The perfect one

Zara had a boyfriend.

At least, that was what she told everyone.

His name was Kade.

He was tall, with dark eyes that always seemed to understand what she wasn’t saying. His voice was quiet and calm, the kind that could make a bad day feel bearable. He remembered her coffee order without asking. He knew when she wanted to talk and when she needed silence. He opened doors for her, carried her shopping bags, and made her laugh when the world felt too heavy.

He was everything a girl could ask for. The only problem was that Kade didn’t exist. Zara created him on a lonely night when her room felt too large and the silence felt unbearable. It started as a harmless thought. A small comfort. Someone to talk to when nobody else seemed to notice she was struggling.

But somehow, Kade stayed. At first, it was just inside her head. Then it became something more. “Kade thinks this lecturer is going to give us a surprise test today,” Zara said one morning as she walked into class. Her friends looked up from their phones. “Who’s Kade?” one of them asked.

Zara smiled casually as she dropped into her seat. “My boyfriend.”The answer came so naturally that nobody questioned it. Not at first. Over the next few weeks, Kade became part of every conversation. “Kade said I should take the bus today.” “Kade loves this song.” “Kade thinks you’re funny.”

The name slipped from her lips as easily as breathing. Her friends laughed whenever she mentioned him. “Aww, someone’s in love.” “When are we meeting this mysterious boyfriend?” Zara always smiled.

“Soon.”

The truth was that she never intended to fool anyone. It just felt nice. Nice to belong to someone. Nice to imagine there was a person waiting for her after class. Nice to pretend she wasn’t alone. As the days passed, Kade became more real to her.

When she walked through the busy market, she imagined him beside her. When she sat alone in restaurants, she pictured him across the table. When she felt sad, she could almost hear his voice telling her everything would be okay. And somehow, that was enough.

One afternoon, Zara stood in a supermarket pushing a trolley through the aisles. She reached for a carton of orange juice. Then she paused. “Kade likes the mango flavor better,” she murmured. Without thinking, she picked up a second carton and placed it in the trolley.

The action felt completely normal. As if she really was shopping for two people. As if someone would be waiting at home. As if Kade was real. She didn’t notice the strange look the cashier gave her later when she placed both cartons on the counter. She didn’t notice because Kade was talking. At least, she thought he was.

By the end of the month, her friends stopped asking to meet him. The jokes disappeared. The curiosity faded. Something else replaced it. Concern. Whenever Zara mentioned Kade, conversations grew awkward. People exchanged glances. Whispers followed after she walked away. “Have you ever actually seen him?”

“No.”

“Maybe he’s just private.” “Or maybe. The sentence was never finished. But everyone was beginning to think the same thing. Everyone except Zara. Because to her, Kade wasn’t imaginary. He wasn’t a lie. He was the only person who never left.

And every day, his presence felt a little more real than the world around her. That night, as Zara lay in bed staring at the ceiling, she turned toward the empty space beside her. A soft smile touched her lips. “Goodnight, Kade.”The room was silent. Yet somehow, she could have sworn she heard a voice answer back.

“Goodnight, Zara.” But there is no one in the room except Zara.

The next morning came too quickly. Zara woke up with her alarm ringing sharply beside her ear, but something felt different. The room was too still, too clean in a way she couldn’t explain. For a moment, she just lay there, blinking at the ceiling.

Then she turned her head. The space beside her bed was empty. Of course it was empty. But her eyes stayed there a little longer than they should have. Like she was expecting something or  someone to be there.

“Kade?” she whispered softly, before she could stop herself Silence answered. She sat up slowly, brushing her fingers through her hair. A strange heaviness settled in her chest, but she shook it off. It was just a habit. Just her mind playing tricks again.

In  the bathroom, she stared at her reflection as she brushed her teeth. Her eyes looked normal. Her face looked normal. Everything looked normal. And yet, the feeling lingered. At breakfast, her phone buzzed once. No message. She checked anyway. Nothing. Still, she found herself typing.

Zara: Are you awake?

Her thumb hovered over the send button. Then she stopped. Who was she even sending it to? She deleted it quickly and locked her phone. At school, everything felt louder than usual. The laughter of her classmates echoed differently in her ears, like it was coming from far away. She sat down beside her friends, forcing a smile.

“ Morning,” someone said.

“ Morning,” Zara replied.

A  pause.

Then one of them asked carefully, “So. how’s Kade?” The question made her heart jump,but not in a good way. “He’s fine,” she said automatically. Another pause. Longer this time.

“Did he. say anything today?” someone asked.

Zara frowned slightly. “Why are you asking like that?” No  one answered immediately. Instead, one of her friends just looked at her phone, then back at her. “We just. want to understand,” she said softly.

Understand what?

Zara forced a laugh. “Understand what? He’s just my boyfriend.”But even as she said it, something inside her tightened. Because for the first time, she noticed something strange. No one ever reacted when she said his name anymore.

No jokes. No curiosity. No teasing. Just silence. Like they were waiting for her to notice something she wasn’t seeing. That afternoon, Zara walked home alone.

The streets felt longer than usual. Every sound the distant horns, footsteps behind her, the rustling wind felt slightly offbeat, like it didn’t belong in the same world she was walking in. Halfway down the road, she stopped. For a second, she thought she heard her name.

“Zara.”

She turned quickly. Nothing. Just people passing. Just life continuing like normal. She laughed under her breath, shaking her head. “I’m losing it,” she muttered. But as she started walking again, something happened.

A  voice soft, familiar spoke right beside her ear.

“You’re not losing it.”

Zara froze. Her breath caught in her throat. Slowly, she turned her head. No one was there. But the voice didn’t feel far away. It felt close. Too close. “Kade?” she whispered, her lips trembling. A pause. Then “I’m here.” Her heart pounded violently.

But the street around her remained empty of anyone standing beside her. Only her shadow stretched across the pavement, and for a moment, it looked like it wasn’t alone.

By the time she reached home, Zara wasn’t smiling anymore. She sat on her bed, staring at her hands like they didn’t belong to her. Her phone lay beside her, silent. She tried to remember when she last saw Kade clearly. Not imagined. Not felt. Not heard. Actually saw him. Her mind went blank.

And for the first time since she created him, Zara felt something she had never felt before. Fear. Because if Kade wasn’t real.

Then who had been answering her all this time?

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