Clerence Cartwright

My last class, which I don't really pay attention to, ends at around 2 today. After unplugging my charged laptop and packing up my belongings, I walk out of the classroom with my backpack slung on one of my shoulders. My feet moves involuntarily towards the resting area, where students visit to relieve stress or to talk about a variety of boring but interesting topics.

For example, single girls would blabber about their favourite boy bands or about their biases on another famous group; while doubl- girls in a relationship would grumble about how clumsy their boyfriends are to those single female friends, or feeling daze about having a wonderful night with their boyfriends in some places.

"Yo!" I wince upon the impact when Dominic pats me on the shoulder.

"Yo!" I reply with a smirk. "No more classes today?"

"Nope, you?"

"Nope for me as well," I shrug with a pout.

Soon, Greg and Hansel appears together at the glass door. Their faces neutral but with a little hint of exhaustion. Frankly, Doc and I know about the reason. But as the pair of them finally reach us, I can feel something is going on on Hans.

Although his facial expression looks as stony as usual right now, his eyes would never lie - they do not look alive. "You okay, Hans?" I pat his back when he gasps slightly before nodding with a faint smile. However, it vanishes when he answers something I would never expect him to.

"I saw my sister," his voice is so soft until I am the only one who hears him. "Well, not exactly that I see her in good shape, but she projected a dream into my head yesterday night," he explains with his lowest volume, afraid that the other two imbeciles will hear him, though I can see they are not paying attention on us.

After finding a quieter space somewhere in the resting area, which is where we are surrounded by comfortable bean bags, I ask, "Mind telling me about that dream, Hans?" One of my eyebrows arches upwards when my heart begins to be loaded with curiosity.

"It's quite hard to explain," he swallows as I can see his uneasy face. His Adam's apple wriggles upon the tiny action.

I shake my head, blinking, "W-why?"

"Because I saw you," his eyes turn bluer under the shadows while I can feel them piercing unmercifully through mine. "And Shadows." My heart must have skipped a beat because I jump a little with my shocked face.

"That doesn't make any sense, Hans." But I refuse to believe. I am so scared that I wish this isn't a message but a joke from this third imbecile of my college life. "You must be joking, right? Tell me you're joking," I pronounce through a short giggle, but Hans remains silent. His face serious when his pyramided fingers are bracing his chin.

Oh no.

This doesn't look like a joke as this is not how Hans' jokes turn out to be when he says it. He looks sober, and unusual. "Sasha has not attended class for four days." His observation makes me suck in my breath. "And you were being upset for the past few days, maybe as well as today which I don't really know, but is it mostly because of her?" He is asking too much, yet he is concerning about me as a friend instead of being a reporter, or those crazy paparazzies in campus.

After a few seconds of silence, I finally nod my head. "Yes, Hans." And he's the one asking me 'why' on the contrary this time. "Because I was the one watching when she falls unconscious."

_____

The three of us stand in front of the general hospital, watching up to the glass windows which its internals are blocked by curtains. Our eyelids are lowered due to the afternoon sun. Speaking of the 'three of us', this means Doc has come along. I believe a number of you would wonder where the heck Greg is.

I'll tell you: He has class until five thirty today and that class is pretty important to not skip. So here we are without him. "So Sasha is in here?" The stupidest question comes out from Doc's mouth.

"Of course. Where else could she be?" Hans snorts when I answer this brainless friend with a judging look.

"I'm just asking," he pouts but soon, we have arrived at the lobby and then, at the reception area.

"Hi, when is the last visiting period for today, miss?" I ask politely when the young nurse sitting in the cubicle casts her stare at us. Her face blushes a little at the sight of the jerk. Yes, it's Dominic. "Stop flirting, dickhead," I elbow his stomach when he breathes out 'oh' in an utter sexual way, making the whole situation worse.

"T-the last period would be from 6 to 7, gentlemen," the nurse answers with a nervous smile when Hans drags Doc away. Instinctively, I look at my watch and it shows 4 in the afternoon. "Well, great. We are coming to visit a patient called Sasha."

