Prologue
"To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there's the rub, for in that sleep of death what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause. There's the respect that makes calamity of so long life."
A blonde woman in her early 30s was reading from a book she held in her hands when the sound of the bell echoed throughout the school campus, signaling 12:30 in the afternoon. The senior students in class 2-B were getting ready to leave for lunch, but the foreign teacher stopped them and closed the book.
"We are not done yet!"
The students groaned and stayed in their chairs; the teacher smirked at them, picked up a piece of chalk, and continued discussing.
"For tomorrow's assignment, make sure that you have read and understood the Hamlet book by William Shakespeare because this will be part of our school play for this year's festival."
The enthusiastic blonde teacher wrote the title on the board with a bright smile. The students looked at each other knowingly—their teacher loved Shakespeare! Some classmates excitedly discussed the chance to perform a classic play, while others worried about the difficult language and its length. Most, however, felt curious and excited to explore Shakespeare together. Either way, they had to follow their teacher.
"Listen, the festival is coming soon, so please talk among yourselves about the play later, and we'll discuss it tomorrow, okay?"
In unison, the class replied, "Yes, Ms. Collins," and bid their adviser goodbye.
The class president took over and told them they'd talk about it after class so they could take their lunch. "Finally," one of the students said with a sigh of relief, and they cheerfully stood up to go to the cafeteria and look for something to eat or do some schoolwork while other students remained inside the room to eat their lunch on their desks or read some homework for their next lessons.
You could hear the students' different noises and conversations in the background, but this didn't seem to bother another student observing silently, a girl who always sat near the window at the back of the room. This student was gazing outside; she saw the students and teachers alike on the field enjoying their free time and thought,
'What a peaceful day to be alive.'
The observing girl smiled and closed her eyes. It was almost summer, and she could feel a slight heat in her lightly tanned skin. Usually, she'd go outside and join her volleyball team to practice or chat with her friends about random kinds of stuff or talk about campus crushes, but not this time; she wanted to sit this out and enjoy the moment.
As she enjoys this delightful day, a gentle wind blows around her, and her long strawberry blonde silky hair sways; this makes her feel a little sleepy. She ties her hair up in a ponytail to avoid having messy hair.
The blonde-haired girl crossed her arm into her desk to form a pillow where she could put her head to rest while still sitting and facing the window. She felt very comfortable in her position.
'If only days like this could go on forever.' She thought and breathed deeply in relief that she was experiencing this moment. The girl was almost fast asleep when she heard footsteps closing her desk.
"Reane, Reane .. Rei," a soft voice of another girl in her class called out to her name, lightly shaking her shoulder.
Reane recognized the voice instantly but didn't bother to move. Even though she knew this girl would be mad at her, she remained crouched at the desk and pretended to sleep. She could only imagine the girl arching her brows at her, so she couldn't help herself but smile slightly at the thought of the annoyed girl's face. It's still lunchtime, and Reane wants to take this opportunity to nap. Otherwise, she'll feel sleepier for math and chemistry classes later. She's not fond of these subjects like most students.
"Rei, wake up; we'll be late if you won't stand up now." The other girl said in a sweet, calming voice despite being annoyed, but Reane could hear a hint of irritation in her tone. She wondered why this girl would say they'd be late; they didn't have any club activities at this time as it was still lunchtime.
Reane then looked up and saw this tall, beautiful girl with shoulder-length brown hair; she was surprised to see a good-looking person in front of her. Reane is also taller than most girls in their age group and quite popular because of her pretty face and athletic ability; her great personality also attracts people.
Nevertheless, the brown-haired girl in front of her is on another level; any modeling agency would be lucky to have her. This girl has a greater stature and slender figure, with rosy cheeks on her small, round face; she even has pale white skin that appears to be glowing in the sunlight. Reane couldn't stop herself from staring; her light green, angelically round eyes met the girl's almond-shaped, deep brown eyes. She snapped from her thoughts when the girl started to arch her eyebrows and look at her in disgust.
"Hey Rei, stop gawking at me; you looked like a pervert-old man," the short-haired girl remarked, crossing her arms in her chest. A smirk appeared on the girl's beautiful face.
"I told you there's something we need to do, and here you are still trying to sleep. Are you avoiding me?" the brown-haired girl asked Reane, but she looked baffled.
"What do you mean?" Reane was still engulfed in her thoughts and felt confused about this girl. For some reason, she felt like the girl was familiarly close to her; that's why she recognized the girl's voice easily but couldn't remember.
'Wait, who is she again? What is happening?' She asked to herself. Then, a sudden wind blew in their direction, distracting her from her thoughts.
The brown-haired girl had a little trouble tucking her hair strands at the back of her ears that were blown by the wind since her short hair is a bit wavy at the end, and the right side bangs are braided. As luck would have it, the color of the girl's hair is even more pronounced due to the reflection of light, which suits her perfectly. Reane can't help but stare again at the gorgeous sight before her.
'Talked about being blessed; is she a goddess?' Reanne jokingly talked to herself and chuckled a little.
The brown-haired girl noticed Reane's cute laugh, so she extended her hand to cup Reane's bubbly face, which astounded the blonde-haired girl. Unexpectedly, Reane's eyes started to well up with tears as they rushed down her cheeks like a waterfall.
'Why do I feel sad?' Her heart also throbs a little; she clutches her chest and touches the hand of the girl. 'Damn, why do I feel like I missed her so much?'
The sudden rush of thoughts was starting to drown Reanne, and the brown-haired girl began to worry. She leaned in closer and asked Reanne in a concerned tone.
"Hey, Rei, are you okay? You haven't said a word. Is something wrong?"
Reane wiped her tears and gave a half-smile. She was about to say something but couldn't remember the girl's name. She tried to say something again, but no voice came out; her throat felt so dry. She stood up abruptly and started to panic. Looking around the room, she saw no one else except her and the other girl. She shuddered and asked herself.
'Wait, am I dead?'.
The blonde-haired girl gazed back again at the standing student but could barely see her face due to the rays of sunlight inside the room. Still, she could see the girl's mouth simply smiling sadly at her when suddenly she heard a sharp deafening sound, and the whole surroundings brightened up, blinding her completely. Anxiety started to get into her, and she wandered aimlessly into the bright room alone and scared, unable to see anything.
"Are... Rei... I." Reanne heard the girl's faint whisper, but she couldn't hear it clearly. Then, all of a sudden, another loud sound came in, which brought her back to reality.