Billy stood awkwardly before the whiteboard, the marker trembling between his fingers.
“…Uh…”
He scratched the back of his head.
“I know this one…”
“I just…”
“…forgot.”
The classroom erupted into laughter.
Professor Liu folded his arms and smiled patiently.
“Take your time, Mr. Billy.”
“I’m sure the answer hasn’t run away.”
More laughter echoed across the room.
Billy sighed dramatically.
“…I wish it had.”
Even Alex couldn’t hold back a chuckle.
“You’re hopeless.”
Billy shot him an annoyed glare.
“You’re not helping.”
The room filled with laughter once again.
For the first time since yesterday…
Lucas smiled.
It wasn’t much.
Just enough to make him forget the nightmare for a few seconds.
Maybe…
Today really would be normal.
Billy raised the marker once more.
“…Come on…”
“I can do this.”
He stared at the equation.
Nothing.
Professor Liu glanced at his wristwatch before looking back at him.
“I have faith in you.”
The class laughed even harder.
Billy covered his face.
“…Please don’t.
Lucas quietly shook his head.
“What an idiot…” he muttered beneath his breath.
He lowered his eyes toward his notebook.
Just let today be peaceful…
Please.
…
A strange chill crept across the back of his neck.
Lucas frowned.
Something…
Didn’t feel right.
Slowly…
He looked back at the whiteboard.
The smile vanished from his face.
The mathematical symbols…
Were moving.
At first…
Only slightly.
The numbers seemed to ripple like reflections on the surface of water.
Lucas blinked.
The movement stopped.
“…I’m seeing things.”
He rubbed his tired eyes.
When he looked again…
The equations were perfectly normal.
He released a small sigh.
“Lack of sleep…” he whispered.
“That’s all.”
Billy was still standing helplessly at the board.
“…Professor…”
“Can I use a calculator?”
Professor Liu raised an eyebrow.
“For a basic equation?”
More laughter.
Billy looked ready to cry.
Lucas smiled again.
Then…
The whiteboard shifted.
This time…
The numbers slowly rearranged themselves.
Not randomly.
Purposefully.
One formula became another.
Letters changed places.
Symbols vanished before reappearing elsewhere.
It wasn’t chaos.
It was…
Correction.
As though someone invisible was solving the problem.
Lucas leaned forward without realizing it.
“…No way.”
His heartbeat quickened.
The answer appeared before his eyes.
Not written in chalk…
But hidden beneath the original equation.
He didn’t know how to explain it.
It was like seeing through an illusion.
Every mistake Billy had made…
Every missing step…
Every calculation…
Lucas understood them instantly.
Not because he remembered studying them.
Because…
The answer simply felt obvious.
His eyes widened.
“…How do I know this?”
He had never been particularly gifted in microbiology.
Average.
That was the best word to describe him.
Yet now…
He could explain every line on the board.
Every formula.
Every scientific term.
It all made perfect sense.
He slowly turned toward Derek.
Keeping his voice low enough that no one else could hear, he whispered,
“…Derek.”
“Hm?”
“…Does the board look strange to you?”
Derek glanced at the whiteboard for barely a second.
“No.”
Lucas frowned.
“I mean…”
“The equations.”
“They’re…”
He stopped himself.
“…Never mind.”
Derek looked at him curiously.
“You sure you’re okay?”
Lucas forced a weak smile.
“…Never mind.”
Derek studied him for a moment before shrugging and turning his attention back to the lesson.
Lucas slowly looked toward the whiteboard once again.
The moving equations had disappeared.
Everything looked…
Normal.
He let out a quiet breath.
Maybe Derek was right.
Maybe exhaustion was finally catching up to him.
Professor Liu picked up the marker.
“Now then…”
“Let’s solve this together.”
The classroom fell silent as everyone’s attention returned to the lesson.
Lucas lowered his eyes to his notebook.
Then—
Something changed.
Not the classroom.
The atmosphere.
It became…
Heavy.
A strange pressure settled over his shoulders.
His heartbeat gradually grew louder.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Lucas frowned.
“…What is this?”
The fluorescent lights overhead flickered once.
Only once.
No one else reacted.
The room remained exactly the same.
Yet something felt…
Wrong.
Then—
A voice.
I’m definitely going to fail this class…
Lucas’s eyes widened.
He immediately looked toward Billy.
Billy was staring at the whiteboard.
His lips hadn’t moved.
Another voice.
Professor Liu is going to call on me next…
Lucas turned toward Alex.
Alex was quietly writing in his notebook.
Then another.
I wonder what Mom is making for dinner…
Another.
Jackson still hasn’t come to school…
Another.
Why is Lucas staring at everyone…?
Lucas froze.
The voices multiplied.
Not spoken aloud.
Not whispered.
They simply…
Appeared inside his mind.
One thought after another.
Hundreds of them.
Overlapping.
Colliding.
Every student…
Every passing emotion…
Every hidden worry…
He could hear them all.
“No…”
Lucas whispered.
His breathing became uneven.
His hands slowly tightened around the edge of his desk.
“This isn’t real…”
The voices continued.
Louder.
Closer.
Faster.
I forgot my homework…
I hope Dad gets promoted…
The Halloween Prom is going to be amazing…
Lucas looks pale…
Something’s wrong with him…
Lucas covered one ear instinctively.
It didn’t help.
The voices weren’t entering through his ears.
They were already…
Inside his head.
His vision blurred.
The classroom seemed farther away.
The students’ conversations merged into a deafening storm of thoughts.
“…Stop…” he whispered.
“Please…”
For the first time…
Fear wasn’t written a cross his face.
It was reflected in his eyes.