Ticking Down

There is a small patch of light at the end of the hallway. As Spencer sees it, she runs to it like a moth towards a fire. 20 feet away, 10 feet away, 2 feet away.

A journey awaits.

The moment she opens the door, dazzling needles of light poke into her eyes, forcing her to close her eyes. Within a second, a huge area of blank space appears in front of her eyes. Spencer rubs her eyes, and a giant ink pen is in her right hand. She looks confused so she looks up, peeking at the edges of the wall.

This is not a white wall at all.

What stands in front of her is a huge piece of paper, rooted in the ground. Several big words are written in Times New Roman, saying: Do you have a death wish?

What the hell. Spencer grumbles to herself silently. I live a perfect life.

Before she has a chance to walk away, the pen moves inside her right palm, flying above and dragging her toward the white paper. She sees each word in the question amplifying dramatically as she moves closer. Then before she could get away, the pen pokes a hole in the paper, a whirl spins her into darkness.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Spencer bounces up from the bed, directly falling to the ground. She uses her arms to bounce herself back to standing, so her back doesn’t touch the floor. Something covers her eyes but when she tosses it, there is nothing there. She abruptly opens her eyes wide, and sunlight pours into her eyes suddenly. She looks at the bright sun outside the window.

Spencer is very confused.

It’s morning already? I don’t think I feel rested. When did I sleep last night? ...

“Are you OK?” Jade says and the voice sounds like she is blowing bubbles in her mouth.

Spencer stares outside the window, spacing out. The grass lawn outside is covered in a thin slice of ice, while the ample leaves decorating the white blanket red.

“Are you OK?” Jade asks again, and this time, she fiercely knocks on Spencer’s shoulder. “Are you deaf?”

Spencer is horrified by the sudden pain on her shoulder, and she looks back at Jade’s long, strong legs. Spencer’s eyes move upward and sees a beautiful picture of sunset on her T-shirt.

Jade is my suite-mate living next door. She has short, blonde hair and she is a cool girl studying architecture.

“I’m...” Spencer opens her mouth wide as she looks at Jade’s forehead. A red, bright “3 DAYS” image appears on it.

“...not.”

I’m not Fine.

Spencer rubs her eyes, while Jade laughs out aloud: “Don’t be overly surprised by the whether outside. You know it’s St. Louis and nothing is impossible in terms of weather. I heard it’ll rain this afternoon. Better bring your umbrella!”

Jade pats on Spencer’s shoulder while Spencer sits stiffly by the window.

“OK! Thanks.” Spencer bites her lips, takes a deep breath, and begins to dress up.

Jade begins to apply sun-cream on her face in the restroom. She asks: “Wanna see the polar bear in the zoo over Spring Break? We can go together.”

Spencer nods numbly while putting on her shoes. She quickly shoulders her bag and walks out of her room. While passing the sofa in her suite, she peeks at the posters hanging on the wall. The blue poster is hers, with an italicized title “New Year Wishes” mimicking the designing style of “New York Times.” Spencer has listed 5 wishes on the poster. Next to hers is Jade’s “Spring Break Wishes” written on a red paper, and to Spencer’s surprise, Jade wrote 100 wishes on her poster. Jade’s fist wish is: get an A+ in architecture class.

“You are looking at mine again. Huh huh!” Jade laughs.

Jade’s “3 DAYS” sign shines on her forehead, which gives Spencer chills. Spencer looks at her first wish, and it says: “1. Be life-long friends with Jade.”

Spencer frowns.

Spencer walks into the classroom and finds Maya, her classmate, sitting on the second row. As Maya turns back, “85 YEARS” appears on her forehead. Spencer smiles, and she can’t help but to worry about Jade’s situation.

What does the number mean? Life span? If so, what would happen after 3 days?

Maya turns back and asks: “How’s your day?”

Spencer sits down behind her. “It’s just begun.”

In a weird way.

