12:59 am
Everyone always assumed that I was perfect. That I had my life together one hundred percent of the time.
Well, that was true most of the time anyway.
Sometimes, I felt like the world didn't want me to have it easy. It puts me on the lowest of the low, and doesn't even care to check-in.
Right now, we were right in the middle of moving in to our new house. My parents were getting a new fridge installed, and the bar room where it would be was almost finished.
But even so, I'd already been in several events in the neighborhood already. This place was littered with drama queens. It was warranted through, because if you moved to a new place, you would be the hot topic for several days.
Which was what happened to me. No offense to them, but I dressed more stylishly then them. It made me look sophisticated, so I ended up getting paired up by Yvonne, their most beautiful girl apparently. Not my type, sadly.
It made me anxious when they started talking behind my back. I'd catch them whispering to each other and side-eyeing me. I barely went out after that.
Thank God for Sasha. She was an old classmate of mine, before I changed schools, and now we were coincidentally neighbors. We're still great friends, even after we transferred schools. She kept me company all the time and we became closer than ever.
"I just saw your parents leave," she said in our voice call. It bothered me a bit how her voice was more high-pitched than before. But maybe it was just a side effect of puberty.
"Yeah, that's just my mom, though," I replied, sighing. I fought back rolling an eye.
"Shouldn't she have left earlier? You know, because she's a doctor."
"She took the day off."
"Weird."
"Yeah I know." I shifted position on the bed. Instead of using my elbows as support, I lay on my back and held the phone up to my eyes. "Best not to question it, though."
"I guess." She sounded like she wasn't letting this go that easily.
They were both silent for a while. I could hear the clacking of the keyboard in the call. Maybe she must be doing something else.
"Hey, I'm ti--" I began.
But the phone ringing interrupted his thoughts. He saw a banner notification, revealing the caller ID.
DEATH-CAST.
I stood up from the bed. Immediately, thousands of thoughts crashed into me. My heart palpitated. I struggled to breathe. My hands shook so bad I had to put down the phone and take deep breaths.
I sat down in shock. I prayed that it would go away.
But the phone kept buzzing and it didn't stop.
Many times in my life I thought about how I was going to leave this world. Considering my boring life, I settled for old age. Maybe I would have a child or two to continue my "legacy". Maybe I would have bought a house in thr suburbs or settled in a cottage surrounded by a forest.
Now, as the phone rang, all of that instantaneously became fleeting memories, something that I'll never get to experience.
The phone stopped calling and it returned to Sasha's voice. "Matt? Matt? Are you okay? Is it the new router again?"
For a second, my mind went blank. "No, nothing's wrong," I insisted mindlessly.
A pause. "Are you sure?"
I stared at empty space for seemingly forever.
"Hello?" Her voice cut through the reverie. "You there?"
"Uh, yeah, yeah. I--just. . .can I go to your place?"
"Why?" Then she took on a new excited tone. "Ooh ooh! Do you have some tea about your classmates to share? By the way that one guy you mentioned sounded really hot--"
"Now," I cut in. "I'm going to go to your place now."
"You don't seem too excited." She sounded concerned.
That was the last thing I heard before I ended the call.
-
1:04 am
I looked around my room. Unlike the rest of the house, I took it upon myself to set it up. Too bad I didn't really have the knack for organizing things.
Across the bed, I had a shelf filled with books and novels. Beside that was a desk with a PC setup, currently downloading Valorant for the fun of it. On that desk, I also had jumbled sheets of homework, all due on Wednesday.
In between the bed and the desk was the closet, its contents more fresh than the closet ever was. Maybe I kept the seemingly hundred-year-old closet for sentimental value. Or maybe because it still did its job.
The floor was littered with laundry. Near the door hung my backpack I would wear to school. Below that was the pile of textbooks and notebooks. Then, I had my exercise mat, weights, and dumbbells in one group.
Now, I wouldn't be able to read and reread all the books. I wouldn't be able to hang out with my friends over games. I wouldn't be able to achieve the perfect body I wanted to have so desperately. Heck, I wouldn't be able to do my homework.
All because of that call that interrupted my--
The ringing phone put my thoughts on hold. I leaned over and saw that it was Death-Cast calling, again.
I turned on airplane mode. Then I turned it off again. It was a life hack a classmate told me.
I changed into better clothes: white shirt, black shorts, black hoodie, and a thin gold necklace. Somehow, I had to look good when I was dying today.
I also looked like I was attending my own funeral.
I opened the door and was about to step out when I took one last look at my room. I didn't bother moving anything. This place should preserve my character when I. . .disappear.
I bit my lip and set off before I could regret it.
-
1:11 am
"I didn't actually think you'd come," Sasha said as she opened the human-sized door on their gate.
If I was trying to blend in the dark, she was trying to stand out. She had short pink hair and wore some extravagant combinations of clothing. I didn't like her taste sometimes, but I wouldn't dare to stop her.
"You kinda left me hanging, y'know." She poked out of the gate and squinted her hazel eyes. She looked left and right. Then at him: "Come in."
I stepped over and sucked in a breath. The heartbeats in my chest drowned out all the noise. To distract myself, I looked at their house.
It was unnaturally bigger than the rest in this block of the neighborhood. There was a side garden leading to their patio at the back of the house. In addition to that, their house was double the scale from ours. After all, they had to maximize the two adjacent lots they got.
From the towering height of their house, I can already see the three floors. Through the glass, I can make out their chandelier.
I turned to Sasha when we arrived at the front door. Her style didn't fit in with the house's.
I took off my sandals and entered the place. The interior looked more sophisticated than the outside. I took in the space, their large thin TV, their little living room, the dining room with eight seats around a table, and their sliding door that led to the kitchen.
This would be the last time I would see it today.
"Let's go to my room," she said, her voice lowered to a whisper. "We can talk there."
I followed her up the stairs to the second floor. There was another hangout space and four rooms. Another sliding door was positioned just behind the hangout space, revealing the balcony and a way up to the roof, the third floor.
But for now, I followed her into her own room.
When she opened it, I was in awe of the walls filled with art and graffiti. There were several new ones I didn't remember from my last visit. Her room was cleaner and emptier than usual, which was a strange thing for me. Usually, it was a mess, just like his room.
The only thing that didn't change was the slight sharp smell of paints. Maybe she created a new piece today.
"Strange," she announced. "This wasn't here before."
Curious, I entered the room and closed the door behind me. "What? Let me see."
I stepped forward and my heart skipped a beat.
On the bed lay an envelope, dark as the starless night skies.