Chapter 4: The Calm Before It All
886 Words
"Rei! Dude—wake up, man! Class is about to start!"
Rei blinked, squinting at the ceiling, half-conscious. "Eh? Huh? What time is it? Why’re you—"
Vince was already leaning over his desk, grinning like he’d just won the lottery. "Bro, next period’s Math. And not just any math—Terminator Math. Yeah, that’s right, the one who stares holes through your soul. We can’t be caught sleeping or we’re toast."
Rei just groaned, rubbing his face. "Aw, crap… Yeah, okay. I’m up. Thanks, I guess."
Vince shot him a sheepish smile. "Also, don’t hate me, but… I kinda copied your homework while you were drooling over there. You’re a hero, man. Seriously."
Rei just snorted, too tired to care or even fake annoyance.
Then, like clockwork, the legend himself stomped into the room. This teacher had a look that could probably fry eggs at twenty paces—cold, sharp, no-nonsense. Instantly, the board was a battlefield of equations: quadratics, sines, cosines, even those evil word problems you only see in nightmares.
No warm-up, no mercy. Just, "Alright, class. f(x) = 2x² - 4x + 7. Find the vertex, and tell me why it matters."
You could hear a pin drop. Except for that one kid who always drops his pencil.
Then, boom, he points. "Rei."
Rei just sighed, stood up, and shuffled to the board like it was his destiny or something. Chalk in hand, he wrote—neat as hell, too.
"Okay, so, vertex time. Formula’s x = -b/2a, right? So, that’s 4 over 4, gets us 1. Plug it back in… f(1) = 2 - 4 + 7… that’s 5. So, vertex is (1,5). That means the parabola hits its lowest point here, opens up since a’s positive, and symmetry’s at x = 1."
He tossed the chalk down, sat back down. Class just stared at him like he’d pulled a rabbit out of his hat. Some kids whispered, others just looked shook.
Vince leaned over, voice low. "I’m not even kidding, man—sometimes I wonder if you’re actually human. With all the garbage you deal with, you still do this stuff like it’s nothing. No offense, but damn."
Rei just shrugged. "Just the usual, y’know?"
Vince laughed. "Yeah, well. You’re a freak, but in a good way."
Fast-forward to the end of the day. Bell rings. Freedom at last. The two of them wander out the gates, backpacks dragging.
Vince stretches like a cat. "Another day, another near-death experience. See you, man. Don’t let life eat you alive."
"Right back at you," Rei mutters.
They split up. Rei heads home, bag slung over one shoulder, apartment keys already in hand. Place is tiny, but hey, at least it’s quiet. He drops his stuff, switches into work clothes, and heads out again—pizza shop grind calls.
Hours blur by. Grease, orders, tired feet.
By 8 PM, Rei’s finally home. He dumps his bag, nukes some leftover rice and eggs, and eats alone at the table, half-asleep. Shower, collapse into bed, stare at the ceiling until his eyes shut.
And somewhere in that silence, dreams start to flicker.
That Night
Rei blinked and, boom—he’s just... somewhere. Not his dingy apartment, not the city, not anywhere he’s ever seen. It’s all dark, but not scary-dark. More like standing in the middle of a midnight sky, stars everywhere, everything silent as a graveyard.
And right in front of him? Some tall dude (or maybe not a dude? Hard to tell), glowing eyes, chill as hell.
Rei squinted. “Uh… where am I?” Voice kinda shaky, honestly.
The figure grinned, like he’s in on some joke Rei missed. “You’re dreaming, technically. But it’s not just any dream.”
Rei’s instincts kicked in—takes a step back. “Yeah, okay, so… what are you supposed to be?”
“Guide,” the thing says, like he’s introducing himself at a work lunch. “I made something. It’s tied to you now. A mobile app, actually. You haven’t opened it yet.”
Rei’s nose wrinkled. “An app? Seriously?”
“Mhm. Not your average time-waster. Check your phone later when you woke up, you’ll see it—Eclipsed Heart.”
Rei shot him a look. “okay?”
“It’s got a job,” the figure keeps talking, voice all smooth and cryptic. “You’ve spent forever toughing things out, right? Nobody gets in, nobody helps. This? It’s meant to change that.”
Rei’s eyebrow shot up. “So… dating app, then? Are you kidding me?”
The guy actually laughs. Not loud, more like he’s amused by a puppy. “Sort of. But it’s not for swiping or whatever. It’s for one connection. One person. No randomness, no games.”
Rei crossed his arms, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, this isn’t suspicious at all.”
The glowing-eyed stranger just shrugs. “I mean, you’re not wrong to be wary. Still—open it when you’re ready. You’ll see.”
And just like that, the stars start fizzling out, the whole place sort of dissolving around him.
“Wait—who’s the other person?” Rei yells, but it’s too late, the figure’s already fading away.
A voice echoes, all mysterious: “You’ll figure it out soon enough…”
- Writer
