DAYMARE 4: Invisible Trouble

The first day of school is coming to an end. Finally, because I wanna go home.

“Ignore him, Hestral. He’s known for his attitude,” Nicole said, the girl who introduced herself to me first.

I remember their names gradually after those random introductions.

Recalling the first meeting with that guy, I knew there was something about him.

"Yeah. After all, he’s always the top in the class and has nothing better to do but study,” Lloyd commented.

I don’t remember the name of the guy who told me not to be full of myself. I can’t even recall if he also introduced himself to me. But the way he threw a cold look at me and walked away, told me he’s not the one to be messed with.

I shrugged this thought off.

Somehow, it wasn’t bad that I met these two on the first day of school. They oriented me about the school’s rules and its premises. I don’t care about it, but I appreciate their warm greetings.

I don’t completely consider them ‘friends’ yet, but thanks to the two, I was able to forget about my beheaded classmates and bloody cellphone wallpaper for a while. I won't get anything if I think about it further, except unwanted stress.

The three of us were on our way home while fixing our things, and then we left school after class dismissal.

Now, we’re walking home. I had no choice but to join them when Nicole enthusiastically invited me to walk with them while they took me on a tour of this new rural place.

"Where do you live, Hestral?" Nicole asked while the soft wind was blowing her short hair.

"I forgot the name of the street.” I answered.

Come to think of it, I haven’t memorized our new address yet.

“I hope we’re neighbors, but it seems we’re not,” she added.

Yeah, we have no neighbors at all. We need to walk at least a kilometer or two to get to someone’s house.

“Are you going to be alright?” she asked.

I stopped walking, so did they.

“Dad will pick me up here."

"Oh? All right, bye-bye!” Nicole said energetically.

“Wait, how long are you going to walk?” I asked them.

After 15 minutes of walking from school to here, I scanned the surroundings and saw no houses nearby. My concerned self is curious how long they will walk to reach their houses.

"It’s quite far… hmm, about 35 minutes more," Lloyd replied.

“You’re not going to wait for a ride?” I asked them.

“No need. We do this every day, twice,” He answered.

"Is that so?"

"Bye! See you tomorrow!" And they waved and smiled at me. I waved back.

I grabbed my handkerchief from my right pocket on my skirt and wiped the sweat on my forehead and neck after the 15-minute walk. The fresh air helped to dry my sweat off from this tropical weather.

My feet hurt from wearing my newly bought black faux leather doll shoes. I took off my shoes and socks and saw there was a wound on the back of my feet. Ouch.

I waited 10 more minutes before Dad arrived with the car. I entered the car, bringing my socks and shoes. Our car passed Nicole and Lloyd, who seemed so happy just walking on this unpaved grassy road.

I sighed. I wonder if having a provincial life will give me humble happiness like theirs.

***

“How’s your first day?” Dad asked.

We are now eating our dinner.

"Good?"

Not really good. After what happened to my phone, I’m still doomed. I tried to forget about it by socializing with my new classmates, but it won’t keep me distracted from the fact that I still don’t know why it happened to my wallpaper.

"Come on, tell us about it," Mom insisted. She slurped her soup.

"Hmm… as usual, nothing special happened," I lied.

It can't be called special, but I couldn’t ditch the first day of school because someone saw me, I saw my classmates without their heads on, something sinister happened to my phone, I unconsciously treated my new classmates rudely, someone told me indirectly that I was ‘arrogant’, and my feet were aching.

"Did any of you touch my phone?" I asked both of them.

They wondered for a moment. “No, dear. That thing is always with you, right?” Mom replied.

Dad just nodded.

Yeah, my phone has a screen lock, and it's not just a birthday code. It's my secret code that only I know, that’s why someone can’t open it.

"What about the teachers? Are they good at teaching?" Dad brought his follow-up question.

“Our homeroom teacher seems kind. There are only 15 of us in the classroom, unlike my previous school, where there were 40 of us.”

"Well, I think that's okay so that the teachers can teach you well." - Mom.

It would be an advantage for my parents’ perspectives, so that I can focus on learning, but to me. No, because I can't doze off.

"Make more friends, Hestral. This neighborhood will be a good place for you to recover and start anew," – Dad.

I just hope Dad is correct.

I went straight to my room after dinner. I checked my phone and gasped when there was an update for chapter 2.

I read it.

“Gosh,” I muttered after reading Chapter 2.

“Whoa,” I muttered again and stared into nothingness.

I reread chapter 2, but I still reacted the same way.

Gosh! Chapter 2 is very similar to my situation now!

The character is also from Metro City, who suddenly moved to the province!

It's just like me. He/She is annoyed with her parents and her new world, but she has no choice but to adapt to the new environment. The protagonist started to feel eerie after they moved house. And the chapter ended.

Yourgreatestdaymare thinks the same as I. Maybe it happened to them too, so they wrote and made a story. Someone finally understands how I feel. I feel that I am not alone in this kind of situation.