Fast forward a week. Basically, Kaiden and me became close friends and became each other’s life line when our minds won’t let us rest. It’s a mutual friendship. I learned a lot about him as well. He is a really avid reader, reading mostly biblical and philosophical texts. He managed to learn different languages, even classical languages, while reading different books. He’s also very educated in a lot of subject areas.

I also got the best news of all! I passed my calculus exam! Take that, Calculus Professor Owens! And you, who didn’t believe I would pass.

To celebrate our victory, Laura and I went out to eat. I earned this; please don’t take it away from me.

“You’re happy,” Laura noted, “Did you get a higher score?”

“Higher than I expected,” I answered, “I never thought the others would be right. Turns out, I did well.”

“Well, it’s better than you groaning and complaining about your scores.” her face took on a prying expression, "How are things with... Kaiden, was it?"

I felt heat rise to my cheeks. "We're close. We've been meeting up a lot but..."

"But..." she looked at me, expectant.

"Well, he's great."

She suddenly burst out laughing and clapped her hands over her mouth when she realized she was too loud. "I never took you for one to develop feelings for someone after only a week!"

I rolled my eyes. "Har har. Get it out of your system now, Laura."

After eating, I received a message from Professor Owens, telling me to meet him at his office at the Math Department Faculty. I told Laura about this and she just pouted.

“He called me in yesterday but he only made me hand out some assignments due next week. Maybe he’ll give you your class handouts?”

“Probably,” I answered.

We got out and went on our separate ways. I ran to the Math Department and skidded to a halt in front of the faculty room. I knocked on the door before opening it. The teachers looked up all at once to see who dared disturb their only break from their students.

“U-um… Where’s Professor Owens’ office?” I muttered.

One teacher pointed at the door at the back of the room.

“Thank you,” I said and walked towards the door, keeping my head low in the hopes of remaining invisible.

I knocked on the door before opening it again. I peeked in and saw Professor Owens scribbling something on a small notebook. His assistant was standing beside him, pointing at something on his notebook.

“Excuse me, Professor Owens? You wanted to see me?”

He looked up and closed his notebook. “Ah, yes. Come in, Miss Sinclair.”

His assistant walked to the file cabinet on the right. The professor opened a drawer behind his desk and brought out a bunch of papers tied together with a paper ring.

“Kindly give this to your classmates,” he slid the papers across the desk to me, “It’s a fairly easy lesson so I figured you can self-study it. There are exercises at the back so I can evaluate how much you learned on your own. It’s due Tuesday next week.”

I smiled and nodded as I took the handouts.

“I was going to give it next week but I figured you won’t have anything to do since the exams are just over.”

Professor Owens nodded, telling me I can leave now. I stood, bowed at him and his assistant, and exited the room, closing the door gently once I got out. I walked past the teachers and thanked them before leaving the faculty room. Before I could close the door, the assistant opened it suddenly, shocking me a bit.

“I’m sorry,” she said, surprised, “Did I startle you?”

“N-no,” I chuckled sheepishly, “I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry,” she said, “I’m Ester. Are you in one of the professor’s classes?”

“Y-yes, I, um, actually always have seen you together.”

She nodded. “The professor is very busy. You know how obsessed he is with his work.”

I laughed with her. “He’s very happy when he’s teaching us. The delight in his eyes is brightest when we manage to solve his problems.”

“You’re the one sitting at the back row, right? Third person from the aisle?”

I was surprised, thinking no one paid attention to me. I nodded and bowed, “I'm so sorry, I-I have to go. Have a good day, ma’am.”

“I’ll walk with you,” she started walking, “It’ll just be until the classroom at the end of the hall.”

Normally, I’d get across the hallways in just a few seconds. But matching the pace of a possibly socially comfortable adult, the hallway never looked so long. They were the longest seconds of my life. Once we reached the end, I waved goodbye and dashed down the flight of stairs, and stopped once I got to the ground floor. I looked up and was surprised to find the lobby empty… especially at three in the afternoon. Even at seven in the evening there were still people walking around. If not students, teachers or guards would be present. At that moment, there were literally no people around. Eager to go home, I just walked by. I couldn’t help but think it was weird… perhaps it was just a weird occurrence. I took a quick picture and walked faster.

