“Hey Gisela!” was said at least 10 times in the school day. I now knew that Gisela was the red sweater girl that everyone seemed to like. Gisela was even bubbly and actually coherent when around anyone but me and Ortwin. Lots of the people said stuff like “Why are you hanging around with THEM?!” and Gisela simply replied “Just a change of pace.” It felt oddly humiliating like me and Ortwin were the kinds of people that “normal” people felt bad for. Aka the “really dumb and physically disabled” genre of person. Not that there was anything wrong with people who fit that description, it just wasn’t something I experienced much. Usually the “smiles” would be replaced by me getting shoved into a locker with expired milk thrown at me for nourishment while I sat in the dark and moist locker for 20 minutes.
The skylight beamed orange with rays that glowed throughout the windows, and the shadows grew darker and more azure. The marble floor was mainly blue but the shiny parts were a deep and lazy orange. At the end of the school day, Gisela still orbited around us like the crescent moon. Intuitively, Gisela said “Have you noticed that I seem a little bit… Different when around most people? More socially conditioned and less honest with people. For some reason, it doesn’t apply to you all? No offense but you two are losers in the eyes of most people so maybe that lowers my guard.”
“Do you take pity on us?” I said as I stopped walking. I didn’t know what I felt or why I felt the way I did. It disturbed me like a monster under the bed that parents warned their child about. Except this time, that monster was real and wasn’t a monster. Gisela stopped her confident pace in the heat of the sunlight. She looked at me with her cherry blossom eyes and said “A bit. Are you upset at me? Do you feel an undercurrent of anger at me? What do you feel, Hanna?” with a soft lullaby. I didn’t know the answer to any of her questions and muttered “I… Don’t know…” Ortwin was behind me, but further down the cool shade of the barren hallway. My watery eyes began to quiver and my breath was heavy. Gisela shot a puzzled expression and said “Are you okay, Hanna?”
I am not okay. But I was okay. I am okay. I used to be okay. I wanted to be okay. I needed to be okay. I hated being okay. We needed to be okay together. Mother needed me to be okay. Ortwin needed me to be okay. Mother didn’t want me to be okay, honestly. I wanted to embody okay, honestly. You don’t like me being okay because that would be boring, honestly. Especially him, for he wanted me to be between okay and boredom. Okay.
Gisela grabbed my shoulder and wasn’t basked in the sunlight anymore. As she lied there in my shadow, she said “Do you want to sit on a bench? You’ve been staring at my face for a little while…” I replied “Nope! Ahaha—we should—we should go the… the outside—the campus area. I’ve heard that campus looks FUCKING awesome at night!” as my eyes stopped with tear production. Gisela paused all motions and said “Okay…” Ortwin stepped forward and said “Good. I’ve been wanting to explore campus since I saw this place online.” Everyone approved of my idea as we stepped together through the silver doors. We were greeted with a bunch of students still outside. The gray pavement was everywhere but a golden pavement line led us away.
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“I doubt it’ll happen but what would you all do if a spirit attacked us?” Gisela said as she walked to a wooden bench and sat down on it. Ortwin laid his back on a white column with fancy designs at the bottom. As Gisela gulped down liquid from a red container, Ortwin said “I’d kill it. Spirits don’t fully die but you get the idea,” then paused and looked up at the sky. He looked back down and said “I always dreamt of the day where I save people from a spirit attack. It’s the whole reason why I want to be a soldier. To hear the gratitude of the people I saved pushes me to work hard. If I could just save one person, then I’d be happy for the rest of my life!”
“That’s a very beautiful aspiration, Ortwin. What about you? Why did you specifically apply to a military college instead of a regular college where your highest danger is failing a test?” Gisela said as she looked at me and somehow put her bottle back in her bookbag without a look at it. I replied “Um… To be rich? It just seems cool fighting monsters and stuff. I guess if I’m physically strong, then people won’t be able to control—I mean pick on me anymore. It sounds way more shallow than Ortwin’s reason.”
