Chapter 2:

Dont' Look Behind

Love Is A Constant Battle


“Say, haven’t you been a little bit too friendly with that celebrity couple?”

“Huh? Celebrities? Who?”

“You know, those two sophomores that everyone’s gaga about.”

“Oh, those two… What do you mean?

“I mean, lately, it feels like you’ve been hanging out with them more than you’re hanging out with me.”

“I spend more time with you though? We’ve been together all morning.”

“Sure, but that’s because we have the same classes. It feels like we only ever see each other in the classroom. We rarely hang out afterwards.”

“But, didn’t we spend time together for lunch that one time? When we only had morning classes.”

“How long ago was that? That was during the first week of classes.”

“Is that right?.. Maybe we can do that again the next time we only have morning classes.”

“We only hung out at the cafeteria that time. You know I’ve already sworn off eating there.”

“T-then, how about lunch out? I can afford to do that once in a while.”

“Hmm…”

“Would that be fine with you?..”

“I dunno, you’ve been neglecting me for so long, I feel like doing something more than just eating out.”

“Well, what do you have in mind?”

“Hang out with me on the weekend. I know you only go to your part-time work in the evenings.”

“But, I usually use that time to rest.”

“I see… Maybe things aren’t just working out between us.”

“Alright, I’ll go. I’ll go out with you this Saturday!”

“That’s what I love about you, Kat. It’s a date then!”

That conversation sounded like two lovers experiencing a bump in their relationship wherein one of them has been neglecting to go on dates while the other is complaining about it. But, in reality, it’s really far from what it seems. In fact, it was between friends.

The friend I've been referring to is named Naomi. We’ve been stuck to the hip since the start of the semester, but we’re not that kind of friends where we're actually more than friends.

Really, we’re just friends.

We’re both girls. Not that I’m saying there’s something wrong with two girls dating, but I just simply don’t swing that way. Plus, I’m pretty sure she doesn’t as well despite her being a little needy towards me.

Regardless, she's one of the last people I would want to have a falling out with. She was the closest person to me in every class and, if we were to break up (as friends, I reiterate), I would end up alone for the semester or possibly even beyond. It's already been almost two months since we started college and cliques have already been formed so it’ll be awkward to join another one this late.

I would hate that, needless to say.

Of course, that isn't to say I only stay by her side so I don't get lonely. I genuinely enjoy her company. She's bright, friendly, trendy and cheerful. In fact, I should be wondering why she’s insistent on hanging out with me even though she seems to be the type that people naturally gravitate to compared to me who’s plain, timid and forgettable.

"Still, I'm curious; how did you make friends with the two of them when they’re a year ahead of us?" Naomi asks.

"It’s a long story, actually."

"Go on, then. It’s been twenty minutes, everyone else has left the classroom, the professor isn’t likely going to come anymore, the doors are closed and I don't feel like going anywhere else."

"Alright…" I reluctantly conceded.

It’s not that I didn't want to recount the story because it induced some trauma into me. Rather, I didn't know if anyone would believe it so I don’t go around telling it willy-nilly.

It was the first day of classes. I didn’t know my way around the campus yet, so I easily got lost trying to find my class.

While I was wandering around, hopelessly lost, I met two upperclassmen. Their names were Ken and Marie. They were the celebrity couple that Naomi was pertaining to in our conversation, but, at that time, I didn’t know about them yet.

I didn’t talk to them first. They were the ones who approached me and asked if I needed help, actually.

“You look like a lost kitten”, they said to me.

It felt like an unnecessary comment, but I was, in fact, lost, so I felt that I didn’t have much room to complain.

Also, I was afraid of talking to other people so I couldn’t ask for directions. Those two taking the initiative to approach me was a big help.

So, I asked them for help.

I was sure I asked them to take me to a certain classroom. But, for some reason, they took me on a tour around campus.

I didn’t notice it at first, though. By the time I figured out what was going on, it became awkward to bring it up, especially since they were kind enough to do it, so I simply went along with the flow, consequently missing the class I was supposed to attend altogether.

Anyway, they first gave me a tour of the building we were in, the Central Building, which, as the name suggests, is the building at the center of the university’s compound.

“This is where most classes are held, especially general education classes and sometimes classes where you don’t need any kind of special equipment”, explained Marie.

“Although, that isn’t to say you’ll be taking all those classes here”, Ken added. “There are other normal classrooms in the other buildings, which can be a pain in the ass if your schedule just so happens to have two classes - one immediately after the other - in different buildings.”

At that time, what he said didn’t register onto my brain since I have yet to experience the very thing he was pertaining to.

He figured I didn’t get it from my blank stare and ominously said “Well, you’ll see what I mean soon enough.”

That wasn’t the most ominous thing either of them will be saying, however.

“This building is actually the first to be built and the oldest”, Marie continued with the explanations. “In fact, this was the only building when the university was established and was still only a college.”

“Which is why, as you can see, the first floor is offices for the administration and the faculty because they kept the original floor plan.”

“Oh, and do be careful when you’re walking around here at night”, Ken warned.

“Why?” I asked.

I was thinking it was against the rules for a student to be on that floor after a certain time. I didn’t expect his response.

“They say the founder’s ghost still roams the halls at night.”

“Also, the head dean’s office used to be his”, Marie added. “It’s said that you can sometimes hear a gruff male voice coming from there, even though nobody’s inside the room. People think it’s his voice.”

“Oh, and if you’re unlucky enough to meet him, don’t slouch, don’t talk and don’t run”, now Ken added. “Just be calm and keep quiet. Appear disciplined since he’s said to be particular about these things.”