Psst!

A shiver went down my spine and I turned towards the sound. Well, you can’t really pinpoint the sound so I just turned around. I looked over my shoulder. I saw a child standing behind one of the pillars. She gestured for me to approach and I did so cautiously. As I approached, I noticed she was wearing a dark-blue school uniform I couldn't recognize. How did she get inside the school?

Once I got close enough, she leaned in conspiratorially, quickly grabbed my hand, brought out a pen from her pocket, and scribbled something on my left hand. Afterwards, she ran off laughing. I looked at my hand to see what that kid wrote down. I recognized the letters to be in Hebrew but I just don’t know the translation. After a blink of an eye, the people were back, and the school bell rang. I pressed the handouts against my chest and went home.

The moment I got to my room, my phone rang.

Isabella, it’s been two weeks since you last texted back. Are you really going to ignore us?

I sighed and turned off my phone. I went quickly out for some take-out and binge-watched the anime that was recommended by Kaiden. It’s almost finished, though, so I probably needed a new series to watch. Don’t judge me, dear reader. I’m not the only one with this problem. You most certainly do, too.

My phone rang once more. I opened it and smiled when I read the message.

I just finished my last exam. Want to celebrate with me tomorrow? I’ll meet you after your class.

I chuckled. I didn’t reply a confirmation yet.

I know you can never say no to me.

I burst out laughing and covered my mouth when I caught myself laughing too loud. Fine… I’ll see you. Ooh! By the way, I got something for you to translate.

Let me see.

I opened my phone camera and took a picture of my left hand. I opened the gallery to check but I saw no writing. Even more confusing, when I checked the photo from the lobby earlier today, it was full of people.

I opened my messages and started typing. Sorry, I can just show you tomorrow. My camera seems to be fudging with me.

Sure.

I have to sleep now. The social interaction with the Professor Owens got me DRAINED!

By the way, you talked to your parents yet?

I frowned. No, I can’t… not yet.

I see… it’s been, what, two weeks now?

Yeah… listen, I really have to sleep. Good night!

I shut off my phone and went to bed.

I found myself standing on a large rock overlooking a large crater lined with white rocks. The crater was partly filled with crystal clear water, being fed by small streams of water squeezing through the rocks. On my left, larger rocks protruded, forming steps spiraling downwards. Looking around the crater, I saw a vast and endless blue ocean. It was surprisingly still and… non-scary, if you know what I mean? I turned to the large stone treads on my left and took a deep breath. I jumped towards the first tread and almost slipped. I managed to hold on to a few rocks. Five steps down, I felt my body get heavy and lethargic so I leaned against the rocks behind me. I tried to continue down but I slipped in the sixth stair tread and fell. I jerked awake and opened my eyes, my heart racing in my chest. I wiped beads of sweat that had accumulated on my forehead.

I felt intense fear grab a hold of me and my eyes started to scan the room. In the corner stood a figure, I could only imagine as a child. It started to get closer so I tried to shout. Only air escaped my lungs, no sound. The figure slowly walked over. I started to struggle but I was paralyzed. I tried to scream louder but my efforts were all in vain. The closer it got, the more I panicked and tried to struggle.

I shot up from my bed screaming. The fear still persisted. I curled up on my bed and grabbed my pillow, desperately feeling the need to hug something. My chest tightened and I found myself sobbing and hugging my pillow tighter.

Needless to say, I didn’t sleep a wink that night. The nightmare got to me to the point that I didn’t want to sleep anymore… at least, not anytime soon. It was the worst night to feel really sleepy. When I realized that my coffee stash wasn’t strong enough to keep me awake, I went out to buy stronger coffee. Let’s just say I did everything I can to stay awake. It was a good thing it was after exams; the teachers gave us free time to do whatever we wanted.

During class the next day, I took the time to go to the canteen and buy something to eat. By coincidence, I saw Laura grabbing the pretzels near the counter. I looked down at my left hand, where the writing was still present, no matter how many times I washed my hands.

“Laura!” I called and showed her my hand, “Check it!”

She looked at my hand then at me. “Am I supposed to be looking at something?”