Chapter 2: First Rule
"What the hell?! Am I dreaming?" I looked around the class once more.
"I can't believe it. What is going on?" I stood up to see everything clearly, but everything was still the same. The classroom was totally devoid of movement. If not for the fact that I could see them, I wouldn't have been able to detect their presence at all.
I stood up on my seat to see the front of the class; the teacher was walking towards the rostrum while some of the students were standing, and some were sitting. I was totally focused on the situation, which was the sole reason I wasn't laughing my ass off at some of the faces students were making.
Well, not totally, I giggled.
"Am I lucid dreaming?" I voiced my thoughts to the whole class.
This was for two reasons: one, so that I can see how much control I have on myself if this is a dream, and second, to check for the possibility of being pranked.
There was no reaction at all. I looked at everyone for any sign of movement, but so far I got nothing.
I stared at Nicole; she should have burst into tears by now. Believe me, she has such weak control over her expressions, and don't even get me started about her laughter. I huffed thinking of all the times I've gotten in trouble because of Nicole's laughter.
It possibly can't be a prank. If so, then I am probably dreaming, right?
I pinched myself. "Damn!! It hurts." I sympathetically looked at Nicole. "Wait, if I can still feel hurt, that means I am not dreaming... Or it's a really realistic dream? But can you still feel pain in dreams? Probably not." I walked towards the front of the classroom.
"What is going on here?!" I shouted, but to my surprise, it not only echoed in my class but also from the hall.
It dawned on me that there was no noise coming from the hallway.
"Could it be an elaborate prank? People go to huge measures just for views, but this..." I looked around once more. "Then could it be that these are statues? It could be one of those 'What Would You Do' situations."
"Then these are awfully realistic." I walked towards the girl in the front row but stopped soon after. I could clearly see her chest move.
I softly touched her face. It was warm. "How... How could this be?" I stumbled back.
I felt my sense of reason leave as I just stared at the girl's chest moving up and down. I stood there with a blank mind.
After a few moments, I slowly started to get my senses back.
I cautiously made my way towards the hallway. My hands were clenched into fists.
I looked outside. My fists opened slightly at the sight of a completely empty hallway.
My heart was still racing. I moved towards the attendants' desk of this floor.
Everything was still on the desk, even the tests we were supposed to have in the last period.
For the first time in my life, I was truly scared, but this didn't stop me from moving forward towards the adjacent class.
My footsteps echoed in the hallway. Each step was like something dropping on my head.
I opened the door to the class.
"That's impossible." There was not a single soul in the class. Books and bags were still there, but there was no one in the classroom.
I started panicking. "This is not right." I quickly went to check another class, then another and another. I checked the whole floor, but nothing. Maybe just maybe they went for an orientation or something.
I ran towards the second floor, then the third, checking every class, every room from the canteen to the bathroom, but nothing. All their possessions were still there, but the people were not.
I slowly made my way towards the stairs, but just as I stepped on the first step downwards, all energy left my body.
I slumped down on the stairs, holding the railing with one hand. I tried to stand up, but I couldn't.
I felt like I couldn't think anymore, but at the same time, I felt like there are a thousand things going around in my head.
"Breathe in and breathe out, breathe in and out..." After some time, my thoughts finally stabilized.
"Damn it, Nicole!" I felt ashamed thinking about how proudly I declared that I would be fine in such situations and that I won't panic.
I smiled as the scene played back to me.
That time, I proudly declared that I would never panic during any circumstance, be it a car accident or a zombie apocalypse. Nicole was shocked, then laughed to the point she could hardly breathe.
After Nicole slightly calmed down, she gently pinched my cheek. "Just because you haven't had a chance till now doesn't mean that you will not panic in the future. It's just that you are lucky."
Before I realized it, she was pinching both my cheeks, saying, "How can someone be so cute!" ignoring my suffering, not letting go until they were deep red.
I sat there on the stairs while one after another scene played before me.
I slapped my cheeks to get myself back to reality.
"Oa! You're focusing on the wrong things right now." I regained my composure.
"I don't know what the hell is going on, but I can't get the answer by just sitting here. Let's take my stuff and get home first; then I will think about other stuff."
~~The first rule of every weird apocalyptic situation is to never stay in the place you were awakened to for long.~~
We learn a lot from the movies and books we read; the same is the case with me. I was deep in my thoughts about what I will do and how I will do it, but there was this feeling which I couldn't reside, no matter what.
It was the feeling of forgetting something. This feeling was getting stronger as I was coming close to my class, but I still couldn't put my finger on it.
Being completely immersed in my thoughts, I packed and picked up my bag.
I halted outside my classroom door, still having my back towards it. "Something feels seriously wrong."
I retraced my steps back into the classroom. I looked around but still couldn't point it out, still having this weird sensation. I looked around carefully this time.
Now I know why I was having the feeling of forgetting something. I was shocked to the core as I was looking around an empty classroom, my classroom.
It was like every other classroom, devoid of humans.
I looked at Nicole's seat; all her things were still there; books, bag, pen, everything. And on the chair next to it, the same as before, my books and bag were present.
Wait, my books, phone, and my bag?! I looked at the bag strap on my shoulder, then back at the bag on the seat.
Maybe I took someone else's bag in a hurry. I took off the bag from my back and held it in front of my face.
Sure enough, it is my bag. The same small-sized white bag with cat ears, whiskers, and a nose in black. No one else had the same bag in the academy, as far as I know.
Now that I think about it, it's awfully light. How
can that be?
I clearly remember putting my phone and books in my bag, so how... it was so light, as if it was empty.
"Was I hallucinating? That can't be it." I opened my bag to check if it really was empty.
It was completely empty. When I looked inside, it was as if I was looking into the abyss.
How can there be no light in the bag? That I couldn't even see its bottom.
I put my hand in the bag, hoping to touch the bottom as soon as I put my hand in.
But my hand kept going; almost my whole arm was in the bag. The bag, which is only 18 inches x 13 inches x 10 inches.
Then is my phone at the bottom of it? Hell, does it even have a bottom?
I looked at the phone still on my seat. I clearly remember putting it in, then how is it still there? How is my bag still on the seat when I am holding it in my hand?
As soon as I thought about my phone, my hand grabbed something. My whole body went stiff.
I slowly pulled my hand out, still grabbing on to whatever that is.
After seeing what it was, I slumped down on the floor. I was breathing heavily.
I checked the thing from all directions. It was my phone. I turned it on just to be sure, and yes, it was mine.
Before my mind could get more entangled in this, I started to get an ominous feeling, as if something bad is going to happen.
One thing that I learned previously is that you should never ignore these feelings; there might be some truth hiding in it.
I pushed myself off the floor and hurriedly left the building.
Well, it's not surprising anymore; the motionless main road still had cars on it.
My mind started to wander as I was walking back home.
Everyone was still in the classroom as time stopped. The only thing I can conjure up which makes minute sense is that time has stopped. If so, why did everyone disappear?
Are there others like me? Why didn't I get stopped in time like that?
I sighed. "Is it always going to be night?" as I looked up at the sky, it was a moonless night. Stars were twinkling brightly in the sky; somehow it helped me relax my mind.
It took about an hour and something to finally make it to my home.
"Ughhh! So tired." I jumped towards my bed, only to instantly fall asleep.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
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stone