurant incident while Abby fluttered around her walk-in closet like a hummingbird on espresso.

"What's happening to me?" Seraphina whispered to herself. The analytical part of her brain—the astronomer who mapped celestial bodies and calculated orbital trajectories—searched desperately for explanations. Stress? A minor stroke?

"What about this?" Abby emerged in a crimson dress that hugged every curve. "Does it scream 'I laugh in the face of wine stains'?"

Seraphina forced a smile. "It looks amazing."

"You're still freaked out about that weird prediction thing you mentioned in the car, aren't you?"

"Wouldn't you be? I saw it happen, Abby. Exactly as it did."

"Maybe you're psychic now." Abby shrugged, twirling to check her reflection. "Happy birthday, you got a superpower!"

Seraphina rubbed her temples. "That's not how the real world works. There must be a rational explanation."

"Or maybe there isn't." Abby sat beside her, surprisingly gentle. "Who knows? Maybe turning thirty opened some cosmic door. Either way, let's dance it off."

Before she knew it, Seraphina was standing in the middle of the dance floor of Miami's most popular nightclub. Eclipse pulsed with neon blue lights and deep bass that Seraphina felt in her chest. The nightclub's dance floor was packed with bodies moving like a single organism. Normally, she'd have planted herself at a corner table with a drink, but tonight, Abby dragged her straight to the dance floor when they'd arrived.

"Let loose!" Abby shouted over the music, already moving with the beat. "Best cure for an existential crisis!"