Reality: Block C

Chapter 2: Faces

Ethan's POV:

'Again. This is happening again. Why is this happening again!'  I blink and rub my eyes, taking a second look across the room and seeing that nothing changed. I am indeed not dreaming. I am standing in an exact replica of the Rowville Secondary College/Ream Secondary College gym. I quite legitimately would rather jump out a window then have to deal with this bullshit again. I sigh.

I guess I don't really have a choice anyway.

There are a lot of new faces in this room, some seem familiar but I shrug it off. There seems to be multiple activities going on. Some are playing sports, some are playing games, some are reading and some are just sitting down and chatting. I walk around to see what I want to do. There was sports. Definite no. Plus, a brunette in what looks like a loose battle armor of sorts seems to be crushing everyone anyway. I can't help but notice she's leaving a particular wavy haired blonde alone though, also seeming to give her heart eyes whenever they pass each other. 'I totally ship it...... Ethan you don't even know who those two are, calm down.'  I walk away from the terrifying warrior and her cute companion to check on the people playing games, but as I walk away I can't help but think I had seen the pair somewhere before.

It's a small group of people, but there is one person seems to be crushing everyone, just like the girl from the sports. She is wearing what looks like a hand sown blanket but she is wearing it like a coat. She has her long brunette hair in dreadlocks and her glasses are square. As she cheers in triumph and the boys around the table groan while they hang their heads, a blond woman sits behind her and kisses her cheek for a congratulations. 'Oh would you look at that, I ship them too!' They then continue on with the game, everyone but the brunette seeming determined for victory. I decide against playing with them and walk towards the group of readers, once again thinking that the women I just saw were awfully familiar.

Reading, there is somewhere I can absolutely see myself fitting in with the crowd. I continue to walk forward, spotting a table with a wide range of books covering it, and the books sitting so easily in the hands of the small group. They all have a book or two sitting next to them along with the book sitting in their hands, but there is one girl sitting there with a stack of no less than ten books sitting next to her, seeming to speed through the pages of the book she is reading. I scan her face and my eyes widened. Long raven hair falls past the woman's shoulders and bangs rest along her forehead, her skin is deathly pale. A girl who looks no younger than her sits behind her with her chin resting on her shoulder, seeming slightly grumpy that the raven haired woman isn't giving her any attention . 'Oh you have got to be shitting me. Nope, I am hallucinating, that's all. Just walk away and they'll go away.'

I walk away from what has to be the creepiest yet coolest hallucination ever, and walk passed the corner where people are chatting. I would not choose to go there anyway, I am the most awkward person when talking to new people and I do not feel like dealing with getting laughed at while already feeling creeped out. I find a corner that no one is in and sit there, pulling my legs up to my chest and hugging them closer.

There's no real words to describe how it is to just sit with only my mind as a companion. There's no real words to describe the mind numbing confusion that clouds my head as everything I see around me settles. The world pauses for a second while I gather my bearings, but then continues as if nothing happened the next. The familiar faces, the replica gym, the separated worlds in which the gym seems to hold. Not one group is bothered by the others. It's strange, yet oddly comforting how not one person is affected by the others. No one is bothered by difference, whether it be interests, looks, sexuality, race, beliefs, anything really. The thought makes a small smile creep up from the corners of my lips as I watch everyone go about their business. Suddenly I am not worried about what a mystery this is and what I've seen. I just sit, admire, and settle down in my not-so-new surroundings. I close my eyes, sigh in contentment and finally relax for the first time in ages.