Maya stands up, showing her black dress off. She blinks her attractive eyes with dark eyelashes. Spencer swallows her saliva, and asks: “Are you going to any soiree this evening?”

“Yes! Guess who I am today?”

“Black widow?”

“Wait what?! She doesn’t wear dresses!”

“The devil wearing Prada?”

“Nope!” Maya spins around and her dress whirls elegantly in the air. She puts on a dark gown which hangs on the chair.

“I am Maleficent today!” Maya stands on her toe and smiles happily.

“Felix is going to hold a party to celebrate his birthday tomorrow night. Come!”

Felix...

Spencer’s eyes gleam for a second as she hears the word “Felix”, then the flickering fades away: “Well… I may have to do… some homework. Maybe next time?”

Maya has an unbelievable look: “Wait what? It’s Spring Break tomorrow!

Spencer shrugs: “I know! But I still have a pile of data to process.”

“Felix asked me to invite you. Everyone sees something going on, except you.”

Spencer involuntarily shakes her head.

Spencer asks curiously: “What did I miss?” She feels her heart beating a drum.

Maya leans forward and whisper to Spencer’s ear in a low voice, smirking: “He likes you.”

Spencer blushes and whispers back: “No way. He has a lot of chasers.”

“No he does. He adores you.” Maya blinks.

“Really?” Spencer is feeling on top of the world.

Maya encourages her: “Of course. You are special in his eyes.”

Before Spencer can ask more details, a crispy, lovely voice breaks into her thoughts.

“Goooooooodd moooorrrnnniiiiiiiiig, two aspiring scholars!”

Eric bumps into the classroom with a small book in his hand. He walks inside, waving at Spencer and Maya. Maya rolls her eyes, grumbling in a low voice only Spencer can hear: “Here comes the bookworm.”

Eric sits down and begins reading the book. It is Plato’s Five Dialogues for this Philosophy class. Spencer smiles at Eric. She sees “100 YEARS” on Eric’s forehead.

Well I guess the bookworm lives longer than you, Maya.

Maya says, “I hope you come to Felix’s party, Spencer. You should relax, alright? You have been spinning around for too long.”

Spencer smiles and pats on her shoulder: “Don’t worry about me, Maya. I love being hectic, as you know.”

Professor Brown stands in front of the blackboard, pointing to the word he just wrote on the board: APOLOGY. He asks: “Does anyone know what this word actually means in the text?” Eric quickly raises his hand, and Professor Brown nods at him.

“Defense.” “Bingo!” “Good! OK, a quick reminder that we will have a second in-class test right after Spring Break…”

Class begins to bustle and his voice is hard to hear in the noise.

Professor Brown shrugs: “OK you are all good to go. Happy Spring Break!”

Maya turns to Spencer and says: “I don’t want to study!”

“You can study with me for 4 hours and we watch a movie for 2 hours afterward.” Spencer proposes.

Maya slyly blinks: “Can we do the reverse? We study 2 hours and watch movies for 4 hours?”

Spencer: “Hmm…”

Eric’s voice pops up behind Spencer, offering a choice.

He says gently: “I can study with you if you want.”

Spencer looks back in surprise. A smile appears on her face and she nods: “Great! Shall we start tonight after dinner?”

Church bell strikes 12 as Spencer walks to the Psychology Building. She has no facial expression on her face. Items on her endless to-do list soar one by one inside her mind. There are 500 things laying densely on a blue paper. A blue pen circles top 5 things and Spencer speaks them out in her mind.

Data processing. Research paper. Dinner. Review Philosophy. Finish psych notes. Hopefully I can sleep before 1 a.m. tonight...

As Spencer walks cross the Mudd Field, she notices a boy on a skateboard flying towards her. The boy is a blurry outline as he is distanced, but as he approaches her, she notices that she knows this boy.

Spencer recognizes him: “Felix!”

Felix, a good-looking boy, waves at her and quickly approaches her. Spencer sees “99 YEARS” on his forehead. She feels happy about Felix’s longevity and smiles.

