Hiding

Chapter 2

I woke up and couldn't breathe. I knew I was awake, that this wasn't a dream. This hadn't happened before. I started doing the worst possible thing I could do. I panicked. I sat upright and gasped for air. I tried to get up, only to fall down. This is it, this is how I die. I'm sorry Astrid, I know you're going to be the one to find me. I kept gasping for air, but to no avail.

Astrid barged into my room. I was happy yet sad to see her. I didn't want her to see this. She ran over to me and sat me up. I was gasping for air for a few more seconds, then, suddenly, I was perfectly fine. I was breathing normally again. I was shaken up, but I tried not to let it show. Astrid looked panicked. "What was that?!" She asked, clearly not understanding what just happened. I didn't understand either.

"I.. don't know. I just woke up, and I couldn't breathe," I said. "I thought you were having another horrible nightmare, so I came here as fast as I could. I'm taking you to the hospital." She told me, ignoring my statement before. "No, I'm okay now. We don't need to go." I told her. I wasn't sure that was completely true, but I didn't want her to worry about me. "Are you sure?" She asked. I nodded.

I stayed in my room and skipped breakfast. I still didn't understand what happened, and why I couldn't breathe. It was like I could breathe perfectly fine, but I wasn't actually breathing. It was weird, and I decided to try to stop thinking about it. Normally, I would take a nap to forget, but I was actually afraid to. I decided to just play music and stare at the ceiling of my room.

I wouldn’t hold my breath if I was you
'Cause I’ll forget but I’ll never forgive you
Don’t you know, don’t you know?
True friends stab you in the front
It’s funny how
Things work out
Such a bitter irony
Like a kick right to the teeth
It fell apart
Right from the start
But I couldn’t even see
The forest or the trees
(I’m afraid you asked for this)
You got a lot of nerve
But not a lot of spine
...

I loved True Friends by Bring Me The Horizon. I looked at my phone. No new notifications. I decided to write a story of my own. I called it "The Mirror Man" because I'm so original and no one has ever done anything like it before. I then thought of another story that I could write, and I thought of a band that I knew. I decided I would work on that later, and the story would be called Unicorns Killed My Girlfriend.

Hours later, I was finished with The Mirror Man. It was a creepypasta. Thinking about that, I went onto my phone and opened up a creepypasta app that I had installed. A Small Girl's Tale was my favorite one by far. I wanted to talk to someone, but Astrid was at work. I called off for today, because I didn't really know what to do.

I scrolled through Facebook to see what people were up to. I didn't find anything interesting. Some people were watching a hockey game and complaining. Suddenly, a notification popped up on my phone. It was Kano. Weird. He almost never messages me.

Kano: Hey
Me: Hi
Kano: How are you?
Me: Good, you?
Kano: Good
Me: Are you ready for college?
Kano: No, because I won't be able to see your beautiful face

I didn't understand. What? I thought for sure he loved someone else. What happened with them?

Me: Lmao you've clearly forgotten what I look like :P
Kano: No.. I haven't you're always in my dreams
Me: That's the first time I've heard that
Kano: I miss you

I missed him, too. I knew I still loved him, I just didn't want to admit it. I wanted to get over him so I wouldn't have to worry about a situation like this. We talked for hours, and we were back together. I still wondered what happened with that other girl, but I was happy that I was with him now.

Astrid eventually came back home, and asked if I was okay. I told her that I was, and I explained what happened with Kano. "I'm glad to see that you're happy. You seemed so upset after you guys broke up." She told me. I still had to ask, "Do you think it will work out this time?" I kind of felt bad for asking, but I wanted to know if someone else thought that it was possible as well. She said yes, and that as long as I'm happy she will support the relationship, but if he hurt me again she would rip off his head. I didn't doubt that, actually.

I went back up to my room and played on my phone. I was once again playing music, when I heard a notification pop up. I hoped it was from Kano, but it wasn't.  It was from someone that I didn't remember. It was just a message request, but I was kind of scared to see what they had sent me. I looked at the name and remembered the name instantly. The message read:

Unknown: Are you ready to pay for what you did?