I failed my test, but I didn't care.
The school was much more boring than I expected and I was so excited when it started, but then stuff happened. I was no longer able to be hyped about anything. I didn't care about good grades, or to become popular, or do anything high school-related, until the start of this week.
"Hey, Emi, wanna come with us to..."
"Can't, I'm busy." I shot down their invitation before they could even finish the sentence. I might have been a bit of a dick. My classmates tried. I felt bad for acting this anti-social, but I finally found something to get my hopes up for, so I didn't have time for their crap.
"There she goes again." I heard behind my back on my way out.
But I had a date with Alex. Well, not really a date of course, but she offered to meet up, and I couldn't wait. Normally I'd go home, and get rid of my school uniform first. Probably put on something simple and black instead. But I had to rush straight to the station to make it in time. I barely noticed how people started to turn their heads after me. That was certainly new. Was it because of the skirt? It wasn't even short.
"Dude, look at that chick." I couldn't tell if they meant me. If they did, I shouldn't have been able to hear that, dumbasses.
But puberty hit everyone differently. I felt like a little gray mouse all my life, but maybe that was about to change. I wondered, what my brother would have to say about that. I didn't care about other people's opinions. Hmm, but I could have asked Alexandra too.
"I want a return ticket," I told the cashier and jabbered the destination. Yes, I'll meet her in less than half an hour.
She was stunning. Like, holy crap, I wasn't into girls or anything, but damn. The last time we met it was all too fast and weird, so I could barely take a look at her, but ever since that moment, I couldn't get her out of my head. Well, obviously, not because of her looks.
She took a huge hit for me, literally. I remembered clearly how the fender and the front of that semi-truck looked. People don't normally survive that, and she was completely fine, unscathed. She wouldn't let me call an ambulance just had me invite her for tea.
"Don't worry about it, I guess I'm kinda special." That was all she said back then, followed by a wink. The girl had quite the confidence and such a strange aura. "I bring luck to the people around me without even trying, so I guess it was your turn. But do look around better next time."
Well, she saved my life. I felt so stupid, breaking up with my first boyfriend, and then crying like a baby. I shouldn't have even started dating that loser, let alone go as low as to weep because of him. But just thinking about my brother was enough to make me emotional. And even if he wasn't saying anything bad about him, it made me mad, I had to do something about it before I blew up on the scene.
I mean, about being a psycho. If Alex hadn't taken that hit for me, I would have died too. Although, was that such a bad thing? Maybe I would have met with my brother again.
"You want to meet him so bad?" I didn't even realize, I was already at the place. The train ride went by in a blur, I was so lost in thought again. And holy shit, did I mumble to myself, or was she just reading my mind?
"Meet who?" I asked, blushing, too shy to look directly at the girl. She was even hotter than I remembered from last time. "I didn't even notice you here, I'm such a trainwreck."
"No worries, Emi. Did I make you wait long?" She flashed me a smile that could endanger every iceberg in existence. I shook my head, glancing at my phone for a second. I had my last conversation with my brother on the screen and didn't even realize it. So that's what she meant. I acted weird. More often than not, I had no recollection of what happened around me or what I was doing.
"I just got here," I claimed, although now I was unsure. Alex casually leaned in to greet me with kisses on both cheeks, and I was so surprised, I didn't even smack my lips back. "Oh, sorry, I don't usually greet people like this."
"Oh, I didn't want to overwhelm you." She apologized, blushing a bit, and she looked so cute. She wore her cat ear headband again, and a long dress to go with it. The weather maybe wasn't right for such a thing, but I wore my school skirt too. Of course, I couldn't hope to look anywhere near as good as she did, she had legs for days. I was so taken in with her sight, that I almost forgot to shake my head.
"No I mean, I'm just not used to it." I tried to explain myself better. "I was mostly friends with boys in middle school, and I wouldn't allow them to kiss me. And high school only started."
"Did you make any friends?" She asked casually, offering me her arm as if we were on an actual date. "And in the meantime, shall we go?"
"Yeah, and I mean no, I didn't make any so far." I was overwhelmed after all. "But it's probably my fault. They try to be nice and invite me here and there, but I'm not really in the mood."