"Okay, please write down your names and IDs here in the blanks, and you'll be free to enter her room." The nurse instructs with a respectful manner when I return with a fake smile. "Her room number is-"

"607-A, thank you," I show her my gratitude upon her service despite her startled stare at my memory and gesture for the two boys to follow me. Not long after, the said room comes into view. After taking in a deep breath, I push the sliding door aside and Sasha's lifeless body appears in front. She looks peaceful with her hands laying on her stomach. Her chest rises and falls steadily as if she is sleeping.

Like Sleeping Beauty.

"She's the one that turned my life upside down," I blurt out without any warning until the boys avert their gazes on me, surprised by my true words. "Well, I mean she's the one that made me upset for the past few days." I clear my throat while Doc huffs with a disagreeing smile.

"Oh no you're not, Clery," he calls me with the word I hate the most again, but with Sasha presenting in the same space as us makes me not wanting to punch him on the face now. Indirectly, he kinda owes her because of this. "You have feelings for her." That's the most invalid presumption made by this man.

"I agree."

Not you too, Hansel.

I can't stop myself from rolling my eyes skywards. "We'd been talking for only a few hours, guys. There's no way that feeling can generate in such a short period of time," I voice out, which I believe this is partly true to most people in the world.

"What's yours, is yours Clerence," states Hansel truthfully with a gentle pat on my shoulder. "Your feelings will never lie."

"Yeah," breaths Doc a little wearily. "My feeling for Suzy is true though."

Apparently, he hasn't gotten over it yet. That girl cheated on him, yet he can still forgive her!

"Forget her, Doc," I cast him a shoulder glance. "She's a bitch, and a bitch doesn't deserve a love from a jerk."

"Damn you, Clerence," Dominic elbows me with a chuckle while Hans giggles weirdly. "I'm a bad boy now."

"No you're not," Hans chimes in. "You're still you. You'd never changed."

***

Sasha Shadows

I don't understand. My body couldn't stop glitching since this morning and I'm pretty sure I have not exposed myself towards the scorching sunlight either.

It is happening again. I lower my head and look at my glitching hands, panic and fear swarm all over me like strong tsunami currents, sending jolts of pain to my temples until I furrow my eyebrows. Groaning, I can't stop rubbing and massaging my aching temples until the pain is eased.

Unlike the past few days, I'm now staying in my house, wondering about the mystery of my body in my room, alone. Isabelle has gone back to Hell to report to her manager about last night, and this would be terrifying if I keep doing nothing but glitching.

"What is wrong with my body?" I murmur towards thin air. Suddenly, I glitch again and reappear in the living room. A horrified gasp escapes from my largely parted lips when my heart skips a beat. "Oh my god, I have to get Isabelle before glitching again and appearing under the sun."

Involuntarily, I turn toward the window which the curtain is pulled away. Warm sunlight pours through the transparent plates and I can't deny that I might fracture into dust if I ever stand near the heat and light source. The sudden add-ons of taboos in my life is making it hard for me to fit in. And to be honest, I feel like a vampire now, which I could neither find it sad nor exciting to be very honest.

"I'm back!" Here comes Isabelle with her same black dress and a bag of freshly bought breads and buns. "Did you behave?" Sure enough, she is annoying.

"Of course, little brat," I roll my eyes. "But I've got a question."

"Yes?" asks the little girl like a lecturer readied to answer her students' questions.

"Why am I glitching?" I blurt out, tilting my head to the side with my arms crossing on my chest. A mere sound of electricity buzzes when my body glitches a little again. But thankfully, I'm still standing in the same place.

Isabelle pulls down her sun glasses before eyeing me like an old school principle. Her diamond-like blue eyes are examining the problem on me. Due to the sudden awkward feeling that I am being scanned from top to bottom, though the action is done by a 5-year-old, I still shiver. "Ah," and I jump a little when Isabelle voices out, her mind seems to have the answer. "It is the side effect after you have completed almost half of the IMPOSSIBLE wishes."

"Really?" My eyes moving from side to side when I begin to analyse the consequences of more granted wishes in my head.

