Falling Into a Fantasy

I: BLAKE

        I was misgendered... again. People don't understand the concept of using the right pronouns when it comes to gender fluidity. Tossing that thought aside, I speed-walked to my last class of the day: social studies. Social studies is kind of like my getaway class, where I can be any person from history and learn about actual people who are similar to me. As I settled into my seat, the teacher, Mr. Filip, told the class about an upcoming project, in which we have to draw our depictions of some famous paintings from the Renaissance period.

        "Okay class, get to your seats. The bell is about to ring, and I'm going to assign you a partner for the project. One of you are going to do some research on a painting, and the others will come up with an idea for your depictions, and both you and your partner will contribute in painting the depiction and making it come to life." said Mr. Filip. Honestly, I hope I get partnered with Mariana, a kind-of okay person that's been in my homeroom since 6th grade.

        Mr. Filip then began to partner each other up. Chaddick and James, Lillian and Reese, Cindy Lou and John, and on and on and on. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Mr Filip said, "Blake with no one. If you want to work with someone, you can join a duo, but if you don't want to, you don't have to." A breath left my chest. I'm working alone! Years of people picking on me because of my gender now has a slightly less slim road to an escape!

        45 minutes later, the final bell rang. I sped through the hallways to get to my locker, got my things, and went out into the bus lane. I looked around to find my bus, and there it was: Autobus numero dieciocho, better known as bus number 18 and the pretty much empty bus except for me, my childhood best friend, Jo Vivus, formerly known as Jolene, and a few freshmen. I'm a sophomore in high school, and Jo is a junior. Anyway, I didn't see Jo on the bus today. I think she had to go to another wedding. To be honest, her family is WAY too big.

        I sat into seat number 8 and opened my book, The Great Prophecy of Umbra Malum, and I started to read. Then, suddenly, I heard someone speak.

        "Heyyy! How are you doing? Ooh, is that a new book I see there? What's it called, and what's it about?" I looked up, with a jolt of surprise. It was Jo. And once again, she was way too enthusiastic, seeing her childhood pet died two weeks ago. Honestly, how did her depression cure so quickly?!

        "Oh, hi. Yeah, I'm reading a new book. It's really good, and I'm almost done." I handed her my book, and she read the back of it. "Also, I thought you were at another wedding?"

        "No, I was just at one of those doctor's offices where you wait for like, 2 hours, get checked up, wait another 2 hours, and boom! Two hours until school is over!" Jo said.

        The rest of the journey to the bus stop lasted in silence, because I, an incredibly amazing introvert, decided to read 15 chapters in 10 minutes that should've taken 20 minutes to read. I decided to look out into the beautiful early February winter foliage. And so I got to my stop and headed for home. Then, a notification popped up on my phone. It said: LIFE TWIST HAPPENING IN 1 HR 06 MINS 54.87 SECONDS. IGNORE, AND FACE THE CONSEQUENCES. DON'T IGNORE, AND LET THE LIFE TWIST HAPPEN. What is this? Is my life actually going to change? How do I not ignore it? You know what, world? Deal with it. I read the message. I did not ignore it.

        I walked home in silence, and entered my house. First thing to do: wash hands. That's always the first step when you get home from school. Then, grab a small snack and check homework. After that, do the homework. By then, my mom would be home from work. My parents are divorced. My dad lives about 15 minutes away from school, and my mom lives 23 minutes away from school. Anyway, I grabbed a bag of chips, went to my room, and sat down in my dark green beanbag chair, and opened my school chromebook.

        So. Homework. I have nothing but some calculus stuff. I should finish that in about 10 minutes. Maybe I can finish it in 5!

      I quickly finished the homework and opened up The Great Prophecy of Umbra Malum, and started reading. In this scene, Umbra is battling Tenebris Sceleratus, a woodland fairy that attended the School for Grim, which is one of the schools in the School for Great and Grim. There's this really heated battle going on, people, nymphs, and fairies are all getting wounded by the tens, and it's just pure chaos. It's a terrifyingly beautiful work of literature.

      About 10 minutes later, the doorbell rang. I ran down the stairs and creepily looked out our window. Guess who it was? Your mom. Haha, just kidding. It was Jo. Anyway, I opened the door with a smile.

       "Hi! Did you finish your homework? I decided to escape my house because my two younger brothers are having a tantrum, which is WAY too much chaos for my parents, and my older sister is trying to get mom and dad to let her go to her friend's halloween party, which is in... precisely 8 days, 6 hours, 35 minutes, and... 13 seconds," Jo said.

        "Wow. Very precise." I said. "Hey, want to go to my room? I have nothing to do." Seriously though. I have nothing to do, but read and finish yet another book that has been on my TBR list.

        "Of course! Also, can you help me with my calculus work? I kind of understand some of these questions, but don't fully understand all of them..." Jo said. Welp. I hope I can help her. I only understand calculus thanks to this random website that tells you how to do math.

        We went up to my room (which is covered in shades of orange, yellow, green, and a bit of pink), and looked at Jo's work. I successfully helped her understand it, and while she was practicing her stringed instrument, the viola, NOT the violin, (Did I forget to tell you that she's a skilled musician? Probably.) I was reading the book. Again.

        I was almost at the end when suddenly, a bright golden glow started erupting from the center of my book. What is this? Am I being delusional? Jo looked down at the book and went to get a closer look. The glow started to get bigger and bigger until it shone throughout the entire room. What the heck. Has this happened to anyone else before? Probably not. This glow is overwhelming. Too overwhelming, in fact. So overwhelming that I felt like I was getting sucked into the book. I looked at Jo, and she also had the same look on her face that I thought I had. Then, slowly, deliberately, I started to drift off into this brain fog of a fazy haze that made me feel like I was asleep, but really, my senses were still alive.

        The glow started to recede, and I promptly fainted. Yup, the person that's never fainted has fainted. I should get a world record for being the oldest person to faint for the first time, don't you think?

A/N: hullo children. I randomly decided to share my NaNoWriMo 2023 story with the people of this site. The middle of the story is blank, but I'll get there. The end is fully developed, though :)

Please enjoy the first three chapters of pure chaos in solitude and yeah.

HAPPY EARLY NEW YEAR :D