Sunday is rest day

After what had happened to Mai yesterday, most people would want to forget a day like that for the rest of their lives. Today when Mai woke up though, she was in the best of moods. At first she was surprised and slightly disappointed that during her sleep she hadn't gone back to the other world, but all the rules were still confusing to her.

She had spent nearly the whole day in the other place, but when she came to, apparently not long had passed in the real world. She was still stuck deciding whether the other world was real or just a crazy dream, but one of the reasons she was feeling positive today was because it was a Sunday.

'But it's not just any Sunday today!' Mai thought, springing up out of bed and drawing her curtains to let the bright shining light in. 'Today is the day when that bank robbery is meant to happen. Finally it will let me know if the other world is a real place or not, if it really is the future.'

For a second she felt strange, maybe she shouldn't be so happy that a bank robbery was about to take place, but she could take pleasure in the fact that the perpetrators would be caught in the act of doing so.

It was still early morning, so she didn't expect any news to break about it just yet. While at breakfast eating her normal two pieces of toast a sudden smile spread across her face.

"Mom! Mai is smiling like she's happy and it's creeping me out." Cindy said.

"Oh, is this about yesterday?" Her mom replied, leaning on the kitchen counter. "When you came back, your mind was blank so I thought it didn't go well."

'Did it go well?' Mai asked herself.

After waking up in the new world, Mai's embarrassment of being caught with no clothes on had kind of vanished. After all, she felt like she knew what was going to happen in the future, and the nicest thing of all was her and Chris' ride back home.

The whole group was very caring after what happened, especially Chris. Not only did he pay for her new clothes that she could wear but he also went around asking about what could have happened to her clothes. The shop clerks had no clue and when he asked to check the cameras, the answer they had gotten was that the cameras were fake, they were just there to deter people from stealing.

They also weren't allowed to put cameras in the changing area in the first place. Still, watching Chris so patiently try to help her really cheered her up. The talk on the bus ride back also went well, as the two of them got talking about what they had done while apart on the trip.

They were getting on so well that she had even forgotten to pay him back for the clothes that he had bought.

'Well, that just gives me another chance to speak to him at school tomorrow when I see him then, won't it.' She thought to herself cheerfully.

"It must've gone really well if you can't say anything about it but smile." Her mom said, as she continued doing her daily chores. "Just don't try to have any babies too young. Trust me, they're cute when you first have them, but then you start having second thoughts when they're screaming through the night and you have to clean up after them all the time.

"Some people say it's an investment, but do you know how much you two have cost me, and I haven't seen a penny of that back."

"Hey, is she bad mouthing us while we are still here in front of her?" Cindy said, as she leaned over the table and whispered to her.

"I think she's talking about you, you little gremlin. I've always been a good child." Mai replied, sticking out her tongue before tucking her chair in and rushing back upstairs.

While in her room, she decided to check online to see if there was any news about the robbery yet, but still she could find nothing which soured her mood a little. At that moment though, she suddenly felt hot and before she could reach her bed she stumbled onto the floor.

*Thud*

A loud bang was heard from above in the kitchen as she fell to her knees. Seconds later, Mai's mother came bursting through the room.

"Mai, what's wrong, are you okay?" She asked, only to find Mai was out of breath on the floor and her face was hot.

——

Now laying in her bed with a cold towel over her head, it turned out that Mai had somehow managed to catch a fever. She must have had one all morning, but due to her excitement she really couldn't tell until it had finally caught up with her.

After her mother took care of her needs she closed the door.

"Just let me know if you need anything okay?" She said, and Mai nodded in response.

While in bed with nothing to do, she was just thankful that it wasn't a school day. Most people would be happy to be sick on a school day, but Mai wanted to see Chris as soon as possible. With nothing to do, Mai started to think about the future world she had now visited several times.

If it was a dream, how could someone keep having the same dream again and again and remember everything so clearly? Her main question was how to go between each world when she wanted.

'Wait a second, I went to sleep and nothing happened. I thought I was going to be stuck there forever, but before I went back to the dressing room, wasn't Simon holding me and crying?'

Now thinking about it more, she realised that nearly every day when she had gone to the other world, it had been so when someone was crying.

She held up the green gem in her necklace, pulling it forward and inspecting it.

'What kind of sadistic, masochist are you? You only work through people's tears!' She complained at it.

But then she started to rub it gently again.

'It's okay, maybe you will have helped me more than you know.' She thought.

A few seconds later and a few bangs on her door were heard.

"You don't have to knock mom, you can just come in." Mai shouted back.

The door creaked open.

"That would make sense, but the thing is I'm not your mum." Simon replied as he made his way in. "You know how much your mum worries about you, she told my mom as soon as you were sick so I decided to give you a visit. Do you think you're just tired from yesterday?" Simon asked as he went closer to her.

"I don't know, I'm not a doctor and neither are you." Mai replied, her face still red from the heat that was growing in her body.

Taking the towel off from her head, Simon replaced it with a new one that had been given to him by her mother. He then used the back of his hand to press against her head.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Mai asked.

"What do you mean, I'm checking how hot headed you are? What do you want me to do, put my forehead against yours like they do in those books?" He asked.

Suddenly, the back of Simon's hands started to get hotter.

"Oh I see, maybe that is something that you would enjoy." Simon smiled as he got closer and closer to her with his head.

"Hey, hey move away, you know I'm so weak right now that I can't deal with your idiocy." Mai replied. As usual Simon was being his joky self, but his face was now incredibly close to hers and looked serious, as the two of them were now eye level.

Then, he had done what he thought he would have never done, he pressed his forehead against hers.

"What are you.."

Before Mai could say anything, she felt something soft touch her lips. To her surprise, it wasn't bad at all. She didn't pull away but was instead drawn in, and she couldn't help but feel it was natural to close her eyes while doing so.

A few seconds later, Simon's face had lifted away from hers and he was staring at her with a completely red face. Seeing this, she was unsure whether she could hear Simon's heartbeat through his chest or if it was her own about to burst out.

'Wait, what just happened? Did Simon just….did Simon just kiss me?!'

******