“Oh crap,” Jessica muttered to herself as she opened her eyes. “I have to get back to sleep.”

Jessica planned to go back to dreamland to protect Tiffany from whatever was behind those bushes, and possibly, many more to come. But she looked at her desk clock and it unfortunately read: 7:55. She had minutes left before school, and she wasn’t even out of bed yet. As she wasn’t able to do anything for Tiffany, she just prayed for the girl to be safe from harm. Then, she quickly stepped out of bed. Then, she stopped for a while as she was about to head to the bathroom. Something was weird. She felt heavy. Finally, she found out what was causing the strange feeling. She looked at her bedroom floor and there was a puddle forming. But it didn’t stop there. Something was still dripping, slowly making it wider. Her hands slowly went to touch her hair, and it was wet. Her hands soon went over to her clothes and they had the same results. She was wet from head to toe.

“I’m wet?” Jessica uttered to herself as she instinctively starts to strip down her clothes.

In a short while, Jessica was once again down to her underwear. Unexpectedly, she started to itch all over. She scratched her back, her arms and legs, and the portion of her body covered by her bra. As she stopped doing scrape her skin, she noticed that something was caught between her fingernails. As she took a closer look, she realized that it was sand. She tried to process it in her brain, but her head shifted to look at the desk clock. It read 7:56. It wasn’t getting earlier.

“I have just enough time for a quick shower,” she said to herself as her body turns to face the bathroom.

As she walked to the bathroom, she noticed something stranger. Her nose sniveled something weird, causing her to pause as she was about to turn the bathroom door’s knob. It smelled like salt. It smelled like saltwater. It smelled like the ocean. Jessica’s eyes widened in shock after she figured out she was inhaling something from the sea.

“Why do I smell like I’ve gone fishing in the ocean?” Jessica asked herself.

Then, she figured out the reason behind why it seemed like she came from the beach. All of it came in her head. That dream she had, saving Tiffany from drowning in the ocean, waking up on a sand bed, and saving Tiffany’s life on the shorelines; it was coming to life. She tried to think about it more, but her head, once again, impulsively turned towards the clock. 7:57.

“Oh crap! Not enough time for a shower,” Jessica told herself as she quickly went inside the bathroom.

She randomly put toothpaste on her toothbrush and brushed her teeth for less than five seconds. Not wasting any time, she opened the faucet in sink and put her head under it. She quickly washed her hair then wildly splashed water on her body to get rid of the sand after removing her underwear. After that, she dried up with a towel and went outside to her closet. She randomly picked out clothes and then wore them afterwards. She was wearing a purple long-sleeved blouse, blue-green skinny jeans, and non-matching socks. Then, she put on her white running shoes, went out her room, and sprinted down the stairs.

“Bye mom! I’ll be home for dinner,” Jessica yelled out to her mom as she went out the front door.

Not being able to prepare anything for school, Jessica just ran as fast as she could to the school which was only a few blocks away. It was quite a ridiculous scene. The sun was shining bright, the grass on the ground and the leaves on the trees were green, and in the middle of all that, a girl with wet hair, wearing purple and blue-green clothes, and multi-colored socks was running. But Jessica didn’t have enough time to think about that. Finally, she was at the school’s entrance. She still hasn’t heard the school bell so she inferred that she made it before she was marked tardy once more. Then, she was finally in front of her classroom.

“I made it!” She unintentionally screamed out loud as she leaned on the doorway, panting.

“Yes Miss Jung. You made it. To the second part of homeroom class,” her homeroom teacher replied.

“What?” Jessica asked, confused. “Didn’t I make it? What time is it?”

“It’s already eight fifteen Miss Jung,” the teacher responded. “Now if I were you, I would get inside and sit down so we could continue with our discussion.”

“Yes ma’am,” Jessica replied as she sighed deeply.

Jessica headed to her seat in the back row, but something seemed to be missing. She sat down at her table and placed her hands on it. Then, she looked to her right. It was empty. She looked around the classroom and she finally saw the missing puzzle piece. Taeyeon was sitting two rows and three columns from where Jessica was.