“Hey Spencer, what’s up?” He stops the skateboard using his right foot, “Are you going to my birthday party tomorrow night?”

Spencer shrugs: “Well it depends. If I could finish all of my work, I would! Thanks for inviting me. I appreciate it. I really do.”

“Come on! It’s Spring Break tomorrow! You can’t work day and night, can you?”

“Well I think I have to,” Spencer shrugs, “I am taking 21 credits right now.”

Felix seems a bit disappointed: “Oh OK! I will text you later!”

Before waving goodbye, Felix points to the sun.

“Stay sunny!!” “You too!!”

Spencer waves at him and his back image. She strides with joy and pride.

I have a superpower to see people’s life span. This is a gift no one ever has.

In this top-ranked university, she is a normal freshman who gets lost from time to time, but she gains some control over life because of the super-power. She puts on a bright smile on her face, smiling to everyone passing by.

But suddenly, Jade’s “3 DAYS” sign appears in Spencer’s mind again, warning her of the severe situation.

Felix, Eric, and Maya are healthy, but... what should I do with Jade?

Spencer sits behind a table, with a finished meal bowl in front of her. Eric still eats.

She hesitates and asks: “I’m wondering… If a friend of yours only has 3 days to live, would you remind her the truth?”

Eric looks up, muses for a second and drinks his coke. His reaction is surprisingly flat.

When he speaks, he sounds like a philosopher. “To say, or not to say, it’s a problem.” The words jump out of his mouth two at a time, accumulating suspense.

Eric puts his hand at his jaw: “Well, is it better to die knowing it than to die without knowing it?”

Spencer doesn’t have the answer.

Eric continues: “With only three days… I think if she can make the most use of these three days, she could still calmly accept her upcoming death. Have you read stories about Helen Keller? Only in darkness can someone appreciate the beauty of seeing things. Only when facing imminent death can someone truly begin to love one’s life.”

Spencer muses and walks around. Suddenly, another philosophical question pops up in her mind. “Eric, what are your thoughts on death?”

Eric looks up, muses for a second, and words slowly pop up.

“Fearful. Anxious. Worried. Regretful. Remorseful. Dejected. Despondent. Desperate.”

And he pauses for a second, “Excited.”

Spencer nods, and nods, and nods. But hearing the “excited” word, Spencer frowns: “Why excited in the end?”

“You know. It’s death. According to Socrates, death is a ‘dreamless sleep.’ Nothing to change. Nothing will change. Nothing needs to. It’s part of the nature.”

Spencer shrugs.

“Yeah, I know. Death is a normal thing everyone experiences. But for us, death seems to be far away.”

“Yeah, it is just a matter of time.” Eric stands up and faces the window, “Think it in another way. There would be be: No more nightmares. No more worries. No more classes. No more homework. No more pain.”

He stares at somewhere outside the window and closes his eyes.

“Time to relax. Time to smile. Time to sleep.” He seems to be talking with the air.

Spencer looks outside and sighs. Sun begins to set, and several frat boys are playing frisbee outside. There is some remote chattering sound. Everything seems peaceful.

“Everything is empty. Everything is full. Everything is possible. All is new. Do you believe in reincarnation?”

Spencer pauses for a second: “Sort of. So?”

“Imagine that... We will transform.”

“Into... what?”

“Whoever we want to be! New life awaits. How wonderful!”

Spencer frowns: “But until then, is all the memory lost? That’s beyond our imagination!”

Eric takes a deep breath: “OK, let’s change the topic for a while.”

“OK.”

He curiously asks: “Can you see numbers on my forehead?”

Spencer laughs and nods.

“OK.” Eric takes a deep breath again. “Don’t tell me if I won’t live long.”

“You have 100 years, Eric. Lucky you.” Spencer laugh and Eric laugh along.

“Well, very good news to me.” Eric smiles. “Have you checked your own numbers, Spencer?”

Spencer quickly walks inside her suite, but Jade is not there. Her eyes slightly widen in surprise, and then she is silent with no facial expression. 

