Am i dreaming

At the terrace of their school, a girl stood by the edge of the barriers, gazing up at the sky with a blank expression. Her gaze lingered on the heavens, accompanied by the chirping of small birds and passing vehicles below their school. After a moment, she ended the session with a sigh and closed her eyes.

A short Story: Can you be my smile? by Author Eztera

Chapter 1 - A project to prepare for

While walking down the school hallway today, the girl from the terrace earlier was passed by many students with smiles, while she remained expressionless. She glanced around, left and right, just to catch a glimpse of her classmates running past with smiles and laughter following them. When she returned her gaze forward, lost in thought, she began to speak to herself.

"I've been in this school for quite some time now. Two years? I could also be considered a bystander. In all the time I've been here, overflowing joy and smiles always greet me, but I also wanted to experience the envy-inducing looks, yet why do I not want it? I want to be something that fits into this place. Not living in my own world that nobody knows about They might just think I'm crazy, who knows? Maybe they want to approach you to get to know you, but that seems like too much of a dream."

School ID - The Department of Psychological Research and Education

Student's Name and Age - Cassandra Hansley, 17 Years Old

Section and Category Class - Sc12, Class 3

Course in the student's department and school - The Study of Psychological ideas and the Crisis Intervention Specialist

The information provided pertains to the girl who has been the focus of the story. The center of her thoughts.

As Cassandra arrived at her classroom, she slowly made her way to her seat and sat down. While she blankly stared at their board, she shifted her gaze to the left where she saw a boy sitting next to their window, reading a book. She secretly watched him and observed him without him noticing.

"Xin Tsukamoto, he's also part of the Crisis Intervention Specialist; he might even be our head counselor, I'm just not sure. He's very interesting because we both hardly talk to anyone, well, maybe it's just me since that's all I see from him, being alone every time I encounter him. He's always reading and sleeping, so he might easily be mistaken for lazy. But I have a strong feeling that his psychological capacity is excellent and remarkable. Well, I wish him the best of luck in life."

After briefly observing Xin, Cassandra returned her gaze to the front and rested her arms on the desk, lowering her head. Her attention was focused on the board, specifically on the words written there: "Rest Day is coming!" She stared at it as her eyelids drooped due to drowsiness.

"Rest day, huh. Will it bring me joy or will i just kill myself by that day," she thought before finally letting her eyes close and drifting off to sleep.

Cassandra slowly opened her eyes and found herself lying on roses floating above the sea. The water below was clear and pink , mirroring the pink hue of the sky and the slowly moving clouds that seemed to reveal hints of white. Cassandra's eyes, still groggy, but were sure that her vision was absorbing all the information around her.

Slowly, she raised her left hand from the water, with her palm closed, and as she lifted it higher, she brought it closer to her face to gradually open her clenched fist. She saw her wet hand also carrying a rose petal. Still quiet, she lowered her hand again to submerge it in the water. She focused her attention on the sky and the beauty it displayed.

"The realm of heavens. I want to call it that. Isn't it beautiful? But where am I, have I finally achieved my long-desired goal, to die? This looks like 'heaven' but why do I feel like I'm the only one here, or can this be called an 'Imaginary space' of a comfortable aspect of my existence? Perhaps, I can say it's something I've longed for in my life. Peace." She uttered everything in her mind.

After mentioning the last word "peace," she followed it with an inhale and exhale, and closed her eyes to fully immerse herself in a place she has longed for. Peace.

And as her eyes remained closed, she once again uttered her thoughts in her mind.

"A Dream landscape? Maybe this is what it is. I am alone. How long do i have to stay here?, i like it. Maybe i should always be isolated, and after this maybe i'll end it all so i can come back here and stay here, Forever? Hm yeah, forever will be Unbothered"

And as she opened her eyes again, she realized that her classmates were no longer there, and she was the only one left in their classroom. She saw herself once more in the quiet environment, with the sun directly shining on her face from the window, and the sound of footsteps of students getting farther and farther away, indicating their gradual departure.

However, even though it was time to leave, she still closed her eyes to continue her sleep, eager to return to her dream. She was suddenly disturbed when she slowly opened her eyes and saw Xin at the door of their room, standing there and looking at her. Xin and Cassandra stared at each other for more than a few seconds, both showing no expression and appearing equally weary. Their gaze ended abruptly when Xin continued walking to close the windows as instructed. As he went to the window, Cassandra decided to just continue her sleep, but..

"It's time to leave. I've been assigned to clean this classroom. Students included," Xin suddenly said as he closed each window.

"Wow, I just heard him speak now, and to me directly. It feels unreal, but I guess I was the wrong here, so you know, I need to leave," Cassandra thought to herself. She stood up from her slouched position, closed her eyes, followed by a bow, indicating her apology, then grabbed her bag and walked towards the door of their school to exit the classroom.

But before she could leave the classroom...

"And one more thing. Because you were asleep for the whole two hours, the Crisis Intervention Specialist members were called. It's voluntary to attend, so don't worry. The members were assigned to partner with their fellow members, and since we're both on the list—" Xin didn't finish his sentence as Cassandra interrupted him.

Cassandra: "we're partners?"

Xin: "That's it."

And The two of them locked eyes again, still expressionless. Afterward, Cassandra continued her departure. Meanwhile, Xin just stared at the door, now alone in their classroom.