“… and Rome overpowered their neighbors..” I turned my head and glanced at all the other students sitting in on class today. It was pretty funny. More students were in class today than there had been in the whole class combined last week. If anything screamed “Exams are here!” You’d be hard pressed not to see me gesture to this room. I mean who could blame us? We all looked half dead. Why was this class an 8 am class? It was wayy too early for this and half the class was suffering from a certain deprivation.
It made it even worse for me because I was an undergraduate to this university. I commuted here every MWF and took two classes this senior year. It killed me whenever my alarm clock tried to wake me up, and I had to get to class. I’d have to drive 30 minutes just to get here, not including the extra minutes it took for me to walk and get to class within a respectable 5 minutes. It was pure agony. And this class was hell.
I was dying of boredom. However, my professor kept doing his job. Continuing to lecture us about empire and politics while I desperately searched the room for a distraction.
Olivia was blowing her hair back and forth from her bangs. I think I watched her for a good solid five minutes. Entertaining, but I started to get lulled by the effect. Next was Luke. Now class always seemed to zoom by when watching him. He was always doing something. This time, however, I seemed to luck out again. He sat in his chair, shoulders slumped. His desk mate ,Sean, watching too as his head started to subtly teeter forward, then sway to the side as he dozed off the class.
I drummed my fingers on the desk and glanced at the clock for the seventh time. 8:17.
“Uhhhhg,” I let out in a quiet groan and rubbed my eyes. And to think I didn’t bring a single pen to doodle with. I glanced at Brook and her tapping pen. This is why I didn’t do morning classes.
***
“Ok class, don’t forget exams are this Friday! And I want you to look over the chapters we’ve been reading. Have a good morning.” All the students in the room seemed to be shot with an electric bolt as they all fled History. I ,However, was left grabbing my fifty ton book off the table and stuffing it in my backpack. I was one of those students who liked to wait till the professor was completely finished with his class before I packed up.
I glanced at the room while putting the backpack on my shoulder. Barely seeing the last student from the class leaving through the door. My professor wiping off the chalk board with a chalk dust cloud wafting about him.
That’s my que! I quickly made a speedy exit. That man could TALK. I made that mistake once when I tried to be nice. Trying to be one of the students he would at least know when passing in a hall. Bad choice. I had to talk to him for half an hour about a chapter I barely remembered reading. He was nice, but I did not need that again.
I shuffled down the hallway and did what all college kids did. Try to avoid awkward eye contact. This was exactly why I appreciated my friends so much. They were amazing in simple ways like that. Too bad Abby was still asleep in her dorm room. Ugh, living the good life.
Next up for today was literature. It was in the same building so all I had to do was take a turn down the right hallway.
I turned and looked in front of me. Oh wait, didn’t I have an important email notification I needed to check? Pulling out my phone I skillfully avoided looking at a guy walking the opposite direction from me. In the corner of my eye, he was also tapping at his phone. A smirk spread across my face because of the absurdity.
“Laaa la laa laaaa!! YoU kNOw whO IT iS! Laaa la laa laaaa!! YoU kNOw whO IT iS!”
I jumped and almost dropped my phone as it rang. I hit accept and glanced to the guy I passed. I saw him look at me with a laugh on his face. And I nervously laughed back at him and stared at my phone with murder. I can’t believe I forgot to silence my phone after my alarm this morning! I groaned to myself while I brought the phone to my head.
“.. V? ..VV!!!!”
“Yes,YES! What do you want?!”
I whispered as I entered my classroom. I was eight minutes early.
“Ok this is crazy but I had the weirdest dream when I woke up. I was in this weird dimension with this floating fluff ball. He told me the whole world was going to change with the strike of thirteen..”
“Wait up what are you talking about? Talk a little slower.”
“He..oh sorry! It just felt so real! I never dream about fantastical things. He told me my psych was sensitive and that I was sleeping at the right time to connect with a test broadcast? Well, whatever that means. I’m still trying to understand what he told me! I mean it was a dream.. I think? Wow. It’s still blowing my mind.”
“Wait, what?”
I squinted my eyes and started to massage my head with my free hand as another student entered class.
