It’s Friday again. Why? I shouldn’t have come to school today. I don’t know, but every Friday something weird happens.

I entered the classroom as usual.

Everyone was laughing and gossiping, while I was on the other side. Ugh, feeling like shit…

I made a beeline toward my desk, where my friends had already arrived. They’re chaotic.

Jane is eating chips again, sitting on my desk, and all the crumbs are scattered across it. Beside him, Julian is sipping his bubble tea as usual. He never misses a day with his bubble tea—such an obsession…

I went near them, yet they hadn’t noticed my presence. I smacked Jane on the head.

“Ouch!” Jane whined.

Jane turned toward me with a surprised expression, and I gave him a sharp glare.

I spoke in a pissed tone, “You better clean this up. I’ll take a round to the snack bar.”

Then I started for the snack bar on my heels. I exited the classroom. On my way, I encountered many familiar faces.

I greeted them and shared a few words with them.

I reached the snack bar and stepped inside, finding Uncle Ken. He’s the sweetest person I have ever known. He always has some useful news every day.

I picked my favorite snacks and put them on the counter. Uncle Ken came and greeted me.

“Morning, Charlie!” Uncle Ken greeted me.

“How are you? It’s been a while since I last saw you,” I asked him while picking up the snacks after paying through my phone.

“Yeah, I was on vacation with my family. We recently came back. Now I’m back to my duty as usual,” he explained.

We ended our conversation as I heard the bell ring for the first period. I got to know that a new transfer student is starting today.

Well, who could that be? No name revealed yet. I got closer to my classroom, and I was just about to enter—suddenly, I fell to the ground.

As I recall, I remember feeling like I bumped into a wall. That was the first thought that came to me. I looked up to find the cause of my fall—but no one was there except me. I felt a chill run through my spine.

The hallway was empty. I don’t know why. Maybe everyone was in their classrooms. But how? If I remember correctly, many students were in the hallway even after the bell had rung.

It’s weird. Just then, I stepped into my classroom from the back door. I froze, not because some fight was happening, but because I felt a tight feeling in my chest. I couldn’t ignore it. I began walking toward my desk and sneakily took my seat.

I was comfortable when I heard a voice call me. I looked around, but no one was looking toward me—not even the teacher. And the voice called me again, this time inside my head.

I felt dizzy and nauseous. My head started to spin. I clenched my head tightly. Then it was gone—the pain, the suffocating feeling—everything was gone.

My head was down. I pulled it up.

There he came. A boy whom I hardly recognized took a seat beside me. He kept staring at me, but I ignored him and tried to pay attention to the class.

For the first time, I wasn’t able to concentrate. His presence was bothering me. I glanced over my shoulder to see what Julian and Jane were doing. My eyes widened at the scene in front of me.

Julian and Jane were sleeping. That’s impossible. I scanned my surroundings and realized that everyone was sleeping—except me.

No, not only me. When I turned to my left side, he was still staring at me. My eyes locked with his, as if I didn’t want to break the contact—but I couldn’t do that.

His eyes were glowing light blue.

Everything about him was strange—his eyes, his energy, the weird vibe he gave off.

I suddenly noticed that his skin was pale white, with light shadows under his eyes, yet they couldn’t hide his beauty.

His pretty face was eye-catching.

I don’t know what to do. I was surrounded by many questions. Why does it feel like time has stopped? Why is everyone sleeping when it’s not lunchtime? And why am I the only one awake?

What if this is a dream? Yes… it must be a dream.

I tried to pinch myself—and the pain was real.

“Why are you still awake?” the boy beside me questioned.

I kept staring at him. What the—

To be continued, stay tuned...

I kept quiet, not a word leaving my mouth. I was too frightened of him whenever I tried to say something.

“Interesting,” he exclaimed.

His brow furrowed, and his eyes gave a tiny blue sparkle. I lost consciousness when he snapped his fingers together.

It was dark. I was on my way home. When I regained consciousness, I was in the nurse’s office.

But no one was present there.

It was quieter than usual. The room was light blue, and I was the only one there—it was creepy.

