Déjà vu. Déjà su. Déjà vécu.
— V. E. Schwab

When grieving Bay Mitchell wakes up, disoriented, in a parking lot at one a.m., he has no recollection of how he got there.

His bones ache, his car is smoking, and his windshield is cracked. But it's familiar—he thinks. So he convinces himself he's intoxicated and walks the short distance to his favorite diner.

There, he meets the enigma that is Genesis Edache, murmuring to herself in the back booth. Genesis is many things. Stunning, high-achieving, overwhelmed, spontaneous, and relentlessly cynical. She's his favorite sight, her laugh his favorite sound, and her rambling his favorite thing to listen to at the end of long days. Bay feels her presence as acutely as the pain in his sides, and it doesn't make sense.

Because he met Geni exactly like this for the first time two years ago. Geni is supposed to be dead.

BAY MITCHELL

GENESIS EDACHE

BRYANT MITCHELL

DEJANAE CLAIBORNE

MIA HEARST

(part one)

01. 100 Miles An Hour - Labrinth | 02. Cross My Mind - Olivia Dean | 03. Cosmos - Zinadelphia | 04. u. - Humble the Great, Kamal | 05. John Redcorn - SiR | 06. Purgatory Silverstar - Djo | 07. Fourth of July - Sufjan Stevens | 08. Misuse Oh - Ethel Cain | 09. Pull Me In - Labrinth | 10. River - Leon Bridges | 11. Emily I'm Sorry - boygenius

(part two)

01. Delete Ya - Djo | 02. To Be So Lonely - Harry Styles | 03. this is what slow dancing feels like - JVKE | 04. Call On Me - Daniel Caesar | 05. Over For Now - Aeris Roves | 06. Utopia - ODIE | 07. Treasure In The Hills - Leon Thomas | 08. Always - Daniel Caesar | 09. Fallin Out of Love With You - Montell Fish | 10. this is what sadness feels like - JVKE | 11. White Ferrari - Frank Ocean

(part three)

01. Bent - Bryant Barnes | 02. In A Good Way - Faye Webster | 03. angie - Humble the Great | 04. Nova - Jaïr Faria | 05. Ostentatious (piano edit) - Montell Fish, John Glacier, dj gummy bear | 06. Limbo - Bryant Barnes | 07. Particles - Nothing But Thieves | 08. Holocene - Bon Iver | 09. Darling - Montell Fish | 10. The Archer - Greta Van Fleet | 11. Breathe Me - Sia

(link in inline comment)

– mental health themes, including but not limited to grief, depression, & insomnia
– alcohol & substance use
– male pov & its related suffering
– pining™
– death of a loved one & suicide (suggested)
– black woman x black man central romance
– sci-fi (ish) themes/some creepiness
– time, time, time, see what's become of me
– sexual situations

Prompt 78: You begin to realize that nothing is quite what it seems.

Prompt 82: You are in love with someone living and someone long dead. Neither one is willing to let you go.

Welcome to Motion Sickness! What better time to experiment with a four-year-old idea than ONC season? This is a speculative romance that also explores grief. So.

As always, please be kind and respectful in the comments. I do not tolerate racist, sexist, or any other form of hateful commentary.

The characters' opinions do not reflect my own.

This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise stated, all names, characters, businesses, places, locales and events are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means without prior written consent from the author.

The short: Plagiarism isn't cute.

© 2026 Fay Sunday. All rights reserved.