Bringing the fire
Lying in bed, closing her eyes, Mai had been fully prepared to wake up in that dream future of hers. As such she was completely surprised when after what felt like mere moments had passed, she found herself still in bed, the familiar sound of her alarm blaring in her ears.
'Huh, why didn't it work this time?' She wondered, disabling her alarm and lifting up her hand to block the rays of the sun that had managed to pierce through the curtain. The phone's screen revealed that it was the next day, yet for the first time in three days she had just fallen asleep.
There were so many things she had planned to do, and most importantly she had been dying to find out whether her actions in the present would have any effect on the future. As far as she could tell there were three possibilities.
One, she could be in a sort of time loop and any action she took now in the present had already been taken by her future self, in other words nothing she could, or more accurately, would do, would have any significance towards the future.
Two, her actions would change what happened in that world and the next time she might have a chance to talk to Simon, it could be the case that thanks to her intervention, he might have married Shirley at some point.
Three, arguably the most disappointing, while her actions might influence her future, they would not change the already set in motion future she ended up in when she went to sleep, as that one existed in its own timeline.
'Such a…disappointment.' Mai could only regret the fact that she had grown complacent. Since it had happened twice in a row, she had believed that it would happen once more.
'Are there some sort of requirements I have to fulfill? Or was it all just my imagination after all?'
Soon her thoughts drifted to Chris' soft gentle smile before he had left yesterday.
'Well, even if it was just a dream, it did do something good, after all.'
There were a couple things coming up that she wanted to prepare for since today was Friday. Once school was over, it was finally the weekend. In the 'other world' as Mai now chose to name it, she was meant to meet with Simon to find out just what had happened.
Meanwhile in the 'real world' she would be going out with Shirley and Simon.
'Oh no, what happens if Chris doesn't come? I'll end up being a third wheel, the small little violin player, the lonely dog!' She panicked, but sometimes that was just the fate some friends had to endure.
'I'll have to be a good wing woman for Simon, if that does happen. Come to think of it, have I ever seen him with a girl before? I know he usually has a big mouth and can be funny, but is that even the type Shirley likes?' Mai regretted not having fleeced the transfer student a bit before trying to couple her up with Simon. Fortunately, there was still one more day until the party.
She didn't feel like she could go back to sleep, so Mai decided to get ready for school. When she came down to the kitchen, her mother was about to make a crude joke like yesterday, however remembering what had happened she checked the time, then gave her daughter a strange look.
Mai noticed it and just shrugged it off. After taking some breakfast to go, she left her home early for the second time in a row.
"Perhaps I should go and buy a lottery ticket today." Her mother mumbled to herself.
Just like yesterday, she went towards Simon's house, who was only slightly surprised to see her so early. He was thankful for it, since it gave the two time to talk as they usually did.
"Hey, so I just noticed that I forgot to ask you how things went with Shirley yesterday when you walked her home." Mai eventually asked Simon from the back of his bike.
"It's no biggie, not much happened anyway. We just talked, although we mostly talked about you. It seems like you're the only thing we have in common." Simon answered, somewhat awkwardly smiling at her.
"Don't turn around idiot, watch the road." Mai insisted, softly hitting him on the head. She wondered what the two of them had talked about, after all, she had only talked with Shirley a couple of times after she had transferred. Mai was about to ask Simon, but they had already reached the convenience store and were close to the school, so following her arrangement she walked the rest.
When Mai entered her classroom she was surprised to see that Shirley was already there. Seemingly having noticed her, the transfer student turned around and gave Mai a wave before she continued talking to some of the other girls.
Seeing the girl she was actually talking to, Mai decided that she wouldn't be approaching Shirley, because it was none other than Vicky. Unsurprisingly, her two friends Naomi and Sandra were next to the class diva and they all seemed to be getting along well, as they giggled and chuckled. Soon after, some of the boys approached Shirley and engaged her in some conversation.
'Wow, just a couple of days and she sure is popular. I could never be like her. Just trying to think of something to talk about, I guess that's skill in itself.' For some reason seeing Shirley talk to others made Mai a little jealous.
It wasn't as if she didn't want her to get along with her classmates, it was more Mai's assumption that she and Shirley had been similar. Seeing her act so natural had somewhat disillusioned her.
The class began and the lesson reached the end without any issues. Mai didn't think much about the other world any more, starting to feel embarrassed when she thought how ridiculous it all seemed in hindsight. No, her thoughts were focused right now on how she could give Chris a final push to join them on the weekend, but there was no opportunity during their minor breaks and eventually the lunch bell rang.
Those that had brought their own lunch would usually eat in the classroom, or if they brought money with them would head to the cafeteria. For Mai, she usually wouldn't have had the time to make her own lunch or for her mother to prepare her one, so she would just use an allowance. However, due to it being one of the rare days where she had woken up early, she had brought in a lunch of her own.
"Hey Shirley, why don't you come and have lunch with us?" Vicky offered. She was sitting with her two crownies, and they had grouped up a few tables together to make a large one.
"Sure." Shirley quickly agreed with a polite smile, but before walking towards them, she grabbed Mai who was in the seat next to her by the arm. "I hope you don't mind me bringing my bestie along, though."
At this moment, Mai's cheeks were turning red for two reasons. For one, she didn't even realise when exactly she had become Shirley's 'bestie' and two, the expressions on Vicky's group made it clear that they didn't want her to sit with them. She appreciated what Shirley was trying to do, but was hating how she seemingly couldn't read the atmosphere between the two of them.
'Oh Shirley, I know you are really nice, but you've put me in a really awkward situation.' Mai thought. However, then something strange occurred, as one more person was approaching the large table.
"Is this a girls only table or do you have room for one more?" The soft low voice asked. All the girls instantly recognised it, and Vicky and her friend had to hold in their excitement. Turning around, it was Chris who had asked to sit and eat with her.
"Of course!" Vicky said excitedly, jumping out of her seat. "We are all friends right, please sit!" She insisted, pushing her friend Naomi out of the seat next to her.
At this moment, Vicky, her two friends, Shirley, Mai and Chris were all sitting at the same table. These were people who rarely ever talked to each other, and it was safe to describe the atmosphere as awkward.
'Why did Chris decide to sit with us, was it because of me?' Mai started to think. She wanted to ask him, but he was currently sitting across from her on the other side of the now very large table, and it looked like Vicky was bombarding him with questions.
'This just couldn't get any worse.' Mai thought and would have loved to hide in a large hole.
At that moment, the door to the classroom swung wide open and standing there with a bag of food in his hand was the blonde puppy face Simon.
"Hey what's this, you guys having a party without me?" Simon questioned. "Let me join." Without waiting for an answer he nabbed a nearby chair and joined them, placing his bag in the middle.
Mai wasn't sure anymore if his arriving at that moment should be called a saving grace, or if it was just going to make everything ten times worse?
Judging by the smile on Vicky's face, she would have gambled worse.