What if my body disappears after all the wishes are done?

"Will I be dead after all the wishes are granted?" I ask hesitantly when Isabelle braces her chin with two fingers, thinking or pretending to be thinking, I don't know.

Soon, she heaves out a sigh after making her consideration. Her eyes stare at mine firmly when she pronounces, "No matter what answers you have heard, do not quit on your wish accomplishment, got it?"

"No."

"Swear now," demands Isabelle with her slightly demonic voice. "Or you'll be dead straight away."

"What? How?" I ask when I can feel the great ridiculousness presented in Isabelle's warning. But when she points at my hand which is holding a bun and then on my face which is when I realise I'm munching on the bread she has brought without being awared. "Holy!" I drop the bread. "Is this poisonous?"

"It will if you're not going to swear," Isabelle states with an innocent shrug when my jaw drops and a little piece of bread falls silently down onto the ground.

"Fuck, fine," I huff in frustration before lifting up three fingers to swear. My eyes never look at Isabelle but at the spinning ceiling fan behind her. "I, Sasha Danielle Shadows, will swear to never abandon this wish accomplishment after hearing Isabelle's answer upon my question. Acceptable?"

"Accepted," says Isabelle monotonously.

"Can you tell me now then?"

Sighing in defeat, Isabelle finally says, "You might."

ˢᴼ ᴬᴺᴼᵀᴴᴱᴿ ᵀᵂᴼ ᴮᴼᵞˢ ᴬᴿᴱ ᵀᴼᴸᴰ ᴬᴮᴼᵁᵀ ˢᴬˢᴴᴬ, ˢᴱᶜᴿᴱᵀˢ ᴬᴿᴱ ᴴᴬᴿᴰ ᵀᴼ ᴷᴱᴱᴾ ᴵˢᴺ'ᵀ ᴵᵀ? 😅

ᴮᵞ ᵀᴴᴱ ᵂᴬᵞ, ᴵ'ᴰ ᶠᴼᵁᴺᴰ ᴬ ᶠᴱᵂ ᴾᴵᶜᵀᵁᴿᴱˢ ᴼᶠ ᶜᴸᴱᴿᴱᴺᶜᴱ ᴬᴺᴰ ᴵ'ᴸᴸ ᴾᴼˢᵀ ˢᴼᴹᴱ ᴴᴱᴿᴱ ᴬˢ ᴬ ᴿᴱᵂᴬᴿᴰ ᶠᴼᴿ ᴹᵞ ᶠᴱᴹᴬᴸᴱ ᴵᴹᴾᴼˢˢᴵᴮᴸᵞˢ (ᴹᴬᵞᴮᴱ ᴺᴱˣᵀ ᶜᴴᴬᴾᴾᴵᴱ ᶠᴼᴿ ᴹᴬᴸᴱ ᴵᴹᴾᴼˢˢᴵᴮᴸᵞˢ (?)🤣🤣😅)

ᵀᴴᴬᴺᴷ ᵞᴼᵁ ᴬᴸᴸ ᶠᴼᴿ ˢᴾᴱᴺᴰᴵᴺᴳ ᵞᴼᵁᴿ ᵀᴵᴹᴱ ᴴᴱᴿᴱ. ᴰᴼᴺ'ᵀ ᶠᴼᴿᴳᴱᵀ ᵀᴼ ᴸᴵᴳᴴᵀ ᵁᴾ ᵀᴴᴬᵀ ᴸᴵᵀᵀᴸᴱ ˢᵀᴬᴿ ᴬᴺᴰ ᶜᴼᴹᴹᴱᴺᵀ ᴬˢ ᴬ ᴹᴼᵀᴵᵛᴬᵀᴵᴼᴺ ᶠᴼᴿ ᵀᴴᴵˢ ᵂᴿᴵᵀᴱᴿ ˣᴰ.

ᴵ'ᴸᴸ ˢᴱᴱ ᵞ'ᴬᴸᴸ ᴵᴺ ᴹᵞ ᴺᴱˣᵀ ᵁᴾᴰᴬᵀᴱ 💕💕