She falls onto bed and dials Jade on the phone. Jade doesn’t respond.

Slowly, Spencer closes her eyes. Eric’s words about after-life occur in her mind.

If what he said is true, what would happen to Jade next?

Spencer’s imagination runs riot.

...Jade’s soul flies out of her body, flying above through the layers of ceilings, and poking the roof of her dorm. She flies high, looking down at the campus and enjoying seeing scenery she hasn’t seen before...

Spencer opens her eyes. She walks into the restroom to wash her face. When she lifts her eyes and stares at the mirror, she freezes. 

A red number - “2 DAYS” appears on her forehead.

Damn it.

Spencer shakes her head, and the number blurs but it is still there. She touches her forehead and wipes it, but the number remains unchanged. She looks panicked, washing her face over and over again. But every time she looks up in the mirror, the number remains there.

I can predict others’ life span, but I can’t predict mine.

She trembles, putting her hands on the dresser. Her world spins, and the sound of tinnitus rings louder and louder. She puts her hands over her eyes and falls onto the bed.

2 days 2 days 2 days 2 days 2 days 2 days

48 hours 48 hours 48 hours 48 hours

2880 minutes 2880 minutes 2880 minutes

172800 seconds 172800 seconds…

Eric’s voice echos in her mind.

A dream-less sleep. A dream-less sleep…

Spencer wakes up from her thoughts, getting off from bed. A bitter smile appears on her face as she looks outside. Clouds are burning on the night sky like fireworks. Red, purple, and blue colors blend with each other, and the world looks both dim and bright.

She rubs her eyes and walks out. As she faces the sunset, her eyes glisten. Cool breeze blows her hair, cleansing her soul. 

She murmurs to herself: “How beautiful...” She trembles and finds that her feet are wet. Her white socks step into the mud. Spencer ignores this and looks up into the sky. Several tears drop off from her face. 

Back home, she crosses off the 4th wish on the poster.

1.Be a life-long friend with Jade.

2.Play in the zoo.

3.Take the ferris wheel.

4.Watch the sunset.

5.Give Felix a hug

She lowers the blue pen and sits down on a chair in front of the table.

“Dear mom and dad: I am so sorry that I can’t pass all my classes this semester. I am afraid that I can’t even attend all the exams with a body alive…

A fast-paced, chaotic vision with only black and white colors going on in her head:

1) Jade knocks Spencer’s door but she doesn’t respond. After a while, residential advisor checks in. Shocked to find Spencer dead, RA calls ambulance and the school is sad to announce her death on campus. Police cars arrive to further investigate, bustling the dorm area. News and concern spread over the town. Tears and uncertainties run rampant.

Spencer forcefully shakes her head.

No! I can’t be found dead in my room!

She continues imagining other aftermaths.

2) Jade paints a black & white portrait of her and puts it in front of her grave.

Jade says: “Rest in peace, my dear.” Drops of tears roll down from her face. She buries her face in her hands, bending down: “I will remember you forever as my life-long friend.”

No, no, no, no!

3) Maya cries when receiving a phone call, with a pile of napkins on her table.

She dramatically sneezes and shakes her head: “No way! I can’t believe it!”

She throws her phone away: “It was totally, totally fake news! Fakest news ever!!”

Oh Maya... Spencer’s heart is broken imagining this.

4) Spencer’s lab manager replaces her with a more confident and competent undergraduate researcher.

The lab manager smirks at the new researcher: “Oh you are way better.”

Damn.

5) Eric writes a long letter to extol her contributions to the world when she was alive.

He reads it during “Spencer’s Send Off” when everyone wears black clothes, gathering around with candle sticks in hands.

Eric reads: “Spencer was a friend, a diligent student, and an aspiring psychologist on campus, having written 10 A+ essays and papers, ran 100 participants, completed 88 hours of lab work…”

Man, grades and accomplishments don’t matter at all, comparing with my precious life.

