"Who's this boy? What exactly is he? I am not overthinking this, right?" I thought to myself all at once.
"Who are you?" I found myself asking as I observed him deeply.
"Your best friend who you refused to call," I heard a voice from behind, which made me turn. It was Sarah. She came closer to my seat, and by the time I turned to the direction where Alex had been standing, he was gone.
"Someone is busy with a boy she forgot about her friend," Sarah said, feigning half-annoyance.
"OMG, you have The Biography of Vampires and Werewolves! I've been looking for this book," she exclaimed with a smile as she collected the book I was now holding—and I was very certain Alex never gave the book back.
This felt so strange as I stared at her like I had just seen a ghost, with a lot going on in my head.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
I paused for a while, then held her hands.
"What color were his eyes?" I asked, hoping to get an answer.
"Who?" she asked.
"The guy who just left here," I replied.
"Was it silver? He has such beautiful eyes," she said, almost drooling.
"What about the book in his hands? You saw him take this book with him, right?" I said while flashing The Biography of Vampires and Werewolves at her.
She paused for a while like she was thinking about it, then stopped.
"I don't know, I didn't notice," she stated.
I was about to ask another question when the bell rang, ushering a teacher into the class and commencing the lessons of the day.
At the close of the day, I went to my locker to get my books sorted but saw a strange envelope as soon as I opened it. It was a golden envelope with special red marks which, on a closer look, looked like... blood.
I looked around, wondering who could have kept it there. Then I saw it—my name written on the remark, which shocked me. I was about to open it when a voice distracted me from behind, quickly making me return the strange envelope and close my locker almost immediately.
"What are you doing? And where has your phone been? I've been trying to reach you," Zion said, staring at me in annoyance.
"Why?" I found myself asking.
"Mom is in school," he said.
"Why is she in school?" I questioned again as he shrugged.
"I don't know. The principal only told my classmate that Mom wants to see us," he said as he held my hand and led me toward the principal's office.
"Where's Alex?" I found myself asking.
"He'd gone home. Why?" he asked, giving me a side-eye.
"Nothing," I said quickly as we walked to the principal's office.
Inside the principal's office, something felt off. Mom was sitting on a chair meant for guests, and the principal was on the other side, holding her hands. My brother and I greeted both women, and Mom turned to me with red, watery eyes, which made me a little scared.
"Have you been crying?" I found myself asking.
"What's wrong, Mom?" Zion added.
Then the principal let go of my mom's hands and turned her attention to my brother and me.
"You guys should have your seats," she said.
We were hesitant at first but eventually sat down, wondering what was going on. Then she looked up at us without warning and said:
"YOUR FATHER IS DEAD."
Those words hit me like a bomb, like they were meant to unalive me as well. For a moment, I wished the ground would swallow me too—my mind disorganized and my heart shattered.