OF ALL SAMPLE paintings, why did she choose a well? I silently sat at my usual place, near the window, wherein I could clearly see the vicious beauty of the forbidden forest. The tall trees stood still while the branches and leaves swayed from side to side as the strong wind blew. It was a peaceful evening, yet my art professor made me rethink what could go wrong at this moment.

Overthinking was the correct word to describe my situation, but snapping back to reality wouldn't do anything good either. Maybe thinking about the acquaintance party might help, but the upcoming acquaintance party made me nervous as hell.

Was trusting Stesha's words a good decision?

Or was I too desperate to be accepted by these people?

All these emotions drove me insane that evening. Somehow, in the midst of the chaos in my mind, I managed to show something different, something perilous, through art. My painting involved a woman dressed in white with blood stains and dirt all over the fabric, but I couldn't guess who it was due to the long black hair that covered her face. No matter how hard I tried to avert my gaze from the painting, I couldn't do it. My eyes were glued to the woman like she was staring back at me through her damp hair.

My grip on the painting brush loosened, and as soon as it landed on the ground, the sound woke me up from my trance. My eyes immediately landed on Miss Samantha, who decided to stand next to my easel and looked at me with her confused doe eyes.

"Miss Samantha," I called her name to be sure I wasn't imagining things.

"For the second time around," she said before peeking at my painting. "Am I that scary to look at?"

I shook my head in disapproval, "You are always present whenever something comes up, no offense."

"Maybe because. . ." my professor tilted her head to the side, still smiling. "I am the main reason why moments like these happen. Don't you think, Miss Dayanan?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, almost stuttering from the fear slowly building up inside me.

"I mean," she shrugged her shoulder a little bit. "Everyone knows me as the weird professor in La Trinidad, so every eerie moment happening right now is because of me. No other than my weird doings."

I sighed in relief upon hearing her explanation. It was too shallow, but it assured me that the fear I had inflected to myself was my fault, to begin with. I was overthinking these past few hours. If only Deanna didn't share about the urban legend, then my day would be peaceful.

My art class ended after submitting my canvas to Miss Samantha. The woman I had painted earlier got stuck in my head like a broken recorder.

Was I dumb for overthinking again?

"But I can't remember why I included her in my painting," I whispered before heading toward the dormitory.

The hallway was the same as yesterday. It was quiet and dark for my liking. My steps were slow, almost counting every tile on the ground. In the middle of the hallway, I heard a couple of footsteps. The thing was, I already stopped walking a minute ago, but the footsteps were getting nearer every second.

Damn it, no one told me the hallway was haunted.

"Who," I took a deep breath. "Who's there? Anyone? Someone? The one?"

I almost burst out laughing upon hearing myself. How could I make time to joke around in this situation? I really hate my unserious self most of the time, especially tonight. The one? I would laugh if I were in a different place and time, but tonight wasn't right to crack a joke.

The virgin ghost was probably dying to bury me deep in the forbidden forest. Or maybe throw my dead body inside an old well, so no one would find me ever again.

Thinking about all these things sent shivers down my spine. I couldn't dare to think about my sad and unreasonable death. With one final deep breath, I found myself running all the way to the dormitory with a thumping heart. Inhale. Exhale. I did it several times outside my room while both hands rested on my knees.

The moment that my breathing was finally back to normal. I opened the door, only to find it dark and empty.

"Rayne?" I called amidst the darkness.

I slowly stepped inside the room while searching for the light switch on the wall. Once I finally felt the bump, I automatically turned on the lights and screamed for the second time today. But this time around, it wasn't because of fear but because of pure excitement as I saw Rayne and Deanna in front of me with used party poppers, red balloons, and a chocolate cake.

They both screamed before running toward me, "Happy birthday, Michelle!"

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