On Friday, Tori didn’t show up to school. The day went by quietly, but I couldn’t help noticing more and more students pointing and whispering about me.
Honestly, I wasn’t too concerned about what they were saying. I’d managed to get three hours of sleep last night—better than before, but still nowhere near enough to feel fully rested.
Just one decent night of sleep—is that really too much to ask?
Yawning for what felt like the hundredth time, I noticed the whispers and side glances were only getting worse. Eventually, I decided to find out what was going on, if only to stop the nagging itch in the back of my mind.
During the third break, I approached Ellie, our class president. She was a short girl with large round glasses and shoulder-length black hair.
"Hey, what’s up? What are you guys gossiping about?" I asked, half-joking, but my curiosity was definitely growing.
Ellie looked a little worried. "Hey, is it true that Tori bothered you? We’ve all been wondering if she did something to you. I heard she’s dangerous, and we started worrying about you."
I sighed. Yeah, she did, but not in the way they were thinking.
"Yeah, she bothered me. In fact, she even threatened me yesterday—said she'd send some thugs to beat me up," I said, shrugging my shoulders as if it were no big deal.
Ellie gasped, her hand flying up to cover her mouth. "Oh my God," she whispered, clearly shocked.
"Hey, don’t take it so seriously," I reassured her quickly. "We talked for a bit, and honestly, I don’t think her threats have any real weight behind them." I waved my hand dismissively, trying to ease her concern. "It was probably just talk."
Then I remembered something: they had all acted really strange around her—or rather, they didn’t act at all, completely ignoring her like she didn’t exist.
Why did I forget that in the first place?
So I continued, "Tori has intrigued me a bit. I'm curious about what happened to her that has everyone so afraid of her. And you won’t tell me, even though you clearly know more than I do," I said with a sigh, hoping Ellie would clue me in on the whole mystery behind their behavior.
Ellie looked genuinely surprised. "What do you mean? You must have heard the rumors—she beat up some girl from an older class and joined a gang."
"Yes, I’ve heard about that, but that's not what I'm talking about," I said, shaking my head. "I’m referring to how you all acted yesterday when Tori was in class. Why is everyone ignoring her, even Mrs. Thompson?" I added, my voice growing more tired.
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Suddenly, that eerie, tightening sensation surged through me again. That familiar feeling of something being terribly wrong. It felt like everything around me was warping. I was suddenly worried I might experience that awful, painful episode again.
I looked around the classroom. Everyone seemed normal, still talking, carrying on with their conversations as usual. But when I turned back to Ellie… she was standing completely still, frozen in place like a statue. Her wide eyes stared at me, and her smile looked unnaturally stiff.
We stood there, staring at each other for a few uncomfortable seconds. Then, as if jolted by something, she started moving again. "Oh Joshua, you have some really weird jokes, haha!"
Just as I was about to ask her what she meant by that—because honestly, what was she even talking about—the bell rang for class.
Ellie turned away from me and, without any further words, went back to her desk, sat down, and started preparing for the next class. Yeah, her behaviour wasn't suspicious at all, I thought sarcastically.
Interestingly, the sense of strangeness that had been hanging in the air started to fade. Thankfully, there was no pain this time. I breathed a sigh of relief, but my mind was still buzzing. They’re clearly hiding something from me, I began to ponder. What’s with all the secrecy when it comes to Tori? Why won’t anyone talk about her?
Are people that scared of her? Does any other explanation make any sense?
Well, whatever it is, Mrs. Thompson had just returned to the classroom, and it was time for me to go back to my seat.
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This time, at the end of the school day, Tori wasn’t waiting for me at the school entrance.
That left me wondering: doesn't she care that she's going to get into trouble at school? Not just for skipping classes, but her grades are bound to tank, too.
Maybe, for some reason, school just stopped mattering to her. But wouldn’t that kind of behavior attract attention from child protective services? After all, we're required to attend school until we’re 18.
Then again, it's not really my problem, but I noted it in my mind as another weird thing around her.
I suddenly remembered that I’d made plans for a running session with Dean at 5 p.m. Even though his endurance has been slipping since last summer, running with him always helps me clear my mind.
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"Joshua, you're like the Terminator lately. You don't seem tired at all," Dean said, leaning breathlessly against a stone bench in the park.
I realized we had already run five laps – that’s quite a few kilometres. I should be exhausted. Before the holidays, even on my best days, I'd be panting like Dean is now after this much running.
"Maybe you're right..." I murmured, looking up at the slowly drifting clouds.
Everything feels so off recently, or maybe that’s just how puberty works?