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Even though it was shallow, Gisela frowned at my response. Clearly it was worse than what I usually said. She stared at me and said “That seems like a pretty vapid and idiotic reason. Pretty sure it’s people like you that get killed first.” I didn’t know why but her response physically annoyed me and I said “If my reason for becoming a soldier is so bad, then tell us yours?” After I said that, she got up, adjusted her hair; and said “Mine’s a secret!”
Was this seriously the type of person Gisela was? She smirked at my face that I felt conveyed annoyance. “You’re annoyed, aren’t you? I’m sorry but I like to know the emotions of people I’m dealing with. A blank canvas is hard to work with.” Ortwin turned a corner that we couldn’t see so we followed him past the little metal gate. After Gisela walked through, the gate closed. The buildings casted a translucent shadow on the entire small area we were in. Gisela pulled the gate but nothing happened. She gave it a last shook and stopped. “Oh no… Are we TRAPPED HERE? Is there an opening ahead?” Ortwin replied to Gisela with a “No, there’s a gate ahead. It looks like the kind of gate that would close if someone ran past it too hard. Don’t worry, I won’t test that one out.”
And yet, I felt something behind me. Something cold like the backside of a full winter moon. Something that didn’t breathe but was felt. The shadow in front of my eyes were darker than the shadows the buildings left behind. Gisela and Ortwin looked at me, both with wide eyes. Gisela shrieked like she was about to be murdered and screamed “RUN!” Ortwin did something I didn’t expect him to do. Ortwin looked to his side and saw whatever gate he talked about there. It would be assumed that the gate would lead to the light at the end of the tunnel or rest of campus. Before I could turn around
Ortwin darted out of the area we were in. The gate slammed shut and shock the walls like a small earthquake. Gisela's eyes widened as more tears streamed through her eyes. I couldn’t hear it but her lips uttered things quickly. I dashed forward and turned around.
A see-through scarlet entity hovered behind me. It’s razor-sharp claw narrowly missed my brains. It had no legs but a torso that resembled a bonobo’s stomach, claws that belonged to a raven, and a fiery head that mimicked a tiger’s mane. It cocked its blood-filled eyes at me and flew at me. I dashed and turned my hips counterclockwise while my legs coiled off the ground. I produced a kick that made the spirit sprawl on the ground with a thud.
For a second, it remained until it flew back upwards and extended its arms out like it planned on smashing me into a pbj sandwich. I slid under it and threw my backpack like a weight at it. Its head jolted and collapsed into its neck. As soon as my bookbag hit the ground, it swirled around and grabbed my hair that previously touched my butt. It whirled and twirled me around as it slammed me into a gray stucco wall. The last thing I remembered was an explosion in my brain as I splattered the wall with blood.
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“It seems like Miss. Santana is regaining consciousness. Luckily, it wasn’t a serious injury as she’ll be up to speed with a bit of rest. I should be thanking you, Mr. Brown. You saved these two students’ lives.”
My eyes fluttered open as white lights and a blue wall was all I could see.
“Oh thank goodness! I was so scared when you got thrown into that wall. Really, I was terrified in that entire situation… But Mr. Brown opened the gate and effortlessly slain that spirit with only a plasma spear. I guess others heard my screams of terror since he wasn’t the only person there. I hope Hanna is hearing this. If not, then I’ll repeat myself over and over…”
“I… I can hear you… Ughh….”
“Great! I don’t want to sour the mood but Ortwin still hasn’t came back! He looked at your unconscious body, alongside some other students. He looked me in the eyes and said “I’ll come with you to the nurse. I just need to something real quick.” I wonder what was so important that he left us in the nurse room. It’s not that hard to find and you can just ask around…” I leaned up and saw Gisela on a chair. She smiled and said “We’re roommates so you can sleep our room. I’ll nurse you up to full health!”
Gisela was a hard person to figure out. She seemed genuinely happy at my recovery but it wasn’t that long along she purposely annoyed me. I guess it was fine.
Everything was okay, except for the whereabouts of Ortwin.