Dreams and School Troubles

“… When you have a problem like this, you first substitute this into this and…” Bradley yawned, rubbing his bleary eyes.

He had planned to sleep early, but if anyone could rest peacefully after experiencing what he did yesterday, they must’ve had nerves of steel.

“Honestly, part of me still feels like I’m stuck in a dream,” he muttered. The teacher’s lecture was covering material he had already studied, so after a brief moment of hesitation, he closed his eyes.

…..

“You’ve already learned our secrets, so we have no choice but to dispose of you.”

In his dream, Bradley found himself tied to a table, limbs stretched out, surrounded by purple-skinned humanoids.

“Please, I won’t tell anyone—and even if I did, no one would believe me!” he pleaded, shaking his head. The aliens didn’t respond. One of them raised a massive injection, inching it toward his arm. Bradley struggled, but the restraints held firm. Just as the needle was about to pierce his skin, the ceiling caved in and a roar thundered through the room—crushing the aliens to dust.

…..

“Mr. Mason. It looks like you’ve mastered today’s material well enough to be sleeping so soundly.”
Bradley snapped awake to see Mr. Darold, his math teacher, towering over him with a stormy expression.

“Yes, sir,” Bradley replied calmly. Technically, he had finished studying it last night—while failing to sleep.

“Then solve the problem on the board.”

Bradley looked toward the whiteboard, blinked, then looked back.

“Sir, you haven’t written the question yet.”

Mr. Darold flushed slightly and coughed.

“Ah—my mistake. Seems old age is catching up with me.” He turned and walked to the board, marker in hand.

‘Yeah, right. You’re barely in your thirties,’ Bradley thought. His poker face gave nothing away.

A few moments later, the question was up. Bradley glanced at it and started doing mental calculations.

‘A basic trig identity problem. I just need to break it into two angles whose sum gives the original angle, then use the double-angle formula.’

Bradley wouldn’t call himself a genius like Amelia, but even in a school with high standards, he was well above average.

In under a minute, he solved it, capped the marker, and handed it over.

“I’m done,” he said, returning to his seat. Then he paused and turned around.

“Looks like Mr. Jason and Ms. Amelia have also mastered the material. They’re napping in the back.”
He said nothing more and sat back down.

‘Now, time to continue my nap.’ He crossed his arms on the desk and closed his eyes again.
This time, no nightmares.

……

“How could you tattle on your best friend, you swine?” Jason slammed his hands on Bradley’s desk with mock fury. The pain in his voice, though, was real.

“I only tattle on people who call me a pig,” Bradley replied, packing his bag.

“I said that after you tattled!”

“And I tattled before you said it.”

“Excuses! I demand compensation. Ice cream!”

“And I want to ride a flying horse. We don’t always get what we want.”
Bradley brushed off his best friend’s glare and turned to Amelia.

“You alright?” he asked. The bags under her eyes looked darker than usual.

“Yeah. Just family stuff,” she said with a wave of her hand. Bradley frowned slightly, then looked at Jason.

‘Take care of it later, would you?’

‘Leave it to me.’

Their silent exchange lasted less than a second—just in time too, since they were already late for their next class.

“Let’s go.”

……

Thankfully, despite yesterday’s weirdness, the day went on as usual, and 320 minutes later, school ended without incident.

‘Let’s see… I think I’ve got library duty today.’
His mood instantly dropped. The weight of exhaustion hit him.

‘I want to go home…’ But then he remembered the alien loafing around in his room. His mood sank even further. He stopped walking.

Jason had gone off to the field for practice, and Amelia was busy prepping for a chemistry club competition.

‘That means no one will stop me if I skip. Sure, I’ll probably get in trouble… but it’s not like I’ll die.’

Dragging his feet, he disconnected from the outside world. Which was why, when someone called out to him, he flinched.

“…Hey.”

The last voice he wanted to hear today. Bradley stiffened and slowly turned around.

“Good afternoon, Penelope,” he said. She smiled and nodded, but he could still see the guilt and self-blame behind her eyes.

“Heading to the library?” she asked—using the voice he used to love but now only brought him pain and loathing. Still, he answered.

“Yeah. I’m on duty today.” So are you were the words he didn’t say. Back before she rejected him, he’d memorized her schedule by heart.

“Me too. Shall we go together?”

Against his better judgment, he nodded. The rejected and the rejecter walked side by side.

‘Rejecter is a real word, right?’

……

“I’m bored,” Zenyr muttered in her native tongue as she rolled lazily on the bed Bradley lent her.

It was a little different from what she was used to, but she had adjusted quickly and slept well, save for a few small interruptions. When she woke up, breakfast was waiting for her with a note.

She chuckled. “He’s so nice, even after I barged into his life.”

She sipped water after finishing the meal.

“As expected. I have a good eye for people.”

Still, she had things to do.

‘I managed to sneak out and cover the pod… Got the cloaking system back online too. But I should move it soon before someone stumbles on it.’
She rocked the chair thoughtfully.

“Plus, I did promise Bradley some kind of reward. I’ll need to figure out how to repay him.”

She had access to a small stash of universal resources considered valuable on any planet, but the idea of solving problems with money didn’t sit right with her.

“Well, I’ll ask him when he gets back.”
She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 10:30 AM.

‘Classes started at eight. On my planet, they lasted eight hours, so… he should be back by 3 or 4 PM, if the time systems are similar.’

That meant four hours of boredom.

She had books stored on her smartwatch, but since her pod—the only way to charge it—was damaged, entertainment wasn’t a priority anymore.

“Hm?” Her eyes landed on a rectangular box with a screen.

“A television,” she whispered. Her reference materials had covered this.
“I heard Xyr used to have something similar, but it became obsolete.”

She edged closer, curiosity sparking in her eyes.

“I get the basic principle, but it’d be fun to see how different their tech is, even if it’s the same science.” Without thinking, she pulled a few tools from her uniform pockets.

Just as she was about to touch it, she paused. This wasn’t her property. If she broke it…

“I can’t do this without knowing how to put it back together.” In a flash, she dashed to her room and returned with her smartwatch and activated its recording function.

“Okay, here I go. Watch over me, Tzareth.” She whispered, offering up a prayer and began dismantling.