What's the Opposite of a Fairy Tale? | ONC 2024

11. Found

"Evan?" the girl asked, never taking her eyes off me. She was looking like she'd seen a ghost.

I tilted my head, trying to process it. She was clearly talking to me, but I didn't really understand what she was asking. What, exactly, was an evan?

"Is that you?" she asked, much quieter this time. "...Evan?"

Her voice was almost a whisper, as if she was afraid of the answer. When I didn't respond, her shoulders seemed to slump just a little. It took me almost a full minute before the realization came down on me like a ton of bricks. She was calling my name.

My name was Evan. I was a student here; it was the whole reason I was even at this school in the first place. The reason I remembered this building was because I used to have classes here. And Ekster? He was my teacher— the last one I'd ever seen before I was cursed.

I turned back to the girl. I remembered the first day I'd ever met her; she'd sat next to me in chemistry during junior year of high school. The next year, she'd started dating my best friend Gabe. Six months after that, we'd all gotten accepted to the same university.

How could I have forgotten that? Had I really fallen so far into my new life that I'd just completely blocked out the old one— the one I actually wanted?

"...Evan?" Olivia asked again. She was starting to look distressed, and I wondered how long I'd been staring at her.

I nodded and watched as relief flooded her face. She knelt down, and I sprinted towards her, glad someone was finally in my corner. The next thing I knew, she'd dropped her papers on the ground and wrapped her arms around me.

"We've been looking everywhere for you," she whispered into the top of my head.

Her eyes slid up to the posters she'd been placing on the pillars. I craned my neck to follow her line of sight. Even though I'd realized who had to be sketched on them, it still took me a minute or two to recognize my own face. In my defense, I hadn't spent all that much time staring at myself in the mirror since I'd been cursed. It was a little more concerning that I hadn't recognized the picture of the guy on the poster above it. Had I really blocked out what I looked like as a human?

Olivia caught me staring at those posters.

"After you'd been gone for a couple days, me and Gabe decided to put up posters. That's where I went on Sunday... when you were sleeping in my room... If I hadn't just left you there..." she trailed off, looking guilty. "I should have left a note for Sophie before I left. I just didn't think... I'm sorry."

"That's ok," I mumbled into her sleeve. I hadn't thought about it either.

With her free hand, she gathered the papers spread around her feet. She stood up and the next thing I knew, she was carrying me down the sidewalk, heading vaguely in the direction of the cafeteria. We turned down a slightly narrower path, with less people on it. As the crowd thinned out, Olivia leaned down to me.

"Speaking of notes," she murmured, "I got the one you typed."

I tilted my head up to see her looking straight at me. "Yeah?" I asked quietly, hoping she would understand from context.

"Thanks for that, by the way," she nodded.

As we continued walking, a wave of nausea swept through me, and I gripped onto Olivia's arm automatically. It took me a minute to work out why I was so distraught. This was an area of the campus that I'd been purposefully avoiding, even though I'd almost completely forgotten why; we were about two buildings away from the path I'd taken the night I'd been cursed. Fortunately, we turned right before we made it down that particular walkway. Sheepishly, I relaxed my grip.