I promised my parents last year that I’d focus on my grades. I’m still puzzled by how well I’m doing despite being literally unable to focus on whatever I’m reading. Every day after getting home, I just lie in bed and stare at the ceiling. It’s definitely not healthy, especially for my mental state.
It feels like I haven’t seen my parents in ages, even though they only left at the end of August, barely two weeks ago.
I’ve never been sentimental, but for some reason, I really miss them. It's pretty strange for me to feel that way. I’ve always been fine with being alone, and my parents travel for business all the time. Their absence should be absolutely normal to me.
They went to settle some matters related to my grandfather's inheritance, but from what I’ve gathered, the rest of my dad's family is... complicated, to say the least. I’ve never met them because of that.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
"Give me another moment to catch my breath, and we can run the last lap around the park," Dean said, panting heavily.
"Sure," I replied, though my mind was drifting elsewhere.
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After a few moments, we got back to our little marathon. While running, I thought about asking Dean again about Tori. But I realized he would probably treat me like everyone else, like I’m crazy or something. After all, he didn’t exactly answer me last time.
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So I sped up, putting a good hundred, maybe two hundred meters between us. Running helps me clear my head—it’s like a form of meditation for me. After a while, I glanced back and saw my buddy Dean barely jogging. I felt kind of bad for him, so I slowed down, waited for him, and we finished the last lap together.
“I was just thinking,” I said as we rested after the run. “You never told me what you did over the holidays, and you weren’t in town.”
Dean was still gasping for air, sweat dripping down his face even though it had been a few minutes since we hit our ‘finish line.’
“Hu-h, gimme a minute,” he panted, every word broken by heavy breaths.
After a bit, when he finally caught his breath, he said, “Man, we really pushed it today! I think we broke my distance record and my best time.” He paused, then added, “What did you say?”
“I asked what you did over the holidays,” I repeated.
"Oh, you know, my cousins on my mom's side are 5 and 6 years old, and my parents sent me to play nanny so my aunt could have a moment of peace, haha. Those little devils almost drove me crazy over those two months!"
"Again? Did they at least pay you this time for babysitting? You spent your whole holiday with them last time too!" I tried to sound sympathetic toward Dean; he can’t even catch a break during the holidays.
But Dean just looked at me with a puzzled expression.
"What do you mean by ‘again’? This was the first time I went there."
"What?" I was surprised. "I'm sure you took care of them last year too."
"No, no. Last year, I spent part of the holidays in town, and for the rest, we vacationed at a resort by a beautiful coastline, something called ‘Sweet Beach’. We spent two weeks there with the whole family. To be honest, that’s probably why we didn’t have the money to go anywhere this holiday."
But I'm almost certain Dean took care of his cousins last year too.
"Forget it, I've been a bit off lately. I’m not sleeping well and having trouble focusing. Sorry, Dean."
"Is it because of some girl?" he asked, smirking from ear to ear.
Yeah, you even know which one. We talked about her recently. But I didn’t want to bring up Tori again and get myself worked up.
Instead, I just said, "It's complicated."
"Ooh la la, Joshua is in love!" Dean teased, his grin widening mischievously.
"Do you want to get punched? No, I'm not in love," I replied, rolling my eyes.
"But it’s about a girl, right?" he persisted, raising an eyebrow with that knowing look.
"No" I said, hesitating. "I mean, yes, kind of, partly about a girl, but not exactly."
"So it is about love!" he declared triumphantly, that stupid smug look plastered all over his stupid face.
God, sometimes I hate him.
He grabbed my head and started ruffling my hair, teasing me even more. I really wasn’t in the mood for his jokes.
"Seriously, Dean, knock it off," I said, trying to keep my cool but feeling the irritation build.
It didn’t look like Dean was going to listen, so I grabbed his hand that was holding me and shoved him away.
"Damn, Joshua, where did you get all this strength? You must’ve been training a lot lately."
I had no idea what Dean was talking about; he was barely holding me. But I figured it was a good moment to strike back.
"Yeah, I’ve been training to kick your ass, so if I see that stupid smug look on your face again, you’ll regret it!" I said, raising my fist near his face.
Dean laughed, finally letting go. "Alright, alright, I get it. But seriously, if you need to talk about anything, I’m here."
Immediately, I felt the tension drop, and we both started laughing.
"Alright, Dean, I’m heading home. I’ve got an important meeting tomorrow, and I need to get my homework done today so I can relax over the weekend," I said, stretching my arms.
"Ooh, an important meeting, huh? I wonder with whom! Hum hum hum," Dean teased, wiggling his eyebrows mischievously.
