Janet couldn't believe it actually worked, yet the evidence of her success sat directly in front of her. Janet's slack-jawed expression almost seemed to match that of Rachel, but while Rachel's eyes were devoid of any signs of life, Janet's were filled with surprise and excitement. She stood there staring at her roommate, unsure of how to proceed. So much planning had gone into this, but now that she was at the crux of her first goal, her brain seemed to just shut down.
She tried to remember what she was going to say to Rachel at this point. It felt like she spent hours trying to figure it out earlier, going so far as to have it written down. The words wouldn't come to her, and she left the sheet of paper tucked in her desk, hidden from prying eyes. She dared not risk leaving to grab it.
Instead, the young girl took a moment to ponder over the events that led to this moment. Even if Janet had been confident in what she was doing - and she certainly wasn't - she still wouldn't have expected things to have gone so smoothly.
Her roommate had just returned home from her last course, ready to relax for a bit before she went right back to the grind. Despite her generally carefree nature, she preferred to finish her school work early to ensure her weekend was open and free of distractions. She would likely be trying to drag Janet along to some new adventure, eager to get the reclusive girl out to experience the world the way she saw it.
More often than not Janet would decline. Usually Rachel would end up staying in herself, just to keep Janet company. Sometimes Janet would say she felt guilty over it, as if she was holding Rachel back, but Rachel would just explain that there were plenty enough adventures to be had at home.
If what Janet had planned for today were any indication, Rachel's remark might just be true.
She greeted Rachel as casually as possible, worried that her nerves would cause her to act suspiciously. The more she tried to act normal, the more conscious she felt of every inch of her body, of every action she performed. Does she normally wave when her roommate arrives home? Maybe she should stand up. Or should she pull her feet up and tuck them under herself on the couch? She then realized how long she had been staring, and chided herself as her roommate took her shoes off and placed her belongings on the counter.
"Hey, do you mind if I show you something I've been working on?" Janet asked as Rachel began walking towards her bedroom.
Turning around just moments from the hallway, Rachel responded, "Sure, what is it?"
"It's just a simple visual program I created for my design class," Janet said as she gestured towards the tablet on the coffee table before her. "It should only take a few moments of your time, and I could really use some feedback on it."
Nodding with a friendly smile, Rachel bounded across the room on the balls of her feet, plopping down on the couch next to Janet with a bounce. She watched as Janet turned the tablet on, smiling at the cute puppy that appeared on the screen. 'Such a dork,' she thought lovingly.
Janet quickly clicked on a program on the desktop. The screen flickered a bit, evidently loading whatever the project was, before it went pure white. Rachel kept looking, waiting for something to happen. Eventually she began to notice some soft coloration flitting across the screen in various changing shapes.
"Ooh, it's pretty!" Rachel exclaimed. "Is it some sort of screen saver or something?" she asked, turning towards Janet. She noticed that Janet looked a little nervous, but just assumed she was a bit worried about what she might think about the project.
"I suppose it could be used for that," Janet said with an apprehensive chuckle, aware of the true nature of the program. "The project is to create something that could be used as an application for a service company. I thought I'd design something that could be shown in medical offices, like waiting rooms or something. People are always so worried there. Like, maybe they're expecting some bad news, or maybe they don't know what to expect, or maybe they're in pain, or-"
Janet caught herself before she rabbited on further. She was looking down at the floor. Was that what she should be doing? She turned her head back towards Rachel, slightly worried that her friend was no longer looking at the screen. "It's supposed to help relax people... I mean help them relax," she corrected herself.
Did Rachel notice the difference? Was there a difference? Janet decided it wasn't the best time to be arguing what she hoped was just semantics. Rachel didn't seem to note anything unusual.
"Well it certainly is pleasing to look at!" Rachel exclaimed before turning back towards the screen, eliciting an imperceptible sigh of relief out of Janet.
More soft colors danced in front of her as she tried to follow some of them with her eyes. "Maybe you should try it on yourself, you seem really wound-up today," Rachel suggested, her voice getting softer.
Another nervous chuckle. "Yeah... maybe I will... later," Janet replied. She paused briefly, trying to recall the script she replayed in her head a thousand times today. She felt like she was giving a speech in class, her body warm and her hands clammy.
She wasn't even sure if words were necessary. Theoretically the program should work as long as the subject was staring at the screen. Her coaxing could just be superfluous, but she reasoned that if the person was guided while they watched, it may make the program more effective, so she continued leading Rachel.
"A-as I mentioned, people are just so nervous when they have to see a doctor. I figured I could create something for them to focus on, so they could forget about all their worries." For her part, Janet was impressed with her story. There wasn't any school project that she had created this program for, of course, but she knew Rachel would likely ask about it while she still could. As far as she could tell, it was certainly a plausible explanation, and Rachel seemed to believe it.
She continued on. "They could play these on the screens in waiting rooms. People could just watch the colors as they flowed across the screen. They would start to relax as they stared. All their worries would just fade away, not a care in the world."
Janet was staring intently at Rachel now, watching her every expression. Seeing the small changes in her smile, the way her eyes seemed to dart around, following the colors, the soft "Mmm"s that she elicited as Janet talked, all these things filled Janet with hope for her success.
"Eyes following the movement on the screen. All stress and worry just evaporating from your body as you feel your muscles relax. It feels so good to relax and stare. Just letting go of any tension in your body. The more you stare, the better you feel. It's so effortless to just stare, and the less effort you have to put forth, the more you are able to relax. Staring is such a natural state, doesn't require any effort at all. So you can continue staring while you continue to relax."
