𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗥𝗞 𝗔𝗚𝗘

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐎 - FIRST SIGHT

The moment I had laid eyes on him I knew he was only to be a stranger in my life. I knew one day he'd be long forgotten and I'd have no future thoughts about him — but as the hours passed I had to conclude forgetting was futile.

I felt embarrassed to be continuously bombarded with thoughts of this boy, I didn't know what to think in honesty. I could remember every detail on his face and almost read what he felt just from looking at his eyes — something I still can't get over. The sorrow that swam within them almost hurt me the same. Dejection was something much like an infinite ocean, you'd spend long hours swimming with no sign of land and forever remain lost and alone. That's what I felt when I looked at him — this isn't any type of attraction, it's probably empathy.

Love at first sight wasn't something I believed in, and that reason was far more logical, in my opinion.

I found rest an easy thing to fall into. After a relaxing shower, warm and calming, I'd throw on nightwear and fall into my bed, slowly succumbing to a long sleep. With one more calmed sigh I finally let my mind venture into the caverns of my dreams, each and every thought coming to life and starting their own creative journey.

————

Monday was long gone, only a memory at this point. Though, even then it was something that felt more recent than four days ago.

I felt a lot of relief with Fridays, I could feel the bubbling excitement for long nights and days of doing whatever I pleased — not a single worry on my mind. I could practically taste the unhealthy, sugared soda and smell the butter infused popcorn as I sat through a movie.

"Hey." I blinked a few times, slowly lifting my head from the palm of my hand. "(Y/N), are you busy tonight?" Recognizing the tone of voice addressing me, a small smile of content crossed my face. "I'm not expecting anything important." I said, sitting up straighter in my chair, welcoming my friend with a serene gaze. "Good, Yuki and I were plannin' to watch a movie — knowin' that you aren't busy maybe you could distract me from whatever boring move she chooses." Etsuko motioned somewhere behind her and over a few other students talking I could hear someone call out to us.

"National Treasures is not boring!"

The girl looked back before to me once more, "I don't mind." I shrugged looking up to the clock in the corner of the room. "You better not, I'd have dragged yer ass to be of decent company." She muttered with no caution in her words, I could only shake my head in an amused dismay. "Knowing you, I wouldn't doubt it."

She hummed in triumphant lull, and I returned my eyes to the paper before me — instantly tucking it between the others in my binder. It had been the end of the day, thankfully, and I was ready to go.

I let out a sigh, my hand reaching for my phone that hadn't been in my pocket. I figured I left it in my school bag, but wasn't any sign of it there either. "Etsu...!" As I called out to the girl the bell rang obnoxiously and making me shave out a breath in disappointment. "Where's my phone?" I asked urgency lacing my voice as I packed everything up with quick movements. "I don't know? Why d'ya blame your forgetfulness on me — that's the real question."

"Not helping!"

"I still don't know!" She lifted her bag over her shoulder. "Go check the other classes you went to." She suggested with brows creased a little, dramatic offense still across her face.

"Yuki! You didn't take her phone, did ya?" She called to the girl already leaving the class — she lacked patience on Fridays. "Nope!"

"Your outta luck here, better get looking." She had a small smile on her face and I jumped to my feet, looking around my desk. I looked up to my teacher who was clearly insistent we left with a few loud exhales and irritated flips of the paper. "You're not gonna help me?" I looked back to her with a raised brow.  "No, I ride the bus with Yuki — I'm not missing it, parents'll kill me!"

"Prick."

"Amnesiac."

————

"Is this it?" A portly lady lifted the device with a sneering expression, displeased by how late in the afternoon it was — she most likely did not want to be here any longer. I nodded quickly reaching for the phone the moment I recognized the unique casing. "Yes ma'am!" I took my phone from her heavy grasp with a much brighter expression, any doubt and unhappy heat in my veins was instantly forgotten. "Thank you very much!" I smiled to the woman who didn't do well in hiding her grimace. The woman mumbled something before walking down the hall, beginning to leave for the day.

I unlocked my phone at the sight of bombarding messages, and instantly started to respond my eyes strictly down on the screen as I started to walk to the schools entrance/exit. I could feel the waves of relief cleanse my veins and I noticed the mid-afternoon headache dissipated.

I made sure to text my parents and warn them of my lateness — as well as why — and also reacted to a few things Etsu had sent me disregard long the fact that I had lost the phone in the first place.

The moment my phone was dropped into my pocket, my hands flew to my school bags straps and I mindlessly played with them, walking in a content silence.

The school had become a lot more lifeless now that everyone had left — even some of the lights dimmed and quieted from their screeching buzz. I tried to take my mind off the loneliness I was suddenly pushed into. The dark and silent abyss of being completely alone had confidently walked over me. I had never been a fan of the solitude — but I was never this uneasy.

A filthy pit of quiet worry skeptically grew from my stomach and plagues my heart with worry like a fatal disease. I didn't like the anxious cadence my heart made, the organ feeing like it were going to collapse on itself. It had me questioning my surroundings with a judgmental eye; narrowed, sharp, and cautious as well.

I remember being like this as a kid — but it hadn't grown with me. I left the fear behind, there was no reason for it.

Subtle sounds imposed my naivety in creative lulls that made my hairs rise and goosebumps take up a great range of my body; trepidation surged through my veins with haste, bringing about perturbed nausea.

My hand reached out to the metal handle on the glass door and clasped around it calmly, but the short-lived solace started to dissipate before me. The uneasy atmosphere churned my stomach and my hand shook with anxiousness when a weird wave of nervousness brushed the hairs on my body like an ice cold comb. The cool metal made contact with my hand just before I felt a strange sensation; a rush of adrenaline touched every fiber in my body and goosebumps pricked my skin like small needles.

For an odd reason I felt the need to move and my hand retracted to her body in a hasty pace. My reflexes felt almost abnormal, and I was quick to realize why. The thick, rigid atmosphere making my hands tremble in a similar rhythm to the beat of my heart that ran marathons; the dryness of my mouth that resembled dehydration in the middle of summer; my thoughts swarming like angry hornets with foreboding buzzes that sang with the luminescent lights. This was fear.

I was concerned but soon more thankful as the glass doors cracked in high, hostile screams.

I took a wary step back concern written across my face like many scribbles drawn by a kid. This disorienting situation only became more confusing when the cracks in the glass spread until the covered the entire door — preparing to shatter, violently. I concluded it wasn't only me that was affected by the immense pressure of the atmosphere, the doors shattering just before my eyes not even a second after.

I shakily exhaled and stepped back further as the clear shards fell to the floor with echoed pangs. I knew something was happening — something incredibly peculiar and unexplainable. But I knew that I needed to leave.

However, the infinite darkness that my mind collapsed in in had got to me first.