Sonder

Chapter 1

I

                    EVERY DAY, I wake up to the sound of my sister, Vanessa, knocking uncountable times on my door 7 o'clock in the morning. It was my daily routine; Waking up to her noise, having a 15-minute soak and thinking time in my bath tub, eating breakfast with my sister, walking to school, learning different life lessons not from the work I'm doing but from the people surrounding me, going home with my friend Angela, doing the things I need to do for our finance, then sleeping.

                    And here I am having my thinking time in my bath tub. What's new to happen today? Will it be like my daily routine? Will someone finally notice me, for a change? Should I change my usual hairstyle? Or maybe I should just... or never mind that thought.

                   Anyway, here's the thing: Every day, I always look forward to a change in my routine. BUT each day there is always nothing. N-O-T-H-I-N-G! In short, my life is a boring routine.

                   In my class during my high school days, it is always the same. Teachers never seem to call me every time I raise my hand to recite; it's always "Hallel, don't bother to raise your hand anymore. Give chance to others, we know that you already know the answer." I've always been on the dean's list. The only friend I ever had in class was Angela (Well there's another one; we'll get to that later on). My classmates were against me; not that they hate me, but I guess I was beyond their class.

                       In college, where I thought everything would change, still there was no one who wanted to have lunch with me. I was with the same person; I had the same routine and same situation.

                     After class, things seem to get weirder; Angela was nowhere to be found. I checked the canteen, ladies' room and gymnasium but she wasn't in any of the places I expect her to be. I guess I'll be going home by myself. Don't know if I should feel good for having a change in my routine though.

I go home knowing that there was only Vanessa and her helper and/or acting boyfriend, Kenji, waiting for me. Ever since mom died after she and my dad got separated, I have been the one who is taking care of her and the breadwinner. Talk about being an acting single mom. Dad? Well, he's on some kind of drug so I guess no one would want to leave my sister to that dude.

                       As I come closer to home, I can hear Vanessa calling out for my name. This is one of the reasons why I love going home early. I can't remember a day when she failed to welcome me home; Every time she'd see me walking, she would scream out of excitement, pull Kenji and run towards me to give me a tight warm hug.

                    But that's what I thought she would do.

                    She didn't do the same thing she always does as of my routine. Instead, she was calling out for  my name, crying; Kenji was patting her back and he was telling her to come inside. I walked fast and asked them what the problem is.

                    Vanessa was still crying and calling for my name. She was removing herself from Kenji's grip but he was stronger than her.

                      "Vanessa, don't cry, I'm here. Stop crying!"

But she continued crying and kept pushing. Kenji led her inside and I went with them.

                      I kept on asking him but he doesn't seem to notice me. Am I invisible? A few minutes later, Vanessa had stopped crying and decided to watch her favourite TV show, Spongebob Squarepants. And so I went upstairs and right up there, there was something I hadn't noticed before; there was a portrait of me, with flowers surrounding my picture frame.

Little did I know...

I was already dead.