7 years ago, the first S Tech device hit the market. It promised a fully immersive virtual environment to whoever wears it. They called it The Sleep X, referring to its innovative technology at the time. To create a virtual environment, the device puts the user into a deep sleep. Then it sends signals directly into the user's brain. As the reviews said, the device can "emulate the taste, sound, and even smell of the environment," hence the fully immersive part of the device. It became one of the biggest hits of the 21st century.

The technology spread like wildfire. Every tech company raced to make the next bestselling product of the century. New products seemed to be released every couple of months. People started incorporating the technology into daily life. Working from home had never been easier. These devices were so effective, a lot of office buildings became deserted. 

Of course, the gaming industry wanted in. The first Sleeper game was released 2 years later. The global community became addicted to the game in days. People started spending whole days asleep just to play the game. This caused the government to establish an age limit, in hopes of minimizing gaming addiction in children.

To think that as of today I became old enough to play these games is surreal. I woke up feeling so ecstatic about my birthday. I prepared for school swiftly, skipping the unnecessary chore of making the bed. I skipped jauntily through town towards my local school. No man, woman, cat, or dog can break my unwavering excitement today.

As I arrived at my class, a cake had already been placed on my table. It's a tradition in our class. Birthday boys and girls get a free cake on their birthdays. A gift given by none other than our dear class president. She sat on my desk, holding a gas torch ready to pull the trigger at any time. 

"Don't you think it's a little inappropriate for the literal class president to sit on a desk?" I said, walking towards my spot. She pulled on the trigger, unleashing a blue dart of fire. "Don't worry, no one's here to watch," she replied.

Sure enough, we were the only ones in class. Apparently, reaching school 40 minutes early isn't a requirement to pass the class. Still, I thought bringing fire into a classroom is a bit overkill. "And you're sure that's safe?" I pointed at the torch. "Totally!"

She pulled out 2 candles from her pocket. Without hesitation, she torches the barely visible wicks on the two candles. I scrunched like a piece of paper watching it unfold. Seeing fire so close to her skin shook my nerves. Finally, both candles were lit. She thankfully immediately twisted the blowtorch off and stabbed both candles onto the cake. She held the cake out to my face with a smile. "Happy birthday, Lucy!"

I was caught completely off guard by her congratulations. Hearing the name "Lucy" ticked me. "Can you please use the full name?!" I yelled. "My name is Lucien! Use Lucien, please!"

She chuckled. With a grin on her face, she said, "Oh come on. What's wrong with 'Lucy'? I think it's kinda cute."

"It makes me sound soft. You literally said the name is 'cute.'. I'm not soft! I'm hard as rocks! I listen to rock music! You could literally use 'Lucien' or 'Hallowell' or anything else, and I'd be fine with it."

"Pfft! Of course, Lucien Hallowell. That really rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?"

Somehow my face had already flushed red from the embarrassment. My name is an unfortunate mishap; I'll give her that. But even then, I thought "Hallowell" had a better ring to it. Although, I think her teasing has grown on me. She always calls me "Lucy.". Even my classmates joined in, and eventually, everyone knew me as "Lucy.". I hated it at first but gradually got used to it. I hate to admit it, but seeing her smug grin every time she teases me is fulfilling. 

Impatient, she stands up and steps forward. I retreated in defense, for fear of catching my clothes on fire. "Come on, make a wish!" she said. She kept moving towards me, bringing the fire closer and closer. If I hadn't started blowing out the candles, the school might go aflame. 

I closed my eyes as I pretended to wish while still stepping backwards. In an instant, I blew out both candles in quick succession. "Congrats! You are now as old as everyone in class!" She congratulated me. 

That's right, I am currently the youngest one in class. One time in grade school I skipped a class because of my superior intellect. At the time, I had such an ego for it that I never really made any friends with the new class. People avoided me, and almost everyone gossiped about me. It wasn't really their fault; I was the definition of narcissistic back then. I'd say I've improved over the years. But even now, people still wouldn't talk to me in class. If they did, it would probably go along the lines of "Hey Lucy, what's the answer to number 4?" or "Lucy, do my homework for me; I'll give you 5 dollars in exchange." I've come to accept that fact. It was my own doing, and I should just eat it up. 

Well, there's one anomaly in class. Our class president, Phoebe Star. She's the only friend I have who isn't from the grade below me and, in consequence, the only friend I have in class. If you look the word "kind" up in the dictionary, a picture of her would appear. 

"You know, maybe next time try to not burn the class down while saying that," I told her.

"Yeah? Well, who's the one idly standing by and not blowing the candles?"

"Yeah, sure."

She placed the cake down on my table. I went over to inspect the cake. "Whadayathink?" she asked, smirking as she sat down on my seat. I took the suspiciously placed metal knife on my desk and cut the cake.

The cake was a chocolate cake, covered in pure white fondant. It was made like a 3-layered stack. The bottom layer had chocolate chips embedded in it. The middle layer was made of melted chocolate, not unlike a lava cake. The top layer had the darkest color of chocolate compared to the other layers. I'd bet she put in extra dark chocolate when making this layer. From a top-down view, patterns can be seen. A crisscross of dark stripes covers the top of the cake. Written in the middle, "Happy 16th birthday, Lucy." Although I disapprove of the name, I still appreciate her efforts.

