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I'm not crazy. It's all in my head. There's nothing there. It's not real.
I repeated this in my head. But no matter how many times I did the monster didn't go away. They usually never did.
There was a monster above my math teacher's head. You know those really scary horror movies that stay in your head for days? Yeah, just that but ten times worse.
Its legs click against each other and its slimy face twists into what I think is a grin. But what I think is the worst part is the saliva that pools out of its mouth and drips onto my teacher's head who drones on about algebraic equations.
I'm amazed she can keep teaching but I'm not surprised.
No one can see them. It's all in my head.
I just wish my head didn't make them look so real and gory.
"Kobayashi-san," I almost jumped out of my seat. Nomura tapped the blackboard, "Please come up and solve this equation."
I eyed the monstrosity above her head.
It gave an eery cackle that made my bones shiver.
There was no way I was going near that thing, real or not. At least, that was what I thought resolutely in my head.
"Kobayashi-san, we don't have all day," Nomura snapped. She's gotten a lot more irritable lately.
'It's not real. It's not real. It's not real,' I chanted as I made my way up to the board. My heart drummed in my ears and I kept my eyes on the floor.
The frog-spider croaked, its underbelly bulging and more saliva spilled out. I pretended that I didn't see the flies in the saliva. Or the way its underbelly bulged. Or the hair on its legs that were in need of a desperate shaving, waxing, threading, the whole she-bang.
I was thankful my handwriting was cursive. I could blame the messiness on that instead of my trembling hands.
"That's correct," Nomura nodded.
I turned around, ready to run to my seat. The frog-spider bounced in front of me, so close I could smell its rotten egg breath.
I shrieked and threw whatever I could at it. Naturally, it would move out of the way so the chalk hit my math teacher square in the face.
An almost comedic silence filled the air as the chalk slid off her face. It fell to the floor with a light clatter that seemed to reverberate in the quiet room.
"Sorry, Nomura-sensei," I apologized, "I thought I saw a spider."
Which wasn't technically a lie. Nonetheless, Nomura didn't look amused.
"After school detention," she said, dusting the chalk off her forehead.
