The Devil From The Machine: The Girl From Another World

The Start of an Aloof's Journey

 "Gahhh!" I woke up screaming. It was an ear piercing scream, much louder and higher pitched than what I could possibly imagine would come out of me. Perspirations ooze out of my body and drenched my clothes while I was gasping heavily for breath.

"What was that weird dream? Who was that 'me'? Wait, what even was that dream about? I don't seem to be able to remember most of it. The only thing I can recall was the part at the end where I was in agonizing pain as my body melted into a pile of goo." That was my first thought as I woke up, trying to remember a nightmare I had. My train of thought was soon interrupted by an abrupt question.

"Are you okay, bud?" asked Ariel, expressing his concern over my current state. My average height, brown-eyed and chestnut haired roommate was donning on his uniform, a black enchanted robe, halfway with his face still covered by it. He seemed to be struggling to get his head through it. I took a few deep breathes to calmed myself down. In the meantime, his head finally popped through. This was a first, it was odd for him to wake up earlier than me.

"Yeah, I'm alright now," I got out of my bed and answered, "It was just a nightmare."

"If you are fine then I guess it's okay for me to make fun of you now." Ariel replied. He took a deep breath and burst out in laughter while holding his stomach. His laugh lasted for quite a while so I took the time to make my bed.

He wiped the tear on his right eye and started to ridicule me, "What even was that scream? Don't get me started on how high pitched it was. You are usually so quiet so a scream like that was not what I expected at all."

"It's not that funny to be honest. I don't quite get your low bar for humor. " I replied with an annoyed tone as I pull out a chair from the desk near my bed, turn it around to face Ariel and sat down on that chair to rest.

"Oh, it's verily side-splitting for me. My stomach is still throbbing after all that laughing. If I had known how hilarious it would be, I would have done a scare prank on you at start of the last sem. Wait, maybe I should find a chance to do so sometime soon. Just imagining your reaction is enough for me to start laughing again." Said Ariel, who started to chuckle, most likely picturing that shameful moment of mine.

"But all jokes aside, you should hurry and get ready for class. It's already a quarter passed 8. Don't you have a class about half an hour later?" Ariel reminded me as he proceeded to move towards his desk on the opposite side of the room.

"What!" I exclaimed loudly.

"You didn't notice?" Ariel stated the obvious.

"Wait, calm down. He must be trying to trick me and I certainly fell for it. I didn't expect him to prank me so soon." I thought and quickly reached out and grabbed my recently gifted hourglass on my desk.

I took a close look at the time displayed on my hourglass and ascertained that Ariel was telling the truth. In hindsight, seeing him waking up earlier than me should have clued me in.

"How did this happen?!" I whined, "I rarely slept in especially during school days..."

"Your voice squeaked just now by the way." Ariel remarked pointlessly.

"Can you please be so kind as to stop making fun of me for a sec? It's slowly starting to vex me." I tried to rebuke him as politely as I could in my current state of irritation.

"I could tease you some more but it might be better if I abstain from doing so at this moment." He replied while his smile was beaming widely while his hands were clasping the back of his head.

So it means that he would try to tease me later, wouldn't he? Got to remind myself to be more cautious.

"Wait, I should stop getting distracted." I mumbled then proceed to slap my cheeks.