Two

"Ami, where have you been wandering to? I've been looking everywhere for you." Jana Jewel, my tardy best friend, said as she dragged me back to our classroom. I gave a dramatic sigh which she ignored and handed her my notebook. It was so typical of Jana to never copy notes during the lecture and panic copy it a few minutes before the test. 

"I've been here and there. Waiting for you to show up by killing some time."

"Well, you sure killed a lot of time." She replied tersely as she copied in quickly and messily. My best friend's ability to multi-task is one of the things I greatly admire. Jana could talk to you while talking to someone on the phone and even while reading a book as well. 

She was like a writing machine and could sit there for a long amount of time without feeling disturbed. I took the seat next to hers and let my thoughts roam to wherever it may be content with.

And I got stuck with that dream. That surreal dream where I felt bordering on the edges of fantasy into crossing reality. Why was it I would dream of that every single night? The first night I saw it was two years ago. It was horrible. I didn't even know what to do.

If it weren't for my only older brother, I think I would've fallen into a pit of despair and insanity.

I pushed the dream away from my thoughts. It happened every night and managed to weasel its way inside my head so thinking about it right now would actually be flattering it. Instead, my mind stopped at the incident earlier. That guy. Rude guy to be precise. It vexed me a lot when I found him hard to push away from my mind, unlike the dream.

My hands clenched into a fist. How I wished that I punched him even though I had no idea how to plant one. I massaged my temples as I thought about it. The pain in my head was thankfully lessening. All I needed was just fresh air, my seat, and Jana's busybody beside me.

Ten minutes passed and my best friend was back to her usual, relaxed self (an indication she was done fussing about the notes she missed).

"So who's been bugging my super kind Ami?" She prompted, coaxing me to tell her what happened just a while ago. Still massaging my temples, I slowly related to her every detail of that annoying moment. Another ability of my best friend that I greatly admire is her way of listening. She never interrupted. She just looked at you and nodded at your every word. Her remarks would be after the speaker is talking.

"Whoever that guy was, you really seemed to be taken with him." Our chemistry teacher began his discussion so she had to whisper this to me. What's worse is that I couldn't even yell at her without having to face the consequences. But I could listen to my best friend's hushed chatter since the discussion was just a repetition of  yesterday's topic.

"You're nuts." My tone was same with hers only the quality came from gritting my teeth whereas her was smooth like honey. She rolled her eyes at me, flipped her pale blond hair backwards, and shrugged. Typical ignorant reaction of hers.

"Class, as I've stated yesterday, we'll be doing a paired activity for today. I hope you all brought the materials I've assigned yesterday." Our teacher's monotone voice was a bit indulgent to listen to. There were a few groans from the class, but other than that, everyone seemed to have his requirements.

Scratch that. Mostly everyone.

"Hey, Kingsly!" I glanced from my shoulder and looked back to my table. Jana, well, she was stuck staring in an uneasy manner. She seemed a bit feisty and fidgety.

"Ami! Do you even know who's calling your name?"

"Correction, calling my last name. And yes, of course I know. It's just Michael." Jana looked like she was on the verge of strangling me.

"'Just Michael'. He's not just Michael!" My, wasn't she frustrated. A lot. I knew where our conversation was leading to and where it will be ending. I recited along her lines. "He's like the star quarterback and hottest basketball player. And he's calling you." It took her three seconds to perceive what I had just done. She did her ignorant reaction. I didn't show her the frown that made its way to my face.

The way she said it, I was suppose to feel privileged that he even knew my name, even if it's just the last.

Somehow, taking it all in made my head hurt again. I sighed and put the balls of icky clay the top of our table. Jana brought the wooden board we needed as well as the sticks. I immediately spun when  someone tapped on my shoulder.

It was just Michael.

"Hey, I was calling you." He irritably began.

"Really? What do you want me to do about it?" I couldn't help but be a little bit snappy since his attitude wasn't helping and so was my headache.

"Forget that. Anyway, do you have extra sticks you could spare?" Was he talking to me or my table?

Before I could sum up our materials as well as a reply, Jana had a fistful of sticks in her hand. It was extended in his direction. She gave a bright and polite smile (obviously trying to make up for my behavior) and crowned it with her most flawless and silky smooth tone.

"What a coincidence, there appears to be like 10-13 sticks we won't be needing. You can have it. I'm sure my partner would say the same." I will? In your wildest dreams. I sounded pissed and rude, but for some reason, I felt like I was in the right and they were in the wrong. Somewhat, I felt like a tyrant or dictator.

And in a way, that was wrong.

Never in my life would I act like this or even think like this.

Maybe the dreams was finally having its effect on me. 

One

Maybe it is possible to die out of boredom. 

I had a feeling I was on the very maximum limit of the concept itself. I frowned as I thought about it more. Today was a beautiful day. Literally. The birds were chirping their loud melody for the world to hear, the sun shone with so much brightness that it was a wonder I wasn't blind yet, and everything seemed so peaceful.


Too peaceful for my taste.

In the first place, my boredom was all my best friend's fault. If she would just come to school on time, and then maybe, just maybe, I wouldn't be sulking nearly everyday of my life while waiting for her. 

I had attempted to go to the library but there were too many people and I kind of need my alone time. The cafeteria was still closed. I was just about to pass by the Music Room when I caught a glimpse of light inside. 

Now that was odd. The Music Room was always closed early morning. Since my curiosity got the best of me, I cautiously opened the door and slipped inside. My eyes quickly adjusted to the dimness of the room and I quickly detected the source of the light. The storeroom for instruments.

I headed toward it to shut the light since it was evident that no one was here. 

But with my luck, that was my first mistake. 

Someone suddenly emerged from the inside and I froze instantly, wondering if I should scream. That is, if I could scream. 

