text: [Themes: Slice of life, female protagonist, friendship]
  
  > look at your surroundings
  You're sat in front of one of the computers in your sixth form college's library, and you've just realised - you've messed up. Long story short, you're missing the whole last section of your report, and your laptop is all the way back home.
  
  > look at the computer
  Frustratingly slow.
  
  > text mom
  Yeah, you're not telling your mum about this...
  
  > Text maya
  "sent myself the wrong version of my report..." you type.
  
  "damn! you have to hand that in after our maths lesson today?" comes Maya's quick reply.
  
  "yup"
  
  "well, you know what i'd do ;)"
  
  And you can tell just what your friend is implying - that you should skip the lesson. You'd need to get Maya to cover for you though, and Mr Wright isn't known for being friendly most days...
  
  > Text maya
  "yeah, can you cov"
  
  You get partway through the message when you realise it's completely out of character for you. Asking a friend to lie to a teacher so you can ditch a lesson? It seems risky.
  
  > Text maya
  Maybe it's a slightly reckless plan, but it's all you can think of: you're going to ditch Maths, and you're going to ask Maya to cover for you.
  
  "yeah, can you cover for me? tell mr wright i'm ill?" you type.
  
  "i got you! now go get your report!!"
  
  You knew you could count on her. But then your phone buzzes again -
  
  "also i'm proud of your rebellious streak hahaha"
  
  You smirk at that. She was always a bad influence.
  
  You grab your things and head out of the building, grateful that the receptionist is too busy to ask where you're going.
  
  It was a half hour bus journey from college, and your heart was in your mouth for most of it, but Maya texted you to say Mr Wright wasn't suspicious, and thus you could relax. You got home, resent the file - three times, to make sure you definitely didn't mess it up again - and made it back to the library to print, all in good time. You were sweating a little bit as you handed it in, but Maya was there by your side, and there to hi-five you once it was done.
  
  And it was all worth it. It might have been written in the early hours of the morning, and you did almost miss the deadline altogether, but it was one of the best marks you ever got.
  
  (You have learned the lesson of DILIGENCE. To remind yourself of
  this lesson, REMEMBER DILIGENCE - this will allow you to apply this lesson to your next action. To check which lessons you have learned, REMEMBER LESSONS.)
  
  On the right side of the room is your bed - or rather, bedframe, since the mattress is gone. Next to the end where the pillow would have been, there's a little bedside table. A wooden wardrobe sits in the far left corner. Beside it, there's a low chest of drawers. There's a window on the wall opposite the door, looking out onto the street. The light switch is on the wall next to the door, whilst the wall above the bed is covered in old blu-tac stains.
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying:
  a leavers hoodie
  a birthday card
  a teddy bear
  a Physics report
  a comic drawing
  a bin bag
  a green paper folder
  
  > reminisce on the card
  You close your eyes, and you dive deep into the memory evoked by the birthday card.
  
  It's a dreary day for March - gloomy clouds cover the sky. The road is busy, but not packed - three lanes on both sides, everyone else's cars working just fine as they whizz past. The steep banks on each side of the motorway are covered in nothing but weeds and small trees, and you're far away from the last service station you passed.
  
  It's just you and your dad's car.
  
  > Google
  You take out your phone again and prepare yourself to keep reading. It's draining, trying to make sense of all these mechanical terms you're unfamiliar with, but you keep reading, and hoping there'll be some magic, easy fix.
  
  You follow the steps on some How To article, trying to narrow down the problem, but when it comes to testing whether your windshield wipers still work, you come to the depressing conclusion that it might be the battery after all. And there's not a lot you can do about that by yourself.
  
  > Google
  Unfortunately, Google can't magic a new battery out of thin air. If only that magic notebook you used to write comics about was real...
  
  > Text isaac
  "hello mr know it all, do you know how to fix a broken car?" you send.
  
  "you're gonna need to be a little more specific" Isaac replies.
  
  "engine won't start"
  
  "still not specific enough"
  
  "i don't know anything about cars!!"
  
  "sorry, if i was there i'd help you :("
  
  > examine the cars
  A white BMW, a red Ford, a white Mercedes... they all drive past, either not seeing or ignoring you looking sorry for yourself. Maybe you could try and WAVE to get someone's attention?
  
  > Text isaac
  It sounds like Isaac won't be able to help you much here.
  
  Diligence wasn't useful for that; you stop concentrating on it.
  
  > wave at cars
  Despite your desperation, you feel too self-conscious to try and flag anyone down.
  
  > wave at the cars
  You wave an arm, ignoring how stupid you feel. Nobody slows down, and your confidence only lasts for about a minute before you lose hope again.
  
  > wave at the cars
  It's mildly suicidal, but you try stepping out of the hard shoulder a little bit, and wave at the next car in the outermost lane. All you get is a very angry honk, and you jump back out of the way.
  
  > wave at cars
  Despite your desperation, you feel too self-conscious to try and flag anyone down.
  
  Diligence wasn't useful for that; you stop concentrating on it.
  
  > remember the diligence
  You forget about confidence and remember diligence instead.
  
  You steel yourself to put some effort in, because you've learned that often there's just no way around some hard work.
  
  > remember the confidence
  You forget about diligence and remember confidence instead.
  
  You remind yourself that you're a cool, competent person capable of cool, competent things.
  
  > wave at cars
  Despite your desperation, you feel too self-conscious to try and flag anyone down.
  
  Calmness wasn't useful for that; you stop concentrating on it.
  
  > search the car
  The only things you have in the car is some changes of clothes, snacks, and a collection of balloons spelling out Maya's name. There's also an envelope containing her birthday card - you can't wait to see her face when she reads it.
  
  > Pinch
  Maybe you can't reach the end of this memory just yet. You pinch yourself hard, and open your eyes.
  
  You're back to the present, back to holding this card.
  
  You sigh. Even just reliving that memory, you feel helpless. You didn't manage to fix that car. You didn't manage to make that flight.
  
  You didn't manage to see Maya one last time, before her accident a couple of weeks later.
  
  It's a guilt you've been carrying with you ever since, missing her last birthday. She'd always been there for you, ever since she first grabbed that comic from your desk. All you had to do was just be there for her that night - and you messed that up.
  
  But, you suppose, maybe that's the hardest lesson there is. Sometimes there's just nothing you can do. You can be calm and you can be confident and you can be daring and you can be diligent, and it still won't change a thing. You can only give up.
  
  It's a way you've not really thought about it before, but as you stand here, holding this undelivered birthday card, you realise that it makes no sense to keep blaming yourself. You did everything you could have. And you couldn't have known Maya's time would be up so soon after...
  
  That's the past now. There's no use holding onto these things, or onto that guilt. You place the card into the bin bag, along with everything else, and you leave the room.
  
  (You have learned the lesson of ACCEPTANCE.)