I kept thinking about that word.
Choose.
All night.
I tried to sleep, but my mind kept asking the same question again and again.
Choose what?
Morning came like any other day.
Uniform.
Bag.
School.
Nothing looked different.
But I felt different.
At school, the first period went by quietly.
The second too.
No messages.
No signs.
I started thinking maybe yesterday was the end of it.
Maybe I imagined everything.
During the last class, the teacher asked us to write a short paragraph.
"About yourself," he said.
I stared at my notebook.
What do you write about yourself
when you don't even know who is watching?
I wrote slowly.
I am normal.
I like quiet places.
I don't like attention.
When the bell rang, I closed my notebook.
As I stood up, my phone vibrated.
Unknown Number:
Read what you wrote.
My fingers froze.
I didn't touch my notebook.
How do you know? I typed.
The reply came after a moment.
Unknown Number:
Because this is the choice.
I swallowed.
What choice?
Three dots appeared.
Then disappeared.
Then a message came.
Unknown Number:
You can stay invisible.
Another message.
Unknown Number:
Or you can ask the first real question.
My heart beat faster.
Invisible.
That word felt safe.
Comfortable.
I looked around the classroom.
Everyone talking.
Laughing.
Living their normal lives.
No one was looking at me.
I typed slowly.
What happens if I ask?
The reply came instantly.
Unknown Number:
Then your boring life ends.
I stared at the screen.
My thumb hovered over the keyboard.
This was it.
Not a test.
Not a warning.
A choice.
I typed one sentence.
Just one.
Who are you?
The screen went blank.
No reply.
But for the first time,
I didn't feel scared.
I felt awake.