sunflower daydream || b. ruggie

𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟙𝟡: 𝕖𝕡𝕚𝕝𝕠𝕘𝕦𝕖

One.

They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder.

She had relaxed her body on the seat, a lethargic and slumberous expression planted on her face as she observed the time go by, minute by minute, second by second, right until she had given up on being tired. There was one plastic water bottle on the singular wooden desk in front of her, one black pen twirled around her fingers, one sheet of paper filled with neatly written responses that took her no longer than one moment to complete. One, she reminisced, was a number that was quite misunderstood to be a diminutive value.

Perhaps if she could go back in time from one to the negatives, would things turn out the same way as it would now?

Two.

There were two instructors walking within the classroom, both with a cantankerous look as if they were trying their best to catch the cheeky students transferring out answers in aid. She drowsily scrutinised at the two analogue clocks from each side of the wall, their diversity in time by a mere two seconds. Now, she evoked the two years of being enrolled into Night Raven College.

Perhaps if she were to grasp the second hand and never let it go with selfishness, would she find better happiness?

Three.

There were only three minutes left until the end of the examination period. For a moment, she thought about the Octavinelle trio that each had their own quirkiness; not as if she knew them as well as other people. She reminded herself to keep latching onto the memory, yet the subtle contradiction was that if someone were to note something mentally three times, they were sure to forget. Looking down at her paper, she pursed her lips at the familiar Pythagorean identities that were more like common sense to her now. The triangles were colour-coded in the three primary colours, making it harder to see the three values written inside each question.

Perhaps if she were to count to three, open her eyes, would she somehow find herself back in earth?

"Pens down."

As she did so, her eyes immediately closed. What if? What if she could go back to the other world she was now unfamiliar with?

One.

Two.

Thre—

Her eyelids fluttered to reveal the hesitant amber eyes.

As she thought, she didn't like it one bit. Go back to earth? Who would wish for such a thing? As if that place wasn't Hell already, she had involuntarily demoted her mood ever since the passing days of solitude. Pushing the wooden seat into the empty space under the desk, she immediately flung her backpack to her shoulders in hopes of retreating from the academy for some slumber. That was what she had considered, fortunately, she had a much more interesting plan than to take a nap and missing out on the sky burst with metallic golds and tangerine oranges that seemed to suck all the marrow of life within her. 

Three was all it took.

In three subsequent steps, a tranquil smile on her face, she was now out of the academy's exam hall and free to breathe.

"Ah~ Mira-chan! Here's the DVD I forgot to return to you a week ago!"

Crimson.

Mira Ebony turned around, ambers meeting the cerulean orbs that shone with the innocence that she had lost long ago. A girl, her mind had noted, wearing the same uniform as her. To her dislike, it mostly consisted of white and gold; the skirt attached with the matching coloured suspenders tightened to her shoulders being a tad too long, the blazer was very much suffocating to her arms in which she tied the sleeves around her waist — the pastel-shaded tie with a rose stone embedded on it loosely securing her collar. For some fancy reason, her shoes were more like heels; glossy black in shade and secured with a buckle strap over her bright knee-length socks, a simple rose embroided on each of them with a soft pink hue.