"Who the heck are you and what are you doing here?" That was my line. The voice sounded so snappy that I couldn't help it if my defense mode was already on the kick. My arms crossed beneath my chest and I tilted my chin up a bit. 

"What are you doing here?" I replied with the same even tone.He walked past me, bumping me in process without even apologizing, and dumped something on the floor. I thought for sure he was going to be rude and leave me, but he walked to where the light switch was and flicked it open. I squinted a bit at his direction. Was it my imagination or did he stiffen at the sight of me? My head started to ache a bit. Probably from the lack of sleep I had last night and the adjusting of my eyes from darkness to brightness. 

He had a smirk on his face. A smirk that made me want to hit him so bad. 

"Are you a stalker or something?" He cockily asked. I bit my lower lip to restrain myself to yell at him.

"Are you a loner or something?" I returned, meeting his gaze. 

"Depends on what you're term of 'loner' is. So, what's your name?" If history really repeats itself, it's very much proven by the way he walked past me again and simultaneously bumping me without a polite apology. What's with him?!? 

He knelt to rearrange the stuff he dumped on the floor earlier, and I couldn't help but check him out. 

His physique was tall and lean, sturdy enough I guess. His complexion was milk white. His head was crowned with straight, spiky brown-black hair. 

I wondered if he felt my gaze from behind because he eyed me from his shoulder. Blue eyes. Sky blue eyes. High cheekbones and the evident stubborn jaw. His gaze seemed to have a way of piercing me. Like it was saying two things at the same time.

"You know, I'm not usually a tape recorder, but in your case, I'm going to be tolerable. What's your name, Kid?" That smirk was still planted on his face and I rolled my eyes. I was seriously getting pissed off. With my headache a burden, how dare he call me kid! I'm like sixteen years old, and I believe that he's not that older than me. 

"Why does it matter?" Either he was ignoring my irritation or being as 'tolerable' as he said when I replied. 

"Well, do you want me to refer to you as 'kid'?" Good point. I gave a sigh. Our eyes met and his were filled with amusement. He knew I've given up.

"Ami. Ami Kingsly. What's your name?"

"I'm assuming you're a Junior?" I nodded and his smirk grew wider. 

"Dude, you're name?"

"You don't need to know."

"Why?" All he did was shrug at me and resumed fixing his stuff. "That's not fair!" I yelled, my hands on my hips.

He hummed. Is he trying to piss me off? Because it's definitely working. I bet he's loving every minute of it.

"Dude, that's not fair!" I tried once more, my voice higher this time. 

My patience was beginning to get thinner than a knife's blade. He so deserved this. I took my left shoe and aimed it at him. I threw it, hitting him in the head. Jackpot! 

"Ouch!" He yelped in sudden pain.

I surely thought he would get angry. He stood right away and rubbed the spot where my shoe hit him. Facing me immediately, his eyes were wide. Then, he laughed. That gesture somehow transformed him. There was this light expression in his eyes that cured him of all tension. I had assumed everything about him screamed sarcasm, but I was wrong. He could smile and it made him more agreeable and pleasant to be with.

"What was that for?" He asked. Though his mouth produced no laughing sound, his eyes showed me all the merriment that was from a while ago. He picked up my shoe and tossed it back to me. I had a haughty look as I slipped it back on. 

"It's because you're not being fair! F-A-I-R, fair!" I glared at him. He sighed and his mood became somber and serious. Like he was guarding himself from me. Wow, glad to know I could be threatening to someone. 

"I know the meaning and spelling."

"But you don't obviously know how to respect it." I spat. He crossed his arms and arched a brow.

"I do respect it. Hasn't anyone ever told you? Life isn't fair. It never has." Moody. He was now...different. Cold to be precise. 

That what he was. He was cold. Colder than ice. Colder than Pluto. His look even said so. 

"Just leave, Ami." He broke eye contact and turned his back to me. I did the same and didn't bother to slam the door upon going out. What was I to do?

Why did I feel like that hurt more than it should?

Preface

I heard him desperately shout my name, calling for me.

I heard a sob coming out from his throat. It was the first time I ever heard him sound like that and I hoped it would be the last. His voice was beautiful. It always has been beautiful.

But the last words we had weren’t beautiful at all.

My heart raced. It was pounding inside me, threatening to rip my chest and go to him. I wanted to go to him. But my feet had other plans as I ran to the streets. I glanced back at him, swearing this would be the last time I ever dared to look at his face.

But it’s always the same.

The face I want to know. The face I want to see. The hair which my fingers ran over  more than once. The eyes that I’ve always been longing to look at and has looked at me. The lips I know I have kissed. The mouth that has caused my pain right now. It’s always the same.

It’s empty silhouette with no defined features. A shape of guy filled entirely in jet black.  

I hear screams of terror before I hear the cracking sounds.

Everything is out of control. Every color has collided and is turning grey. The air has become thick, dense, and heavy. It feels as if I lost my breath. I don’t know why all this is happening.  

Then, the world has gone black with the last word I hear from him is my name.

My eyes suddenly fluttered open. For a second, I thought fantasy had mixed with reality, for everywhere around me was pure darkness. But as I blinked back and forth, I could see a stream of light making its way to the edge of my bed. I faced my sides and felt relieved to see the embossed outline of my alarm clock. 

Shoot. Alarm. Forgot. Late. 

Immediately, I sat up and kicked the covers to the floor. I didn't care about caution as I hastily made my way to prepare for a new, boring school day. 

The dream. His face.  It would all have to be later. 

And if I do forget, he'll always be there every  night on my head to remind me. 

Introduction

He haunted her dreams. 

She didn't know why.

Somehow, he truly exists.

And, she's supposed to know.