Just A Dream

I’m not crazy,

I’m just an antisocial sixteen year old.

So why is everybody treating me like I am?

I woke up to the sound of the rain pattering against the roof. “Sai!! Get ready for school!” I heard a voice call from downstairs. I slowly got out of bed and grudging changed into my uniform. Ugh, school. High school – everybody thinks it’s the best time of a teenager’s life. Au contraire. I did not enjoy high school. And I most certainly did not enjoy interacting with the 40 other students in my batch. I didn’t have many friends, and the “friends” I had treated me like crap. But there’s this one guy. My bestfriend – Kai.

I met Kai in the hospital last year. I had hit my head terribly in a car accident and had a 50-50 chance of survival. He was one of the patients admitted there. After we recovered, we stayed as friends and I found out we studied at the same school. We pretty much stuck together after that. He was my best friend. The only one who was there for me when I needed someone. The only one to ever care for me. The only one to ever make me feel like I was worth something more than what I felt.

Jeez. Okay im getting sentimental. But he was really important to me.

I walked to school with my headphones on. Talk about antisocial. As I walked, I admired the view of the city. It wasn’t that bad but damn it, the pollution was terrible. I reached the gate and bumped straight into Catherine. Aw . “Hey Sai…rah” Catherine said. She said my name like it was a horrible thing. God I hate this girl.

“So, where are your non-existent friends?” she said with a smirk. “GO BACK TO REHAB!! YOU’RE CRAZY!” she yelled at me. I decided to avoid her and just head straight to the classrooms. I could hear her entourage laughing as I left.

What was this ’s problem? Though I had my accident, I didn’t want to go to rehab just for it. I was a strong woman. I didn’t need any of those. And I wasn’t crazy. I was still pretty much a normal kid trying to lead a normal life.

For those who don’t know, Catherine McDelly is this rich, popular, pretty aka perfect girl in our school. She was also once my best friend in primary though as we grew older, she bloomed and I didn’t. She wanted the spotlight and I wanted to hide in the corner of the room. Things changed and we had to go our separate ways.

*bell rings*

We all hurried to our respective classrooms. Golly, where was Kai?? I wondered as the teacher walked into the room. Jeez, okay nevermind. I needed to pay attention to this lesson. My geometry grade is terrible.

Classes end and I still haven’t seen Kai. That was weird. Was he absent? He was almost always there everyday. I decided to check in with his class advisor. “Good afternoon, Ms. Lee. Was Kai present today?” She took one look at me and looked confused. “Kai? There is no Kai in my class.”

Wot.

“He said he was in your advisory period? His full name is Kim Jongin.” I said.

“Dear, I’ve been teaching in this school for 7 years. I think I would’ve known if there was a Kim Jongin in my class.” She replied.

“There must be some mistake! Here, let me show you a picture of him.” I took out my phone and scrolled to the photos. I had a picture of him eating ice cream in the park. I scrolled.. and scrolled. I couldn’t find anything. What happened to it? I don’t delete any photos I have saved in my phone. “Umm, I’ll come back next time.”

I ran to the administration office and banged the window. “Hello!! Hello!!!!” I said a little too loudly.

“Good afternoon to you too Ms. Alonzo, please stop banging the window or you’ll have to pay for it if it gets broken.” the secretary said. “What can I do to help you?”

“Is there any record of a Kim Jongin in this school?” I started.

“No.”

“You haven’t even checked.”

“Sairah please. This school is not a very big. I think I would know if a Kim Jongin had applied here.”

This couldn’t be happening. I couldn’t have just imagined him. I ran all the way home in tears and bumped into my very surprised mother. “Sairah! What happened?” she asked me.

“Mom quick. Do you remember my friend Kai? The one who I brought home the other day?” I was hyperventilating already.

“Sairah, honey. Calm down.” She wheedled.

“TELL ME!!” I screamed.

“No.”

“What??”

“No. You didn’t bring home your “friend” the other day.”

“But I—“

“You didn’t bring anyone home. You asked my permission but you didn’t bring anyone over. You were just… there talking to yourself.”

I couldn’t believe this. What was happening?? Was Catherine right about my “non existent friends”?

Maybe it was the medicine I took in rehab.

Maybe it was the car accident.

Or maybe…. Maybe I was just crazy.