Spencer looks concerned as she retrieves all her wild thoughts and dreadful imagery. She peeks at the wish list she hasn’t fully completed.

Next morning, Spencer puts on a red dress and drives to the zoo. A giant, white polar bear is swimming back and forth in the large water tank, seeming to enjoy itself.

She remembers that when she was a little girl, her dad often took her to the zoo watching sloth clutching to the branches.

Suddenly, a little girl stands beneath her, licking ice-cream and asking: “Hi. Do you feel the bear is unhappy being locked in there? He has been swimming like this for half an hour now. Won’t he feel tired?”

Spencer looks at the bear, and suddenly, it waves its palms fiercely as if it is shouting to her: “Hey, you! Get me out of this damn tank!”

Spencer doesn’t know how to answer, so she nods and shrugs: “Maybe the bear wants to lose some weight so he keeps swimming.”

Walking away, Spencer decides to treat her sorrow self with something sweet.

“You can only put a maximum of 3 scoops on a cone, Miss.”

Spencer stretches her neck and talks with the ice-cream seller.

“Well then, can I have two cones with 6 scoops?” “OK! Which flavors do you want?”

Spencer excitedly points and says: “Can I have all of them? Chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, caramel, cookies, mango?”

The ice-cream in both of her hands seems so alluringly tasty.

For now, alories don’t matter at all, comparing with my precious life.

Spence licks the one on her left hand first, and then tastes the right one. She seems as happy and carefree as a kid, standing on the top of the world. People look at her, feeling amused at her ice-cream. Spencer becomes a walking advertisement for the ice-cream station.

Spencer sits on a blue room, facing the river down. After a while she gets a bird’s-eye view of the sky-scrapers down her feet. She puts on a pair of sun-glasses, touches the sunshine and closes her eyes. There is a serene smile on her face.

What if Felix is here with me... then it would be perfect to wrap up the lovely evening.

Spencer looks right and Felix sits next to her. He immerses in the sunlight and points to the arch: “Do you see the arch over there? Its silver contour line?”

“Yeah, it’s breathtaking!”

They talk and talk and nothing seems to disturb them. The ferris wheel rolls on and on, seemingly without an end.

Her stomach grumbles and drugs her back to reality. She calls for food delivery and the wheel gradually goes down to the ground.

A deliveryman with a helmet rides a motorcycle and arrives at the bottom of the ferris wheel. He takes down the helmet and uses his white T-shirt to wipe sweat.

Spencer looks down: “Is he…?”

The deliveryman takes out a receipt: “Are you Miss Foster?”

Spencer walks over and she looks as if she just won a lottery that is worth 1 million dollars. “Felix! How in the world can you be here?” Spencer takes her sun-glasses off.

“God! I can ask you the same question!”

Spencer takes over the food, smiling happily. She hesitates for a second, then walks over to hug him. His back is wet. He puts his arms around her shoulder.

“Happy birthday, Felix!”

Felix takes out another food box with the “Happy Panda Restaurant” logo on it.

“Aww, thank you! I have some specials today. Wanna eat at another place?”

They grab hands and carry the food while walking forward. Sunshine sneaks through their crossing hands.

Spencer and Felix sit down near the fountain, eating stir-fry mixed with large meat balls.

Spencer burps and laughs: “Happy Panda’s meatballs are my favorite!”

Felix smiles at her. He scratches his head: “Do you want to go to my party tonight?”

Spencer happily smiles and nods.

Spencer smiles at Felix when they are dancing in the living room. The whole house is filled with people. Most of them gather around the kitchen, leaving the living room to Spencer and Felix. Someone plays The Macarons Project’s Fly Me to The Moon on the speaker. Felix wears a black suit with white shirt inside, which makes him seem more formal and handsome. They dance slowly, with hands crossed. Spencer is very focused, trying to relish every moment of them being together. She moves closer to him intermittently, laying her head at his shoulder sometimes. They are both silent when the music plays. The music ends, and Maya opens the door, jumps inside, and breaks the silence.