“Why are sitting you there?” Jessica mouthed silently as Taeyeon turned her head in Jessica’s direction.

“I’m not talking to you!” Taeyeon whispered angrily, but silently.

“Are you still mad about that?” Jessica asked, referring to their little quarrel a few days ago. “You are such a baby!”

“You’re not my friend anymore!”

“Fine!”

“Fine!”

Taeyeon turned her head away from Jessica and she returned the favor by looking away. Jessica crossed her arms and slouched on her chair. As always, almost like a routine, she looked out the window and admired the view. The sun was shining brighter than ever, the leaves on the trees were starting to grow back after being blown away by the storm, and there were street cleaners who were still sweeping the roads after the strong winds that the storm brought.

“As I have told you before classes were suspended, our class will be hosting a fundraiser,” the teacher started to discuss. “Let me just remind you what we are going to do. We’ll be executing a musical and we’ll also be selling food and other goods during its duration.”

“Aren’t you going to give us our assignments today?” One student asked.

“Yes, I was actually about to announce it now,” the teacher answered as she takes a sheet of paper from her desk. “Here are the names assigned for the food selling.”

“Taeyeon Kim”

“Yoona Im”

“Lee Soonkyu”

“Nicole Jung”

“Jiyoung Kang”

“Hyuna Kim”

As the teacher kept on reciting names, Jessica was still focused on the view outside the window that she was observing. As the teacher finished the first set of names, Jessica finally snapped back to reality. She turned her head towards the front and for the first time in days, she listened to the discussion.

“Here are those assigned for the musical.”

“Sooyoung Choi”

“Hyoyeon Kim”

“Joohyun Seo”

“Hara Goo”

“Seungyeon Han”

“Sandara Park”

“Jessica Jung”

Jessica’s eyes widened as she hears her name being recited in the musical division of the fundraiser. Jessica, in her twenty-one years in this world, has never performed in front of a crowd before. Well, she does occasionally sing and dance in the shower, and she does pretty well, but it’s different when you have to memorize lines, add emotions, and do it all in front of criticizing audiences.

“The rest who I haven’t called have a special assignment. Those people will meet me later after dismissal. Are there any questions or reactions?”

“Excuse me Miss Lee,” Jessica muttered as she raised her hands. “Can’t I switch assignments? I don’t like where I was assigned.”

“Why not?”

“Well, I don’t really know how to perform in front of a crowd, let alone, perform in a musical. I don’t even know how to sing!”

“That wouldn’t be a problem,” the teacher replied.

“Huh?” Jessica thought as she was confused. “What do you mean?”

“A little later, an exchange student from an internationally recognized performing arts school will be joining us. She will be staying with us ‘till the end of the year and she will be helping us with this particular assignment.”

“So, you’re not going to direct us in this musical thing?”

“No, I will be heading the food department, and she will be heading the musical department. For those having difficulties with their roles, she will be helping you.”

“But… never mind,” Jessica uttered as she sat down in frustration.

“Now, if there aren’t any more questions, I’ll be proceeding to the principal’s office to fetch the exchange student and show her to our classroom.”

The teacher left the room and headed to the principal’s office where the new student was, supposedly. Meanwhile, Jessica turned her head back to the window beside her seat. She looked out once more, but nothing has changed. The sun, the leaves, the street cleaners, and the birds were still there, but she still kept staring outside. After a while, the teacher was back in the room.

“The new student is waiting outside. I would like all of you to give her a warm welcome and please treat her well for the rest of her stay here.”

The teacher poked her head out the doorway and she motioned for the student to come in.

“Class, let’s give a warm welcome to the student who will be joining us and helping us for the rest of the schoolyear!”

The new student entered and the class clapped their hands. Jessica snapped out of her daydream once more as she turned her head to the one who was causing the applauding. As she saw the new student, she had a different reaction with her classmates.

“Is that…”