An old school in front of me. No students, no guard, because it was Sunday, of course. The copper gate had become grey, and it made a weird sound as I opened it. I went towards the cafeteria to wash my hands after touching the rusty old gate, but I found an anomaly there.
A dark red haired girl, both hands on her back, tightly holding each other, and her face in the opposite direction of mine. I stood there for a while, no memories I could recall from back then, and my mind instantly switched into two options; a new student, or a person who came here without permission. My mind favoured the latter and my heart too. Her dark red hair fluttered from the wind, and her light blue eyes saw me.
I clenched my fists, looking at not the girl but the water fountain. I almost sneezed because of the cold. I did not understand how she was surviving on a shirt which didn't even have full sleeves and a skirt. She hadn't even worn a school jacket.
I waited for a while for her to start the conversation. *Was I always a second person?*
"Oh... hello." She had a lollipop in her mouth. " You left this school in 8th standard. 9 years ago, right?"
*9 years? They felt like an eternity when I came outside today. Also, who is she, and why does she want to know about me?* I cleared my throat. "What is your name?"
"Names aren't important," she looked at the water fountain. "You're avoiding to the question?"
"Yes, I am." I spoke with a dry throat.
*TICK*
She didn't react. She just "hmph," and then walked away from there. I washed my hands though.
As I passed through every class, I glanced at each, yet stopped at none. Until class 8, section A arrived. Inside the class, it was pure chaos, paintings on the walls, stickers everywhere, and paper balls under the desk. And in the middle of all this, a notebook was there, untouched, it was named "Promises." The book was quite hard to open because of the cover turning old.
"Mark, Matthew, Josh, and me." was on the very first page.
"On February 14, 1:45 PM, we'd go to Mr. Robert's house. Since he is single, there is a 99.9 percent chance that he'd be there, and we'll use the chance to kidnap him. If the mission is successful, we get the exam questions. If we fail, we are minors, so he can't really do shit."
I flipped the page.
"If you think about it, people wanting different identities kind of supports racism."
"What is in OUR lunch today?"
"Wait, if the tooth fairy doesn't get taxed then she is on the IRS's wanted list?"
"Why is 1 kilogram of steel equal to 1 kilogram of feathers? Isn't steel heavier than feathers, or science is a lie?"
"Nah, aliens have to be real. Aren't we humans aliens to the animals too?"
"Which came first, orange or orange?"
"Detectives or criminals?"
"We humans drink cow's milk even after adolescence. That is kind of INTERESTING."
"Math homework: page number 177, question number 7."
I flipped to the final page. "Let's meet again, this Sunday."
The book had ended, and so did the friendships way before it. What's left of it was only remains that were here. I closed the book, but I hadn't dropped it for a while. I looked around, there was no one.
*TICK*
*Worthless notebook.* I dropped it on the desk, and went outside the school, waiting for the bus.
While waiting I glanced at some children, they were spending the holiday. They were on the same bench with each other, no responsibilities, no tension, no worries. And yet, they did not talk to each other. They just... kept typing on their phone.
I walked weirdly, a bit out pace towards them. Just to glance who were they typing to, but then I immediately stopped it. *It's their matter, not mine, isn't it?* The sound of the bus horn was louder than I had expected. I went inside the bus. *Where should I go now?*
* * *