In Real Life (Prologue)

Part 4: Anonymous

1.

Seize the day, they say. But yesterday ended up ceasing me. I woke up at the end of the bed, hunched against the carpet floor. The sunlight was sneaking through the blinds, that were anything but blinding. My neck was killing me. The VHS tapes were scattered all across the carpet with memories that could be replayed but not relived. Time was something inexplicably complicated. It changes things, and it cuts you with invisible marks that last forever. Silent marks wrapped around with muted screams and bombarding regrets. Seize the day before it ceases you, they say.

Leo was already having some Sally-prepped breakfast in the dining room. The TV was on, this time broadcasting Fox News. Sally loved to watch Fox news. She would get into debates with her friends over the President's latest scandal. Sally would defend him and say he 'was a man of business, a man of good. A man boosting our economy.'

The news anchor was standing in the rooftop of the Zenith Tower. The place was wrapped around with yellow tape, workers and staff were picking up chairs and tables, dismantling the stage and bringing down the lights in the background.

Sally served me a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon with a glass of orange juice as I joined the table.

"Mornin," Leo said as he scrolled through his phone with one hand and drank his cup of coffee with the other. "You won't believe last night's story."

Leo pushed his phone across the table, showcasing an article from the Daily Mail. The article showed a snapshot of Larsa and Harry arguing at the rooftop, moments before her bitch-slap miss and fall. The caption read 'Dumb ways to Die becomes Die Hard 7.'

What?

Drowning in my own past last night, I had completely forgotten about Larsa. She had fallen off the Zenith Tower's rooftop. Logic would say that the famous influencer's drunken fall—that could easily make it into a Top Ten Stupidest Deaths of 2019 Youtube Video would cost her her life. But according to the Daily Mail and the Fox News anchor, Larsa was alive. She didn't fall all the way down to the street, but ended up falling through a terrace awning five stories down. She suffered a concussion, two broken ribs and a dislocated hip.

According to this ridiculous Snapchat article, Larsa was under intensive care and hasn't woken up since the fall, an insider source claims.

'The fight seemed to have broken out after claims that Harry White's sudden romantic feelings towards BFF Venice Banks came to Larsa's knowledge. We all hope for Larsa's speedy recovery.'

I handed Leo his phone back as I broke my fast, speechless with what had happened.

"How could she survive such a blow?" I said.

"I know right? The vilest people are the hardest to kill. Why couldn't she just stay dead?"

Sally and I exchanged looks to Leo's words. The silence was so loud that Leo immediately noticed and considered rewording his statement. "I mean, because of those two unfaithful idiots, Venice is receiving incredible amounts of backlash. Twitter users are calling her a home-wrecker. Hell—am I regretting not exposing Larsa for the cheating scum she is. At this point everybody is feeling bad for her."

"What about Harry, has he spoken out?"

Leo nodded his head sideways. "But you know what's most fucked up from this whole situation? Venice and Harry spent the night at the hospital, joining Larsa's family in her misery. God knows what will happen when she wakes up from her coma. It's a plot-perfect situation. This triangle love affair surpasses the Joanne Smith, Mario Mills and Jeff Dreary love triangle," Leo got up from his chair, almost crashing with Sally who was mopping the floor. "Imagine being stuck in a room with the man responsible for tainting your name, the same man who claims he loves you and would abandon your best friend for you. Your best friend who almost died and who cheated on that same boyfriend who is abandoning her, for you. Isn't that the paramount of fucked up?"