The Other World

Reality - Part 1

Must... stay... awake.

Sara struggled to sit upright at her desk. She propped up her nodding head, resting her hand on her forehead.

At least Professor Keller can't see my eyes now. I could rest them for a second.

The sudden ringing of the bell and the shuffling of chairs scraping against linoleum flooring snapped Sara's eyes open. The clear, glowing screen of the bookpad lying on her desk had a small drip of drool puddled on the center.

Aaand, I fell asleep. Great.

"Don't forget about next week's practice exam!" Professor Keller's nasal voice was nearly swallowed by the sounds of students rushing to leave the classroom.

Sara stood up and grabbed her bookpad, glancing briefly to see if the professor had noticed her dozing off. To her relief, it looked like he was busy going through some notes on his desk. Sara kept her head down as she walked towards the door.

"Miss Lancer," the stocky professor called out without looking up from his notes. "Before you leave, may I have a word with you?"

A cloud of dread landed on her shoulders. She weaved her way through the mass of students trying to leave and approached the desk.

"I was looking over the homework you completed..." The teacher paused to look up at Sara. "At two o'clock this morning." He stared at her from behind a pair of round glasses

"Yeah," Sara winced. "Sorry about that. There was a bit of a miscommunication on who's turn it was on the VR chair," she lied. "My brother got on his game before I could start my homework." Technically that's half true. I'll leave out the part where I played a weird game for a few hours, then after dinner, Jace ran and jumped on the VR chair before I could stop him.

"It's not that it was late," Professor Keller shook his head. "It didn't even look like your work."

"What do you mean?" Sara tilted her head in confusion.

"It was sloppy. The incision on the transverse abdominis, the stitches -- it looked like it was rushed. It's not like you at all."

"Oh," Sara's shoulders drooped. "I'm not gonna lie. I was distracted."

"Don't get me wrong," he sighed, massaging his forehead. "It was still passing quality, but I know how hard you've been trying to get into the advanced program. What you turned in last night..." The professor shook his head.

"I know," she sighed. "It won't happen again."

"Good," he smiled. "And if whatever was distracting you last night continues, remember you can always talk to our experienced, on-campus counselors."

Not likely.

"Thanks, Professor Keller." Sara tucked her bookpad underneath her arm and walked out of the classroom and into the hall. She turned to head towards her locker down a nearly empty hallway. Almost everyone had cleared out and were on their way to the cafeteria now.

"Psst, Sara," a voice from behind her hissed.

Sara turned to look over her shoulder. A thin boy with blonde hair wearing his usual, all black hoodie was leaned against the wall, hands inside the pockets of a pair of khaki pants.

"What do you want, Marcus?" Sara didn't bother to stop walking.

Marcus started to jog to catch up with her. "I couldn't help but overhear what you said in there. Something about being distracted?"

Sara looked at him with disgust. "I'm not sure why you think it's okay to eavesdrop on other people's conversations. Leave me alone."

"Woah, hey! We've known each other since kindergarten. I'm just looking out for a friend, that's all." Marcus started to walk uncomfortably close as they continued down the hallway. "It happens to the best of us. Trust me, lots of people have the same problem. I know because I've helped a lot of people here at school," he mumbled, leaning his head over her shoulder.

"I have something that will help."

Sara rolled her eyes and walked faster. "No, Marcus," she huffed. "I'm not like whoever you've 'helped' here at school. I don't need anything you're selling."

"That's fine," he shrugged. "But let me know if you change your mind." Marcus veered away from Sara's side. "Or if your brother needs any help, for that matter." With that, Marcus turned down an adjacent hallway.

Several steps later, Sara reached her locker. She typed in her passcode on the touchscreen, causing the door pop open. The inside wasn't much taller or wider than her bookpad. On the left side, in the back of the locker, a charging dock rested. A change of clothes, a hairbrush, and several other necessities filled the rest of the small locker. Sara pushed the bookpad into the charger until it made a quiet click.

"Sara!" Annie's familiar whisper echoed in the hallway. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah," she answered. Sara saw Annie's face poking from around the corner. "You know, you don't have to wait for me to go to get yourself lunch."

"It's fine." Annie smiled. "So, did you hear about Yvette?"

Sara shut the door to her locker. "No. What about her?"

"She said her mom was there at the robbery yesterday! Can you believe that?"

Sara's ears perked up. "No, I don't."

But I do need to see if I can find out a few things.