If I Were You

4 - The Next Step

Yusef fell asleep shortly after pouring his heart out to me. I watched him for a while, I can't imagine what it was like for him all this time. I tucked him into bed, and made my way out of his room. I didn't want to leave him with no explanation, so I ripped out a page of my council planner, and wrote a short note for him to wake up to.

"Morning, Yu. I hope you slept well. I'll be in the council room all day if you want to come talk, if you don't feel any better I can come see you instead. I'm writing a note because I don't want a text to wake you up. Please let me know how you are :)"

I decided to leave it on the table in his hallway, next to the door. Hopefully he finds it. It's not a very long walk to my house, but at 9PM it feels like an eternity. I like the night, everything's quiet and you can think clearly. I looked up at the moon shining down onto the pavement. What happened today? Where did the glasses go? How is any of this real? These thoughts ran through my mind, and I half expected to wake up in the school infirmary. My phone buzzed, and I reached into my pocket - was it Yusef? Had something happened after I left? Before I could even pick up my phone, I felt something else in my pocket next to it. The glasses.

I pulled them out in an instant, inspecting them. I didn't want to put them on again, no way. With the glasses in one hand, I pulled out my phone with the other. It wasn't Yusef, but rather my sister.
"Where are you?? Did you have some club thing I didn't know about? I'm worried!!"
I live with my older sister, our parents live overseas.
"I'm fine, Syd. On my way home now, will explain later." 
Hopefully that's good enough, I don't want her to worry.
"Okay, see you soon."
I look at the glasses in my hand again. What do I even do with them? I just decided to put them back in my jacket pocket, where I found them. Hopefully they disappear again.

After walking for what felt like a century, I arrive at my front door. To no surprise, Sydney is waiting in the living room for me.
"Did something happen? It's not like you to be home late, Lei." She looked at me, tucking some loose hair behind her ear.
"Yu was sick, and I went to check up on him. I left when he fell asleep, sorry I didn't let you know." I hung my backpack on the pegs next to the door.
"Aw, I hope he's okay. It's nice of you to check in on him like that." Syd's always been a fan of Yusef, she's friends with the drummer of his band, Kyle, though she doesn't talk about him much.
"Anyway, I'm gonna go upstairs. I've got my speech to go over for tomorrow."
"Okay, let me know if you want any food or anything." She turned around and pressed play on the TV remote. Looks like she's watching another crime series of some sort.

I made my way into my room, taking off my jacket and throwing it on my bed. I grabbed my notepad from my desk, reading over my speech for the parents meeting tomorrow. I kept looking over at my bed, wondering if the glasses were still there. It was impossible to focus, so much was on my mind. The accident in 2019, seeing the world through Hana's perspective, the glasses.. and the moment with Yu. I dropped to the floor, leaning against the wall. What is happening to me? The world is going so fast and I cant even keep up with it. I heard my phone buzz and the pocket of my jacket lit up.
Using all my effort, I stood up and picked up my jacket, I reached into my pocket and looked at my phone.

It was a picture that Syd had sent me. It was just her posing with Taffy, our cat. She sends me random stuff a lot. While I was on my phone, I decided to open the council group chat and ask everyone if they were well prepared for tomorrow.
"Hi everyone, sorry for the late message. We all good for tomorrow's parents meeting?"
Aran started typing. Great.
"Lei, the meeting was cancelled. Did you not know?" That's the first I'm hearing of this. Is he messing with me? No, Aran doesn't do jokes.
"When was this announced? I was unaware."
"This afternoon, the school is closed tomorrow because of a burst pipe. The meeting was moved to next week instead. It's in an email that was sent out." For once, Aran was helpful.
I checked my emails, and sure enough - there is no school tomorrow. That's one weight off my shoulders I suppose.

I carry my jacket over to my wardrobe. Before I have the chance to hang it up, the glasses fall out of the pocket. Just when I almost forgot about them. I put my jacket away, then reached to pick them up. I let curiosity get the best of me, and I put them on again.