"I told you last time, with your sisters!" I replied, rolling my eyes but grinning.
"Watch out, watch out, your strength won’t help when my dad pulls out his shotgun!" he said, laughing and miming a shotgun with his hands.
"Yeah, yeah, alright. See you next time. We’re meeting Monday at the same time?" I asked, already starting to walk away.
"Sure, see you Monday," Dean called out, waving as he headed in the opposite direction.
"See you," I said, giving a final wave before turning and starting my walk home.
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On my way home, while thinking about what to make for dinner, I stopped at a pedestrian crossing. As I waited, I glanced at a shop window beside me and caught my own reflection. My tired blue eyes stared back at me, with dark circles giving them a slightly hollow look. My black hair, though usually neat, was a bit tousled and sticking up at odd angles, a testament to how drained I felt. I was still in my tracksuit, which fit well on my well-built frame—thanks to a few years of amateur workouts and regular runs with Dean. I knew I was considered handsome, but the exhaustion etched on my face took away from that.
As I turned my gaze back to the street, I noticed a tall boy, about my age, with blue hair and corrective glasses perched on his nose. He was dressed in a school uniform that I recognized from the school that often competes with us on Sports Day. Beside him stood a very short girl with purple hair, who looked much younger than him but wore the same uniform.
It crossed my mind that this was only the second time I had seen someone in our town with a hair color other than black, brown, or blonde; the first time was, of course, Tori.
As the light turned green and we started crossing the street, something caught my eye. About fifteen meters behind them, near a light pole, were three people in those classic brown trench coats and wide-brimmed hats—like something straight out of an old detective movie. They were doing a pretty bad job of hiding, awkwardly ducking behind the pole and peeking out like they thought no one would notice.
Huh. What the hell? Were they trying to sneak up on that couple? Do they realize they were completely visible?
"So, do you have any plans? I can tell you what Maggie likes to eat, so you can invite her to a restaurant, or cook for her yourself..." I heard the short girl say to the blue-haired boy. I didn’t catch the rest of their conversation as we continued walking.
Should I tell them that someone is following them?
I hesitated, unsure of what to do.
As we reached the other side of the street, I decided to keep an eye on the situation from a distance. If things started to look more serious, I would step in. For now, I just hoped the strange people in coats would either go away or the students would notice them and handle it themselves.
The trio tried to move quietly—though they completely failed at it—running from one light pole to another to get closer to the couple. After a while, I could see them more clearly: two girls and a boy, around the same age as the couple crossing the street.
"Maggie, hurry up or we'll lose them! We need to find out how their date goes!" one of the trio in disguises said.
Honestly, it looked like something straight out of a slapstick comedy. For a moment, I was worried that someone dangerous was following the couple, and I wanted to warn them. But if I understood correctly, they must be some curious acquaintances.
The real question is: how come the couple hasn’t noticed them?
As this thought crossed my mind, I began to feel that strange tightness in my chest again. I tried to calm down, taking a few deep breaths while leaning against the wall of the building next to me. After a few moments, it thankfully passed.
Alright, I've had enough. This is too much. I’m calling the doctor.
I pulled out my phone and dialed the number for the nearest pediatric clinic.
“Good afternoon, how can I help you?” an older woman’s voice answered, sounding both friendly and professional.
“I’d like to schedule an appointment with the doctor. When do you have available slots?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.
“Just a moment,” she said. After a few seconds of typing, she continued, “The earliest available appointment is Wednesday morning. Shall I book it for you?”
“Yes, please,” I replied.
“Your name?” she asked.
“Joshua…”—and suddenly, for some reason, I had to think for a moment.
Did I just forget my own last name?
But after a brief pause, it felt like a fog was lifting from my brain.
“Joshua Shepard. I should be in your system,” I finally said, feeling slightly embarrassed.
“Ah, yes, I see you here. However, according to the documents, you’re listed as a minor. In non-critical cases, you’ll need to come with a guardian,” she explained, her tone shifting to something more formal.
I momentarily froze. Why do I need my parents to see a doctor?
After thinking it over, I realized that it’s normal, and that one of my parents was always with me at the doctor’s office.
Damn, I just don’t know when they’ll be back home.
“You know what? Please don't book the appointment just yet. I’ll call back if anything changes,” I said, trying to hide my frustration.
“Sure thing, honey. Have a nice day,” she responded, her voice returning to its friendly tone.
Ugh, I’m not sure what to do in this situation. I don't want to worry my parents just because I can’t sleep and have some stupid pains.
I felt tired again. I don’t have the energy to think about this or anything else right now. It’s time to go home.