self-work, self-profit || c. divus

「4」

The bell.

Pandora would always hear it ringing in her ears, indicating the start and end of a class period. During this moment, many students would head to their next class, consider skipping by hiding in the infirmary beds enclosed by curtains, or talk to their classmates about the homework that they had forgotten to finish.

She found herself clad in her high school uniform, her hair that was meant to be long and curly secured in a ponytail was now let free and only reached her collarbone. Sitting alone in the lecture hall with her books neatly arranged on the allocated seat, she stood up and made her way towards the window where the sounds of laughter and shouts echoed from outside. 

Fingers brushing the windowpane, her eyes met with a burst of colour, forming an image through the window of children playing soccer on the field. At the sight of seeing them smile at each other, hugging and cheering in success, Pandora herself couldn't help but smile too.

"Pandora!"

Hearing someone calling out her name, she turned her back towards the window and focused on the two figures walking toward her with grins on their faces. They were her dear friends.

"Gosh, your name is three syllables long," one of her friends yawned. She had blue hair tied in two low pigtails, the same uniform yet different coloured accents on her sleeves. "I need to find a way to shorten it."

"C'mon," the other friend nudged the latter with her elbow. "You know what the only other option is."

"Yep! Dora. Dora the explorer."

Pandora chuckled youthfully at the sight of their bickering before jokingly telling the blue-haired friend to shut up. The blue-haired girl, being extremely shorter than Pandora, wrapped her arms across Pandora's own arm, and the three make their way towards the exit of the lecture hall before stopping.

"So, my homie, what would you like for your sixteenth birthday?"

"You're not supposed to ask her outright!?" The second friend exclaimed, disappointed in the lack of surprise. Pandora furrowed her eyebrows before gasping, pulling out her cell phone to check the date. Seeing as it was a few days left before her sixteenth, which was to her understanding a very important milestone, she slipped her phone back into her pocket and thought about it. 

"Aha, so it's my birthday soon," Pandora hummed, childishly twirling in thought and tapping a finger on her chin. With a clear idea of her wish, she glanced at her peers with a smirk on her lips. "Perhaps a perfect score on my finals?"

Receiving a playful scorn from them, she chuckled in response to their reactions. "I'm just kidding. If there's really anything else...it'll be for you two to visit my home."

Her two friends stayed eerily quiet, then glanced at each other, before smiling back at Pandora ominously. Both holding hands and approaching Pandora, they clutched Pandora's shoulders painfully, digging their nails onto her skin –– widened eyes horrifying and glaring at the coral-eyed high school student. Shivering at the sight of their stares and the pain in her shoulders, Pandora squirmed at their touches with sweat running down her cheek. 

"W-What's going on? That hurts, you guys are all acting so weird and scary..."

"Remember."

"R-Remember what?" She questioned, struggling to breathe. 

"This is 

YOUR memory."

"Huh!? Mine..?"