“Whoa! Look at you! I’m so happy for both of you!”

Spencer and Felix looks into each other’s eyes for a second and they smile at each other.

Spencer hugs Maya.

“Thanks for inviting me yesterday! I am so glad to be here!”

“No big deal! Enjoy the evening!”

Maya waves and walks away to another group of friends.

Spencer and Felix look back at each other again, locking their eyes.

Spencer whispers: “If tomorrow was the end of the world, what would you do today?”

Felix smiles: “Well, dance with you? What else is better than that?”

Spencer stands on her feet and kisses his neck. Felix holds her shoulder spinning and her red dress blooms like a rose.

Spencer wakes up with head laying down on Felix’s chest. She checks her watch, pauses, and realizes that she doesn’t have much time left. She gets up and gets dresses as quietly as possible, sneaking outside with a pair of blue shoes in hands. When she arrives at door, Felix opens his eyes and smiles: “Spencer!” Spencer looks back and see him using right hand making a shape of a telephone. Felix’s mouths three silent words: Call me maybe?

Spencer nods and walks out.

Spencer sits on the grass, facing the sun. She takes out a mirror and sees “1 MINUTE” counting down on her forehead.

Let it be.

She begins to have difficulty breathing. She puts the mirror away, facing the sun.

Sun rises beautifully from sky, warming her up in serene beauty that would last forever.

Spencer wakes up from bed, while the blue sleeping mask covering her nose makes her have difficulty breathing. She quickly throws away the sleeping mask and sits up.

Spencer takes a deep breath: “Woo! My goodness, what a long dream! It feels so real!”

Spencer looks down and holds the blue sleeping mask in hand. “Oh it’s the mask that causes the dream.” The mask isn’t just a mask. It’s a dream-enhancer. It not only functions to make dreams feel real, but also helps the user control their actions in the dream and change scenarios in the dream based on users’ subconscious.

Spencer thinks: Even though the ticking down is horrifying, some parts of the dream is quite good... Thanks, TBL (Technology Benefits Life Co, Ltd). This is a good product. It truly helps me realize my wishes in the dream, even though my real life is a totally the opposite.

Spencer closes her eyes, and memory begins to roll like a wheel, bringing back to some yesterday before her dream.

“So, my day began with…”

“…pondering upon whether I should knock the door or not.”

…...How long will she occupy the restroom? Spencer scratched her hair, frowning in front of her restroom in the suite.

Spencer got up around 7:47 am but she found Jade was in the restroom, taking a shower while singing Charlie Puth’s Attention off-key.

This is the only restroom in our suite… Spencer thought inside, Well, my first class starts at 8:30 am and I might eat breakfast on the road.

Jade’s wet, personal concert lasted for 30 minutes.

Spencer could knock on the restroom door and asked Jade to be quick, but she was too embarrassed to interrupt Jade.

“Then, I had my philosophy test…”

Spencer quickly moved her pen, but the last question on her test paper was still empty.

Professor Brown checked his watch: “Last minute!”

Spencer’s hand shook. A drop of sweat fell on the last question: Does Socrates have a death wish? If so, why? If not, why not?

Damn… How in the world could I know what Socrates thinks?...

Spencer quickly wrote: “I think Socrates has a death wish, because he doesn’t escape from his prosecution…”

…Persecution or prosecution? Wait what’s the difference… Spencer thought to herself.

Spencer had to keep writing: “He also annoys the citizens, which exacerbates the…”

“3, 2, 1. Lower your pens, please.”

Spencer kept writing until she finished the sentence. Hardly did she finish writing the complete answer. Like a defeated boxer, she handed in the paper, lowering the head.

Maya looked back at Spencer: “Is the test easy for you, Spencer?”

Maya’s red dress floated like a blooming rose.

Spencer wiped her sweat from brow: “I didn’t finish the last question.”

“NO WAY! That last one is an easy one. Did you review the text?”

