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OMNISCIENT — 12:00 pm. dallas, tx. — tw | s/h.
CLOSING HER LAPTOP, Venus let out a sigh of relief, allowing her vision to readjust to the lack of blue light from her screen. She had been glued to her screen for hours, preparing for the upcoming midterms next week.
The sunlight filtering through the window casted a warm glow in the dorm room, momentarily distracting her from the piles of notes and textbooks scattered on her desk. As she leaned back in her chair, stretching her arms above her head, Venus glanced at the clock.
Kahara wouldn't be back for another hour or so due to her classes, and Quban was also busy with his own schedule. With no immediate study partner or distraction, boredom slowly but surely crept in.
Venus would've tried to summon Salem, but ever since their unexpected kiss two days ago, she hadn't felt his presence — which wasn't too much of a problem, since she rarely had the need to ask for a wish from him.
Deciding to distract herself, the young woman reached for her charging phone and unplugged it, unlocking it and opening Instagram. She scrolled through her feed, mindlessly swiping through her explore page curated with food, blog posts, and random facebook quotes.
In the midst of Venus tapping past people's stories, she found herself drawn to the suggested accounts section. She absently tapped through them until a familiar profile picture caught her eye, it was Quban's account. Curious, she clicked on his profile and was met with a sobering sight.
The first thing that struck her was the date of his last post, November 23rd, which seemed unusually distant. She tapped on his profile, scrolling through the grid of images that painted a picture of his life.
Among the snapshots of friends, scenery, and occasional headshots, there was one post that stood out — the last picture with his brother, Salem. It was a candid moment captured in a happy embrace, both of their smiles genuine and infectious.
For a second, it would've looked as if it was any ordinary photo, however, the hundreds of comments told a completely different story.
Expressions of condolences, heartfelt messages, and countless "RIP" comments filled the space beneath the post. Venus sensed a prick of sadness as she went through each one, the odd feeling of grief engulfing her over somebody she didn't know.
Letting her nosiness get the best of her, she continued lurking through Quban's page in search of Salem's username, wanting to know more about what he posted before he passed.
It didn't take long for her to find his profile as he was the next suggested account, his page filled with pictures of him dressed up in modern outfits capturing moments of his life in vivid colors and thoughtful captions. Salem's art also appeared on his page, seeming as if that's where he was shown the most love.
