Code: Error

* ~ Chapter 15 ~ *

I spaced out.

I spaced out, although there was a tapping on the window. It scared me shitless, but I still managed to space out. No matter what people told me about being aware of my surroundings, I managed to zone out in the midst of serious matters. But at the same time, I'm fluent at being aware of things.

For some reason, during that moment, my mind wandered all the way back to August 12, years back. Back when... when I was still living in the Philippines. Back when I was... myself.

I vividly remember that day when I was 6 and I snuck out of my house during my aunt's dinner party because for some odd reason, I thought it was boring as hell. I went to one of my favorite best friend's house and tapped on the window that same thunderous way. We went to one of the beaches that was near the house, but not too far either. Beaches in the Philippines are absolutely gorgeous. We did anything a little kid would do, from telling absurd stories we made, or playing games out there.

I could also remember the way she would also tap and bang the window just like I would. That same night, at 11:00 PM, she tapped my window and we sat in my backyard, and talked about our future plans. What we would do for a living. What mischief we would do.

But it all came to an end a month later.

My family and I moved to Colorado.

.........

The day when I was told we were moving... my world shifted and then just... blatantly shattered. My life was perfect there– I didn't want to leave! I never wanted to! But, it was where our parents new jobs were.

What made everything worse was I had to leave my past behind. My future plans with my childhood best friend would never be fulfilled. And I would never get to tap her window, and she would never get to tap mine. Tapping windows was a sign of our friendship. A sign where we could just run away from our troubles and be ourselves.

I love where I am living right now, as I made friends.

It's just not the same.

"RONNIE!"

My zone out state was broken by my sister looking concerned. "I took care of the mystery window tapper. And then I heard you sobbing. What's wrong?" She pulled me in a tight embrace and held me. She soothed me the way I always could be soothed. I cried for a bit until I took some deep breaths and regained my composure.

"Just something from the past. Nothing serious," I said. "You don't need to worry. I'll be fine."

The next day, I decided to meet up with Dai. When I got to his house, he waved at me.

"Hey girl, what's up?"

"Not much." We high fived for the heck of it.

"Well come on in then. Be wary of Keiko, she's likely acting like a caffeinated tweaker."

We went inside the house. Keiko was going crazy, but it was at a tolerable level.

"Hey there Ron!" said Keiko. Yep, she was going insane. "Long time no see! Although it hasn't been that long. Whatever! Still good to see you again! You wanna adventure? Climb trees? Swim? Binge Melanie Martinez?!" I chuckled. "I'll take adventuring and binging Mel any day! Climbing trees and swimming are fun, too."

Later, Keiko and I decided to adventure. She took me to a secluded meadow, which I was happy for. Meadows are one of my favorite places ever. "My mom used to take me here a lot when I was little. No she's not dead; this isn't a Disney princess story. But she's just more busy, so I've been going by myself more." That made me a bit emotional.

"A similar occurrence happened to me," I said. "But I got through it. My sister is the one who takes me places nowadays. I miss home a lot though. I honestly wanna go back. I miss the past, but I've gotta endure the present. I can't just mope forever. It's useless, although I could mope. But I'm not the type of person to just be a pussy and break down."

Keiko sighed. "I understand." She sat down with her legs close to her body while I sat crisscross. "I miss Japan. Everything was better there." Those words pierced my heart. "I'm not from Japan, I'm from the Philippines. But I know the pain of leaving home." I put my arm around her in a method of comfort.

We both sat with each other for a while, but we were also playing a few games like tag or hide and seek. But we also vented. Keiko vented about the pain of leaving home, while I vented about my own pain and how at times I would feel like a constant burden and I wanted to leave everything.

The time had hit 7:35 PM. Keiko looked up at me.

"Sorry Ron, but I got to go! See you!"

"Bye, Kei."

And with that, she turned and left, and so did I.

.........

At 2 AM, I was awakened by a notification. Curious, I picked up my phone to see a voicemail.

I listened intently.

"Experiment 999-999 is on the move. We need to move in and grab her."

"We could also make the process slow. No matter what, we'll get her... in time."

"That girl must think she can go places and that she's super tough. But we will see where she will go and show her what happens to the people who escape."