Damn… She sounds like my mom.

Spencer didn’t want to argue with her, so she stood up, shouldered her bag and went out.

“I have to go to the lab. See ya!”

“Then, it rained when I walked beside the Mudd Field.”

Like taxi drivers said, “Wait for 3 minutes and the weather will change.”

It’s so wet and muddy. So St. Louis! Spencer took a look at her brown shoes, which were originally blue.

Hmm… I didn’t even bring an umbrella with me. Damn it!

As awkwardly as a featherless bird, Spencer hid under a roof of a building nearby. Even within a few seconds, she was already soaked in water.

As the church struck 12, Spencer looked up and saw two dots moving in the foggy field. One was black. One was red.

Is that… Felix and Maya?

Spencer narrowed her eyes and saw Felix, who wore a black suit, held an umbrella for Maya. They both lingered in the rain as if they were enjoying it very much.

Spencer fixed her eyes on them, squeezing her wet shirt in vain and feeling sour in heart.

Spencer kept walking. Suddenly, Eric seemed to wave at her while riding his bike from a distance towards her. Her hand stopped halfway as Eric jumped off his bike and greeted another boy who happened to be walking behind Spencer.

The boy asked Eric: “Hey! What’s up buddy?”

Eric waved at him: “How’s everything! I just finished a Philosophy test!”

“Congrats!”

Their chattering voice became less distinct as Spencer ignored their conversation and walked forward. After a while she overheard something important.

The boy asked curiously: “Does Socrates have a death wish? What’s your answer to that?”

“You know, it’s death. Nothing to change. Nothing will change. Nothing needs to…”

Spencer was so immersed in Eric’s answer that she stepped into a muddy puddle and a patch of dirt splashed onto her trousers. She quickly wiped the dirt and walked away.

Damn it!

“I couldn’t enter my lab…”

Spencer stood in front of the lab in Psychology Building, pouring the objects out from her bag. However hard she tried, she couldn’t find the key to the lab.

“What the hell?!”

She sat down in front of the door, waiting for someone to open the door. While doing so, she browsed the Instagram and saw a recent post from Maya.

In the picture, Maya wore a pink panda T-shirt, laying her head on Felix’s shoulder. In front of them, there was a cute birthday cake.

On the bottom of the picture, Maya wrote: “I’m a happy panda tonight!”

Spencer shut off her phone, biting her lips.

After a hectic day, Spencer went home. Spencer’s dorm was noisier than before and as she walked in, she saw Jade chatting with her three friends and loud music was playing somewhere in the suite. Jade’s architecture prototype design was hung on the wall. Jade pointed at it, describing it with her friends. Spencer noticed her bright, red “A+” tattoo on her left arm.

Jade asks: “Guess the grade I received for this design?”

Her three friends simultaneously replied: “A+?”

“B+. But no matter what, I will be a great architect in next few years. Right, Spencer?”

Spencer tried to sneak into her room without being noticed. Hearing Jade calling her, she paused and blushed.

Spencer curtly replied: “Yeah yeah definitely.”

Spencer then waved at Jade and her friend awkwardly before going back to her room. After shutting her door, she released a long sigh, and sat on the floor. Frustrated and tired, Spencer threw away her shoes. The shoes flew away, haphazardly hitting something and making a dumb sound. An unopened package appeared in her sight.

“What’s it?”

She checked it and realized it was something she bought a while ago but she was too busy to open it. She curiously opened the box and took the sleeping mask out. Even the product was manufactured by the renowned TBL, the mask didn’t seem technical. The mask was made of cloth and there were only some blue stripes decorating the mask. Spencer looked closer, and she could see some electric wires underneath. Spencer charged it while putting on her pajamas.

Outside, Jade was laughing with her gangs loudly. Feeling exhausted, Spencer stuffed cotton in her ears and all she wanted was…

Sleep.

She quickly put on the blue sleeping mask.

Her eyes look curiously somewhere. A bright light appears at the end of the hallway.