Flip the Coin [BL]-Chapter 227. Floating

For the next lesson, we had to go to the first floor underground.

Henry clung to me closer than usual when we went down, nearly trying to embed his body into mine.

"Back up," I finally said, feeling somewhat nervous at the proximity. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"No." Inside the elevator, Henry changed his position to stand behind me and hug me, placing his chin on the top of my head.

I sighed helplessly.

"First floor underground... Do we like that?"

"Not really." Henry’s deep voice reverberated inside the elevator.

When the door opened, I found a few people from our group; the red-haired girl, I think her name was Valerie or something, was staring daggers at me for whatever reason.

I just asked her about her business—don’t enter a library if you aren’t reading anything.

Chelsea came to us.

"Now is the spiritual thingy..."

"Oh? What does that mean?" I asked her.

"Do you know these floating tanks?"

Oh, I had heard of that... It was a trend a while ago; in a dark tank full of water, people would voluntarily lie in absolute silence.

That would rob you of each one of your senses, going so far that you wouldn’t even be able to feel your body anymore.

What I remember as well were the warnings on each of these experience websites that offered these things; people with psychological problems, with panic disorders and such, weren’t allowed to do that.

So they are letting people here, who were deeply traumatized, enter these tanks?

"I know..." Chelsea seemed to read my dislike off my face.

"But you can exit at any moment... I was scared at the beginning too, but now I am looking forward to this lesson."

I looked at Henry and found that he looked equally unhappy.

"Tell me if you don’t want to do it."

"Let’s try it. If we can exit at any given moment..." Well, then that’s better than being locked inside.

The supervisor came and unlocked a big white door; our group entered it.

When I walked inside with Henry still hanging on me, there were indeed floating tanks in what seemed to be a big hall.

It looked somewhat surreal, like new-age capsules that would let you sleep four hundred years to wake up in a strange future.

"Please choose your chamber and press the green button!"

Henry still hung on me when I pushed the green button, hearing the white capsule heating up.

"Only one person per chamber!" The supervisor reminded sternly, looking pointedly at Henry, who didn’t move an inch.

"Go, be good." I patted his head and pointed at the chamber next to mine; they were each about a meter apart.

Henry squeezed me.

"Scream if something feels wrong, and I’ll get you." He whispered before stepping away and pressing the green button on his capsule.

I didn’t ask Henry how he thought he would even be able to hear me; these white things looked pretty solid and soundproof—instead, I just hummed in agreement.

"If you want out, just push against the roof of the chamber; it will open immediately!" The supervisor continued.

"You will enter in your clothes, which you can change after exiting." She pointed to the side of the room, where two doors were located.

When I looked down, I found multiple drains in the floor, apparently for catching water.

The whole room was fucked up and strange, from the tiled floor to the large size of the room to the lights above, showing no ceiling but just metal beams and darkness.

"Listen to the instructions when entering, and remember to follow them; this will benefit you!" The supervisor finished, and the chambers stopped whirring, the heating process apparently finished.

I touched the door, and it opened automatically. I couldn’t believe someone would voluntarily enter a wet coffin...

Forget it; I wanted to see where this would go.

After exchanging one last look with Henry, I entered the coffin, with shoes and clothes and everything still on. The water felt cold, but it should be body-temperature warm.

I was fully submerged in water, floating in it.

When I saw the door coming down on me, I felt panicked, being reminded of a tooth, but there was still light inside, letting me calm down soon.

"Welcome to an exciting journey!" An artificial voice announced inside the capsule.

"Now, shall we start? Please close your eyes and relax."

I snorted but did as instructed.

"I want you to take deep, slow breaths. Please hold your breath for two seconds before breathing out, then again for two seconds before breathing in."

Yeah, we learned that technique with the breathing guy already.

"Your problems fade away with each of your breaths; you feel relaxed and sleepy."

"Now continue to breathe normally; when you take air in, your stomach should rise; let go, and your stomach should sink in."

I really felt somewhat relaxed and also recognized this breathing technique; it is the same way people breathe before falling asleep.

"The water around you embraces you; feel yourself sink until you reach a safe place."

"Now sink deeper and deeper."

"The deeper you sink, the more you relax; the more you relax, the deeper you sink."

**********

"Kenny, how are you doing it?" Emily asks me as we sit outside the school. It is the great break.

She waves her hands in the air in the cutest way possible.

"I am not doing anything." I try to suppress my grin, but I just can’t. She looks like a bunny playing with wool.

"How can you see these things?"

"I told you... it’s like an obvious switch. It was there all along. It is way simpler than you imagine it to be. You are clearly overthinking."

She has been bugging me about that since our childhood.

"Tell me what you are planning to do... I know you will leave at some point." She finally opens her lunchbox to take a bite of her sandwich.

"Just... leaving to live."

"Can’t you do that here?" She tilts her head and swallows before speaking, wiping crumbs from her lips.

"...." Yeah, can’t I just do that now?

"No." I tap the wooden table with the attached benches and look around at the ruins of our school building.

"It has to be a sign. Why did I fall? Every day people fall. Why did I have a tumor in exactly this place? So many people have tumors. If a door appears right in front of you, how can you not open it?"

"Mhm." Emily sighs with regret.

"I get it. Still, I think sometimes a door is just a door. No need to walk through it."

"I really wish that you would stay."