One Roof

Chapter 3

I decided that I would skip classes that day. I was in no mood to go attend class, especially not after seeing Emily's condition. After half an hour, Emily finally calmed down. Despite saying that, I myself was on the verge of breaking down the entire time, only barely able to keep myself intact. Reality finally settled in, neither of us knowing what to do. We sat on our respective beds, in our own respective rooms, yet the distance between us was barely half a meter.

We remained silent. From the corner of my eyes, I could see my smartphone ringing. I had sent them a message saying I wouldn't come, using the excuse of being sick, so they were probably worried. I decided to ignore them for now. Emily remained seated left of me, silent. After she stopped crying, she didn't say anything, and we accompanied each other in silence for another few minutes. I didn't know how long we were there, as I didn't have the strength to go and check.

Eventually, Emily broke the silence.

"What should we do now?"

She asked, her voice filled with concern. For one, we need to know the boundaries of this 'thing'. What can and cannot we do? How do we cheat the system? What is the system?

"Let's try to calm ourselves down and look at this objectively."

I said as calmly and composed as I possibly could. Even if I could hold myself back from crying, this entire thing was still a shock for me. Not only were we forced to always see each other, but any walls that protected our privacy had also been mercilessly torn down within a single day. Seeing me unable to think, she decided to start with a question.

"Let's start with our senses. Are our senses connected to each other?"

"Hmm?"

I raised my eyebrow. I looked at her face, at the drop of tears held back within her face. She was obviously still trying to calm herself down, but she tried her best to not let anything show. I didn't really know what to do at that moment, I couldn't really help her in any way possible.

"I- I mean-"

I tried saying something, but I failed to think about anything useful.

"What is it...?"

She asked, her voice faint.

"Never mind. It's nothing."

Her question made me curious, however. How much of each other could we see, hear, or even smell? I could see her in my eyes, and I could hear her voice as well, so those senses must be intertwined one way or the other. Since I know that I could see her and only her, I decided to continue with the other senses, voice and hearing. I stood up and took my smartphone before returning to the bed. I thought I could check something else while I was at it. I searched for my mother's contact, thinking that she should be someone I can trust.

"... What are you doing?"

She asked, leaning her body closer to me. She could only see my body movements, so naturally, she would be curious, but if I told her about my plans, she might freak out. I answered her with a simple apology and lay back on the bed. My answer made her even more confused. I could imagine a visible question mark somewhere above her head. I held my phone above my head and pressed call. It rang several times before my mom picked up. I then turned on the camera and aimed it toward Emily, not forgetting to turn on my speaker and set it to full volume.

Emily visibly shook the second I brought the camera toward her. She leaped off her bed and looked around, probably trying to predict where she could hide from my camera. She didn't know where I lived, or the shape of my room, so she didn't know where she could hide either.