"It's completely fine, don't blame yourself." She patted my arm, as we strolled on the busy sidewalk. We met at a different place than last time. She called me out to another station, and this area was nice. A bit busier, than I would have liked, but there was a beautiful park to discover. "You just lost someone important to you, I'm sure your classmates will understand."
"I probably don't even deserve it, but they are nice to me, to be honest." I nodded, split between staring at her silky black hair, her godly legs, and the beautiful landscape. "I live so close and I've never been in this place. Thanks for inviting me over."
"Yeah, I learned about it from your brother." She noted, and I suddenly froze up. She pulled me along, but noticing my shock, she stopped. "Oh, sorry, if that was insensitive, I'm not good at this. Just knowing he wanted to take you here, I thought."
"No, no, it's fine." I quickly gathered myself, forcing on a smile. "I didn't know you two were that close. I mean, that dumbass forgot to tell me he made a friend already before school started. Or anything about this place either. And I thought I knew everything about him."
"Well, he didn't exactly tell me about it either. I-it's a bit more complicated than that." Alex said, confusing me even more.
"What do you mean?" I asked, stopping on the sidewalk again.
"We weren't um, how do I say this?" She didn't know how to explain herself either. But then she must have figured it out turning all serious. "Look, Emi, what I'm going to tell you will sound weird, but try not to freak out, okay?"
"Uh, no promises," I told her curiously. "But go ahead."
"We haven't met before." She started. Looking at my puzzled face, she clarified. "I mean your brother and I. The first time I met him was the day he died. And boy, he was going for it."
"What are you talking about?" I couldn't tell if she lost her mind, or was I? And did she just insult my brother, or praise him? Nothing made sense. But looking at her sad smile, I had no chance of getting mad at her. I just waited for her to continue.
"First off, he almost got run over by a semi-truck." She looked at me with a face my mother used to scold me. "This must be a family thing. Seriously, look around properly, before you step on the crosswalk."
"Wha..." That was all I could get out, but she held a finger up.
"It was a lot of effort to bend his luck, for someone I just randomly spotted across the street, but he wasn't even done." She continued, but I was already lost at bending his luck. What was she on about? "Next he almost ran under a piano. I saw that happen in cartoons but in real life? Seriously? Almost as if your brother had a death wish on him."
"I don't understand." I shook my head, but she still wasn't finished.
"After that, he almost stabbed himself in the face with a knife at the cafeteria. Can you imagine that?" She laughed, and I couldn't tell if I should laugh too, or call an ambulance for her. One of us was losing her mind, I just wasn't sure which one of us yet. "Okay, at least there I didn't have to intervene. But I still felt it, and was worried, so I rushed over to check on him. And what does he do next?"
"What?" I couldn't help but ask. This had to be going somewhere, and then it would make sense. That's what I told myself at least.
"He simply bumps into me, gets all bashful, then walks right off the stairs, backward." She claimed. I realized that was how my brother died. I didn't know, how to react. And was she laughing? "So, I'm sorry about that, but there is not much I can do in this world. At that point, I could no longer save his body, I just had to take his soul."
"What, what? Wait, what?" I kept replaying what she said in my mind, and the more I thought about it, the worse it got. Yes, she was a lunatic. Or did she just say, she pushed him down the stairs? Maybe I shouldn't have called the ambulance, but the police instead. "I don't understand anything. Just what did you do to my brother?"
"Look, I'm not saying that was the best option, but it happened so suddenly, I couldn't think of anything else at that moment," Alex told me, with the face of a child. I didn't understand any of it, but it was impossible to get mad at her. "I snatched his soul before his body broke, and lots of his memories got stuck into my brain. Feelings. You were in most of them. He thought about you a lot, wanted to take you to places and ensure you're happy. So now I feel like you are my little sister too."
While she mentioned these things my tears started to roll, but I was still unsure what nonsense she was talking about. I wanted to be mad, but she hugged me before I could react. And in that warm embrace, it all magically started to make sense. I couldn't understand, but I felt she told me the truth.
"So... You're saying." I tried to gather my thoughts, sniffing and sobbing all the way. "That Nathan is still alive, and lives inside you?"
"Um, more or less." She nodded, ruffling my hair. But it was still a bit more complicated than I thought. "I mean not in this body per se. He lives in my body, in another world."