My alarm was blaring and my head was pounding. I groggily sat up, coughing and sneezing. “Ugh.. I’m coming down with a cold.”

I debated on whether or not to go to school, but I ultimately decided to go to school seeing as to how much of it I had already missed. That and the fact that I wasn’t feeling too bad.

I headed downstairs for breakfast and luckily Kenzie was already done cooking.

“Good morning.” Kenzie announced with a smile on her face as she fixed our plates.

“Morning.” Mizuki said as I sat down next to her. She was on her phone as per usual and didn’t look up.

I took a few meager bites out of my pancake before my curiosity won me over. I took a peak at Mizuki’s phone and found that she was in a group exchanging photos of Kpop singers.

Is that what she’s always doing on her phone? That’s kind of adorable.

Mizuki noticed me watching what she was doing out of the corner of her eye. “H-hey!” Mizuki shouted as she clutched her phone to her chest.

“What?” Kenzie giggled as she watched the display between Mizuki and I.

“Jeff is being a creep!” Mizuki screamed.

Ouch!

Kenzie looked confused and turned to me for an answer.

“Wait, no! It’s not what you think.” I waved my hands dismissively. “I was just curious about what she was doing.”

“You could have asked!” Mizuki interjected, her brow creased beyond belief.

“I.. you’re right. I should have asked. Sorry.” I can’t believe I didn’t think to do that.

Mizuki humphed before turning the other way, completely ignoring me.

Kenzie laughed and started eating without a care in the world.

Well, this sucks.. but I shouldn’t let this opportunity slip away from me. She did say that I can ask. Hopefully I didn’t screw up too badly.

“S-so who’s your favorite artist?” I asked slowly.

Mizuki’s back twitched, and she quickly turned to face me. “I can’t just pick one!” Mizuki held her hand to her heart, her eyes turning way too serious. “All of my boys are precious to me!”

…What the fuck did I just hear?

Kenzie started laughing, breaking the awkward tension. Food flew out of her mouth and she held her sides as she laughed uncontrollably.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

A tinge of blush stained Mizuki’s cheeks, and she quickly put her head down.

“Awe.. it’s okay.” Kenzie spoke as she wiped tears from the side of her eyes. “When I was your age, I had a crush on Justin Timberlake.”

“Leave me alone!” Mizuki screeched as she took off running from the table.

I feel kind of bad… I mean this is my fault after all… I kind of wish I didn’t ask anything.

Breakfast quickly ended, and it was time for school.

Kenzie saw us off, or rather she tried to but Mizuki quickly took off. I caught up to Mizuki and tried to apologize, but she ignored me completely. It stung a little bit, but there was nothing I could do about it. I accepted my fate and took the long and awkward walk to school.

Today is just going to be great!

My fast beating heart and queasy stomach would beg to differ, but oh well. I guess I’m going to be stuck like this, at least I’m starting to get used to it.

As I approached the gates of the academy, Jeniffer slowly started coming into view. A smile slowly floated onto my face.

Maybe I can get away with bullying her today?

The smile on my face quickly turned sinister, and I developed an extra pep in my step.

“Hello.” An unwanted, vile, disgusting, and evil voice was whispered into my ears.

A chill ran up my spine, and goosebumps formed on the back of my neck. I stopped dead in my tracks, not by choice, but only because my legs stopped moving. Sweat started trickling my face, I started shaking uncontrollably and my heart was nearly beating out of my chest.

“How have you been?” The voice entered my ears once again, causing my heart to skip a beat.

I slowly turned around to face the owner of the voice, ignoring the alarm bells going off inside of my head.

The owner of the voice belonged to who I thought it was…

“Saya..” The words left my mouth unconsciously.

“Yeah. That’s me.” A smile crept onto her lips, a big difference from the exhausted tone she has.

Saya was wearing a thin gray hoodie, and tight black pants. Her hoodie hid most of her face, only revealing her lips and nose. Both of which were scratched up and bruised. She smelled horrible and I nearly erupted into a coughing fit from the strong smell of cigarettes. I can only imagine what she looks like underneath those clothes.

Saya took a step towards me and I stepped back without thinking. She laughed before reaching out her hand to grab me.

“No!” I smacked Saya’s hand away, turning heel and running.

“Hey!” Jennifer glanced in my direction and tried to stop me, but I ignored her and kept running.

Fuuuuuuuccccckkkkk!!!!!

“Hey!”

“Watch where you’re going?!”

I ran through the hallways at a breakneck speed, bumping into practically everyone in the halls. I stumbled and tripped over my feet, and fell face on the floor.

Did she catch up?!

I jumped to my feet and scanned the area for any signs of Saya.

“She’s not here???” I breathed a huge sigh of relief as I leaned against some lockers.

“Jeff?” I jumped in surprise before quickly turning around to find Hannah standing behind me.

“Fuck…” I placed my hand on my chest, calming my erratic heart beat.

“Are you okay?” Hannah asked, her eyes holding an extreme amount of warmth inside of them. “Why were you running?”

“I..I..” My eyes started watering, and I struggled to speak. “I don’t know.. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

I squatted against the locker as I fell down on my butt. “I’m fucking dying…”

Hannah looked confused, but didn’t say anything. She squatted against the locker with me and rested her head on my shoulder. “It’s going to be okay.”

Tears silently rolled down each side of my face unimpeded. “Okay.”