Josiah Li lives in a flooded world, where global warming has taken its toll and technology is intertwined in every aspect of daily life. To pass the time in between virtual classes, he finally takes the leap to sign up for a popular game, Starlia. H...
It's no secret that school used to be horrible for me.
In the ninth grade, I used to be targeted by a group of bullies. They will go unnamed, simply because I don't want to relive the trauma. But they did everything possible to make my life miserable. Even though we lived and breathed in virtual school, that didn't make the bullying any less real.
On some days, the taunting would be subtle. They'd call me names under their breaths while the teacher was talking. I would doubt my ears, certain I was hearing things. But the taunts would keep coming, like the voices of my conscience. They would tell me that I'm ugly, criticizing the messiness of my hair or my frame—I had close to no muscle back then. They would keep up a constant stream of taunts, and my classmates didn't do anything to help. Because there were five main bullies, I was completely outnumbered. I didn't have any friends to back me up, residing more on the loner side of the school hierarchy.
One day, the bullies hacked my VRS system. At one moment, the teacher was talking about one of the theories of geometry. The next moment, my entire system shut down, resetting into the horror of a haunted house. Foreboding music played as I stumbled around the dark, trying to find a way out. Trying to shut down my VRS didn't do anything, because the bullies programmed my system to remain powered on.
I stepped over a dead body, screaming at the realness of the blood and gore. A laugh echoed throughout the haunted house, and the wooden frames creaked along with the sound of maniacal laughter. I crawled around the whole house, trying to find an exit. Ghosts popped up in the corner of my vision, taking the forms of goblins or zombies. I screamed, trying to find help. I prayed, but I was too flustered to make any tangible request to God.
I almost fainted. Eventually, the program allowed me to log off. Maybe the bullies were watching and didn't want me to actually die, but only die on the inside. Maybe one of them felt sorry for me.
That day traumatized me. I cried to my mother, who complained to the school. But because the hackers were untraceable, it was my word against five. The principal didn't do anything except promise that the teachers will keep a careful eye on me. They did not.
The bullying was so bad that I would be afraid to log on to school. Each day was a fight not to be overcome by the taunting. I didn't know why I was being targeted. Maybe I was just weak, and that was the overarching quality that defined me. I had close to zero confidence, and I would do my best to try to disappear in the classroom. In the halls, I walked quickly with my eyes to the ground. I didn't want to be hacked again, to go through the horror of not being able to log off from a nightmare.
The haunting house was the worst incident, but that didn't minimize the damage of the other shots from the bullies. I had my head smashed into the locker once. Even though it didn't actually hurt, I ricocheted to the ground and laid there while everyone stared. I felt the embarrassment in my soul, and it didn't matter that there were no physical repercussions.
I still have nightmares of the faces of my bullies. They haunt me so much that even if I hear the first name of one of them, my whole body would break out in cold sweat. The first half of ninth grade was hell. I felt hopeless, like my whole school life was manipulated by this group who decided I was an easy target.
Enter Aileen Chow in the middle of ninth grade. She was a transfer student, arriving in our district because her past apartment was eaten by the floods. She greeted the class, shining bright with her agreeableness and eager nature. I was immediately drawn to her. She sat next to me and introduced herself.
I didn't have the heart to tell her that I didn't want to make friends. I didn't want to terrorize any other person in association with me, because I was afraid that the bullies would make my friend a target too. It was best for me to stay alone. It was for everyone's benefit. I would have to brave these horrors alone.
But Aileen didn't care. She reached out her hand and offered to be my friend on the first day. Because I decided that I would have hope instead of fear, I hesitantly accepted her offer.
"Why do you keep looking around?" she asked me in homeroom class. My nervousness was already apparent when she first met me.
I kept my voice quiet, afraid that the bullies would be quick to taunt my voice made uneven by puberty. "No reason," I said.
Aileen looked around. She shrugged. "No one looks around like that for no reason."
I didn't say anything. I prepared for her to move seats the next day. I thought that there would be no way that she'd want to be friends with me. After all, I was boring and average. There were so many other interesting people in the class she could have pursued friendships with.
But the next day, she sat next to me again. Her face was serious and determined. "I found out why you're looking around. Don't worry. I'll protect you."
Aileen was true to her word. Each time a bully looked my way, Aileen scowled at them. When they tried to shove me in the hallways, she would shove them first. I didn't know what took over her to protect me. But I thanked God at night for sending her into my class.
"Are you doing okay now?" Aileen asked. About a week had passed since she transferred.
I found that I had the strength to smile. "I'm okay. Thanks for being my bodyguard."
She laughed. "My pleasure. I used to be bullied in elementary school. I found that fighting back at the right moment is key."
From that day onward, we were best friends. She was always the A student. She won prizes for her academic papers. Her science project won a national competition. She always outshined me, but I was happy to be in her shadow. There was no better company for me. Even my mom could tell the difference, commenting that my mood had vastly improved.
I was ordinary, but I was Aileen's. She was the missing piece in my life, my saving grace.
So now, when she asks me to be her partner in her quest for the third job advancement, I gracefully accept.
I will be strong for her. Because she has never let me down. And I'm going to be the best minstrel Starlia has ever seen. I was saved for a reason. Maybe finding the weathering fragments was written in my destiny when my best friend sat next to me. No more being ordinary. No more hiding in someone else's shadow. This is my time to be brave for the sake of those around me.
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We all need someone like Aileen in our lives! Now you know a little more about Josiah's past. Any guesses about what this "job advancement" might look like?