"You know, Star," I said to her.

"Yeah?"

"The cake is actually pretty good."

"I know, right? What do you expect? I'm the best baker and cake decorator in town! It had to be perfect for my classmate. I mean of course the process is quite simple really. First, I had to make the first layer which was made with chocolate chips which I incorporated into the—" yadda yadda explaining her work on the cake in a wildly nerdy fashion.

"Look, it's great and all," I cut her off, "but I don't really like cake."

She immediately zipped her mouth. She closed her eyes and took a thinking position. "Hmm..." she uttered. I am sure I've already mentioned it to her before. Almost every time we celebrate someone's birthday in class, I always mention in passing that "I do not like cakes" to her. She shouldn't be this surprised. She was thinking for so long that I started to feel kind of bad for her. I considered apologizing to her.

"Star?" I said. She's still thinking. Again, "Star?". Still no answer. 

"You know, Star, I—"

"Pfft!" She started giggling to herself. Her act completely caught me off guard. Startled, I asked, "Hey! What's so funny?"

She giggled so hard she could barely utter a complete sentence. "You..." still giggling, "you thought I forgot." She paused, keeping herself together with a sigh. "Of course I knew that, silly. I was just messing with you. You can go ahead and throw away that cake if you want."

"Whaaa..."

"I already had an alternate gift in mind, Lucy. It'll be sent to your house this afternoon." She said.

Utterly confused by her actions, I asked her to elaborate.

"That cake, I made it for fun. I've actually prepared the actual 'cake' that you'd actually like. It'll be, as I said, at your house later today. Maybe tell me whenever you get home and find it," she finally answered.

"O..kay?"

She seemed like she was enjoying herself there. That was truly a very confusing moment for me. I really thought she'd be sad about me being disappointed. I never thought she'd be giggling herself to death. I looked at the clock to sweep the confusion away from my mind. Still 30 minutes before class starts. Still no one else in the classroom.

She said that she had a gift for me back then. I wonder what her gift is. She could've just given it to me at school. If it was something normal, she'd give me the gift at school. But since it isn't, I'd think it's something embarrassing. Like some weird romantic gift. Well, I doubt that. But even if it were true, we'd have at least 20 minutes to ourselves at this time before class. She'd have given me the item anyway. Really though, what is she giving me?

I'd continue thinking about it, but I realized that I have another problem on my hands. Or rather, on the table. "Star, what am I supposed to do with this cake? I'm damn sure I'm not gonna eat it."

"I told you, go throw it away."

"Wha— I can't throw this masterpiece away!"

"Look, I'm flattered, but that's all yours. Do whatever you want. If you're not gonna eat it, who will?"

I can't believe what I'm hearing. A master baker telling me to throw away their creation. And it's food! That's such a waste!

"Well... then I'll..." I thought about it for a moment. "If I'm not gonna eat it... then."

I took a piece of fresh and clean paper. I placed the wedge of cake I cut earlier on the paper. I held out the cake on paper to her. "Here, everyone's gonna have a bite."

"Oh." She seemed surprised. She looked reluctant to take my cake on paper. Probably because the paper wasn't actually hygienic. But she took it anyway. "Thanks."

While she's eating that slice of cake, I took the time to cut equal pieces. I couldn't be bothered to get paper plates, so I just took whatever looked like the cleanest piece of paper I could find. All 20 slices ready to be eaten. I placed all of them on the front desk, open for anyone hungry. Finally, I wrote on the whiteboard, "Take one slice," to encourage fairness.

There was a little bit of leftover chocolate and fondant stuck on the plate. I took just a little bit with my finger and tasted it. As I thought, the master baker is very skilled. The sweetness is immaculate. A perfect balance of bitter and sweet flavors in just that one lick. I still don't regret not eating the cake, though.

I took my seat and waited for the rest of the class to come. The first few classmates were a bit disgusted by my serving technique, but it seemed like they took it anyway. It's free food, so why not? Little by little, the servings decreased as people ate the remaining slices. By the end, there was nothing left but dirty pieces of paper on the front desk. No one bothered to throw away the trash, so I decided to do it to kill some time. It seemed like everyone was quite happy about the free food. I think that was a solid way to start the day.

The school day was as usual as ever. Of course, no one in class remembers my birthday, even though they're the ones eating my birthday cake. I don't care about it; as long as I'm not the one eating cakes, that's fine by me. Besides, the best girl in class gave me a birthday present. I can't wait to see what it is.

7 excruciating hours later, school finally finished. I rushed home to see what my present is. Excitement rushed through me, anticipating the weird gift the class pres has given me.

When I arrived home, there was a box lying on the Welcome Home mat. It was not a large box, around the size of 4 shoeboxes. It's a good thing this box wasn't stolen. Living alone means having to keep every delivered item safe. Ideally, I'd get it in my home as soon as possible. But today's "as soon as possible" is right now. So, I immediately got it in.

It wasn't a heavy box. When I shook it, there was almost no sound. Whatever's inside must've been securely packed. All the more reason to be curious about the contents. No longer able to contain my excitement, I took a knife and cut the box open. 

As I did, it felt like a blinding light flashed on me. I could hear the angels singing, accompanying the dramatic opening of the box. There was a lot of tension in my mind.

Then, I took a look into the box.

"What the—"