Even though I had never felt this way before.

I used to get hurt most of my school years, so it was like a second home to me. I used to rest here a lot.

My head was still in pain.

I got off the bed and left the room as soon as I could. Then I started toward my classroom.

My bag was still there, and I was terrified to go back, but I had to pick it up. I reached my classroom and stepped in.

It was empty.

Without thinking further, I went, grabbed my bag, and left.

The whole time, I was looking down and walking too fast. I slowed my pace and took a deep breath after I left the gate behind.

I didn’t waste time looking back and kept walking. The breeze was cold as it brushed against my red cheeks. In no time, I reached home and took a hot bath. My body felt heavy and weak.

After the bath, I lay on my bed, thinking about the day. I kept trying to make sense of it. It felt like time moved too fast, as if someone had skipped an entire scene.

I tried to remember what actually happened but my memories were in pieces.

I tried to think logically—maybe it was just the weather. In my area, the climate changes every single day.

But I was still confused.

How did I reach the nurse’s office? And why was I alone there? What about everyone else? Are they okay?

Questions flooded my mind.

And then there was that boy… his eyes kept flashing in my mind. His blue eyes were beautiful, but I know that’s not his real eye color… right?

And that look in his eyes was bothering me.

His eyes were empty—no emotions, nothing. Not even a will to live.

Just like that, he wouldn’t leave my mind, and I was exhausted from thinking too much.

My head was in pain. I took painkillers, but they were no use—it was getting worse.

So I gave up. Ugh—

“I’m a mess,” I said, covering my face with both hands.

I sighed.

I noticed something—the sky was too dark in the morning. When he snapped his fingers, he had a smirk on his lips, and everything returned to normal. I’m not sure what I’m thinking anymore.

It’s so hard that I can’t even sleep.

To be continued.

The night continued, and I was still wide awake—tossing across the bed. Every blink brought a burning sensation to my eyes; it was slow and tormenting.

My hands clenched the blanket. The space felt too vast—dark and gloomy. I tried to shake off the creepy feeling.

I closed my eyes even though they were throbbing. I tried to imagine a garden with beautiful flowers under a bright blue sky.

It was all in vain. Everything turned black and unsettling.

But just when I was finally drifting to sleep…

That voice came back. It murmured something—like, “Found you… finally.”

It kept repeating the words again and again. Then suddenly, it got louder and clearer.

I didn’t know when I started screaming. My head felt heavy, and everything was spinning—the room, the floor…

I tried to stand up, but it was no use. I fell back onto the bed. I felt something wet in my eyes. When I wiped it away and looked at it—

Blood.

Yeah… it was reddish. I was terrified and rushed to the bathroom. I stepped inside and went straight to the sink.

I looked into the mirror—nothing was there.

No blood. No redness.

I was too lost in the shock to notice that the voice had stopped.

After washing my face, I put on my headphones and lay down, listening to music.

I had this habit of listening to songs when I was stressed or needed to clear my mind.

The song was loud at first—slowly, I lost count of my playlists. I’m an observer. I notice things others can’t.

This ability felt like a curse. My curiosity and the observations I’ve had over the years… I’ve had to deal with nasty people and many hurdles because of it.

My mind cleared after a while, but sleep didn’t come easily.

My heart kept beating fast, as if it would burst out at any moment. I’m not good at handling these feelings. Even though I’ve experienced them many times, I still can’t get used to it.

When I was young, I had a dream I still remember.

I saw a boy. He was a little taller than me. I couldn’t remember his face clearly, but he used to appear in my dreams every day. It was strange, but I wasn’t afraid of him. I remember him smiling at me.

Then he disappeared.

It was around Christmas Eve, and I wasn’t really fond of it. That was the last time he appeared in my dream. He called my name with so much affection.

He said he would come for me.

I don’t know why I remembered that now…

Finally, I felt myself drifting to sleep. My favorite song was the last thing I heard…

When morning came, it was already late for school. But I couldn’t skip it. I hurried, got dressed without eating anything,

and left my home.