“You had a weird dream Abby?”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Yes!! But I called you because of how real it felt! You like fantasy things. I thought.. I don’t know…like if it was actually real, you might know what I was talking about?..”
“Umm.. no?.. I have no idea what you're talking about.”
I was still whispering but stopped when the professor walked in.
“Sorry Abby, class is about to start.”
“Oh! Yeah I forgot! Sorry!! I'm just, I don’t know, look out for whenever the clock strikes thirteen?..”
“Yah sure. Buy! I’ll talk to you at dinner tonight ok? See you later!”
I whispered then hit end on the call.
That was bazar.
I scratched my head and figured today might just be one of those days.
***
Literature was literature. Class slowly went by as we discussed some poems that were assigned to us. We had to get in groups and talk as if we knew what the heck we were reading. Good thing a student named Ethan was In my group. He somehow just knew how to decode the mysteries of poems and I was perfectly fine with agreeing with him.
After literature, I went and studied for one of my other classes. After that, I found a nice little nook in the cafeteria and got myself some burrito. Not half bad for the college cafeteria if you asked me. But now I was heading back to my car to leave for my house. I was cutting through one of the college buildings because of the rain when something yellow came in view of my peripheral vision. I glanced to my right then to my left. But it followed me around the room as I shifted my head. The yellow.. thing never leaving just beyond my focus
“What the heck?”
I spun around in a full circle and watched as it followed me completely again. Then it came into focus.
I stared with gouging eyes and a mouth half opened. That yellow.. light had expanded and produced a.. message?.. right in front of my very eyes. I had read it. I had even heard something as I read.
What. Just. Happened.
My stomach did a little flip as I looked at the brightly lit words in front of my face. This can’t be real. I read through the.. message.. again and sucked In a breath as my eyes skimmed over the words 'struck at thirteen’.
Abby.
What did she say again?! I think I remember her saying that her dream mentioned something about how our world would change at the strike of thirteen.. If it was even possible, my eyes widened even further as I reached for my phone. Somehow the message disappeared as I looked at the time.
12:52 p.m.
Does thirteen mean 1:00? As In military time? What does this mean?!
I was left standing In the hallway as rain pelted against windows. The tree's branches hitting against the windows as the wind blew them. I looked around trying to see if any other students were about. I desperately needed to see if anyone else had seen and heard what I had.
I was speed walking when a guy and a girl with frantic steps turned the corner and we almost collided with each other. We all stopped and stared at each other. The girl spoke up first.
“Did you see it?!” She asked breathly.
I glanced at them and nodded my head.
“Frick!” The guy said.
He looked like he ran a marathon. His breathing hard as he sweat through his shirt. Weirdly, that snapped me out from my daze.
“I saw it! But did you guys see the time it mentioned?…”
I didn’t get an answer. Others came stomping as they too started to look for others. They spotted us and ran as they joined our little group.
“Did anyone see the glowing message?!”
“What does this mean! This isn’t real is it?!”
The little group turned into a crowd as other students and staff started to exit rooms and we all gathered in the entrance.
My brain was still spinning as everyone started talking over themselves. What is going on? I thought to myself. I thought this might not be real, but everyone saw it too?
However, I stopped dwelling on it as I was shoved against someone. This was a problem! I was in the midst of the growing crowd and I was being pushed and shoved in each direction as the crowd talked about the glowing message.
I almost escaped the crowd when I felt my butt starting to vibrate.
ABBY!!
I reached for my phone and hit accept.
“HELLO? ABBY?!” I yelled as I tried to hear who was on the other end.
“v… MAEVE?!!!”
That was not Abby.
“MOM! WHY ARE YOU CALLING?!
I shoved my finger in my left ear and pressed the phone closer to my other.
“ARE YOU SERIOUS?? THE LIGHTS! THE MESSAGE! ARE YOU OK?? DO YOU KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING?!”
I glanced at the growing panicked crowd as they all spouted out opinions and reasons why the world was now ending.
“I DON'T KNOW! BUT ABBY TALKED ABOUT SOMETHING SIMILAR TO THIS THIS MORNING!! SORRY!! THAT'S WHY I THOUGHT SHE WAS THE ONE CALLING ME! NOT YOU!!”
“HONEY, I DON'T WANT YOU…”
And that is when everything went white.