“W-what would happen if I don’t?”

“Hmm, I’m not sure”, he answered. “Some say he’ll simply ask you to go to his office, some say he’ll scold and shout at you then and there. Of course, if it’s the former, you will find that the head dean’s office will be empty, but nothing else will happen.”

That spooked me a bit.

I wasn’t sure why they were telling me that, but, nonetheless, we went up to the next floor.

“On this floor, it’s said a girl in white can be seen floating around the hallway”, Marie explained.

“What happens when you meet her?”

“Nothing”, she replied.

After hearing the previous ghost story, I thought she would tell another hair-raiser so I was a bit surprised by her response.

“Well, the rumors only tell of people seeing her and not much else happening”, she continued. “She doesn’t seem like the type of ghost that attacks people who see her.”

“Don’t worry, the ghosts on the next floor aren’t as tame”, she then said, laughing.

I wasn’t really worried until she told me that…

Also, ghosts? There was more than one on a single floor?!

Anyway, I would soon find the answer to my question as we went up another floor.

“Probably the most famous ghost on this floor is the poltergeist”, Ken started explaining. “We don’t know if it’s a he or a she, but it likes to slam the doors shut if you leave it open.”

He then motioned for me to look through the hallway. We were at one end of the building so I could see the entire hall up to the wall on the other side. Classes were ongoing so there were few bodies to block my view.

“If you’ve noticed, unlike the two floors below, there aren’t any doors open on this floor. That’s because our door-slamming ghost is even active during the daytime.”

“Are you sure it’s not just the wind?” I asked as the story this time sounded like it could be explained by a natural phenomenon.

“Maybe, but some of those who’ve experienced it swear there was no wind when it happened to them.”

I didn’t find this story unsettling as I still held a bit of skepticism towards it.

They then continued to tell me the next story.

“Be careful of walking in this hallway at night, too”, Marie warned me.

“Why? Is the ghost of the founder also here?”

“No, it’s a different ghost”, she replied. “They say there’s a ghost of a male professor who appears in one of these rooms and teaches to an empty class.”

“Which room?”

“The stories differ, but a lot of them say it’s a classroom in this very corner.”

The hair on the back of my neck stood up when I heard that. It just hits different when you’re told you’re next to a haunted room.

I nervously took a peek inside the classrooms through the door’s windows. To my relief, they seem like normal classrooms with a normal class and a flesh and blood professor.

Marie laughed a bit before telling me “Don’t worry he only appears late at night.”

“Out of curiosity, why should I be careful about that ghost?”

“It’s said that, if he spots you walking in the hallway, he’ll drag you into the classroom to listen to his lessons all night.”

That was a scary thought in more ways than one.

Ken then chimed in. “There’s also the third ghost.”

“There’s a third ghost?!”

“Yeah, but he’s relatively harmless. He usually appears around dusk and will try to ask you to lend him a book for a certain class.”

“What happens if you lend him that book?”

“Well, he’ll take it and you won’t ever see him or the book again”, he replied. Then, humorously, he continued, “Basically, he steals that book from you.”

That didn’t sound so harmless. Even just one book is expensive to replace! It will certainly hurt some pockets!

“Anyway, you just have to be careful who you lend your books to. Don’t just loan it to anyone.”

I took that advice to heart.

“Oh, and he also appears on the fourth floor so you need to be careful of him there, too”, Ken continued with his warning.

I nodded to acknowledge this additional information.

As we climbed up the fourth and final floor of the building, Marie built up a bit of suspense.

“This last ghost is the scariest of them all”, she said. Then, as we landed on the fourth floor hallway, she continued “There are rumors saying that a girl jumped from one of the windows and that her ghost remains to this day.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad”, I commented. Especially when most of the others could interact with you.

“Oh, but it gets worse”, she replied, sounding a bit excited to tell the story. “It’s said that you could see her jumping from the same window and you could hear her bloodcurdling scream as she fell down plus the sound of her hitting the ground.”

I took my words back immediately. That does sound traumatizing.

To make matters worse, there seems to be more.

“After that, she’ll reappear again on the same window and jump again, repeating the process”, Marie continued. “As if in an endless loop.”

I just hoped I would never have to attend classes in this building at night.

Once her story was done, the two of them said “Alright, let’s head for the next building.”

It was at this point that I realized they weren’t leading me to the place where I needed to be and were giving me a tour instead. But, like I said, I just went with the flow.

It was a short trip as they took me to the southern buildings, which are curiously only named South Buildings A and B. This was where the audiovisual rooms and the science laboratories were respectively.

As for ghosts, the pair continued telling me about them. But, unlike the Central Building, there were only two here - one for each building.

They said there was an unknown entity that likes to make the audiovisual rooms in South Building A colder than it should despite having the thermostat on a reasonable temperature.

Meanwhile, there’s a ghost of a playful kid running around the halls of South Building B. Sometimes, there would be broken lab equipment without explanation and it’s said to be this youthful spirit’s doing.

Afterwards, we headed for the Eastern Building. In between, we went through the sports field where they told me there have been will-o-wisps sighted at night. Harmless, they claimed, but a spooky tale nonetheless.

As for the Eastern Building, it was where most of the specialized machinery and the engineering labs are located for various engineering students. It also housed the clubs - both sporting and cultural.

There were no known ghost sightings in that building according to the pair. But, there are random accounts of small poltergeist activities wherein machinery or electronics will just come to life and the showers shared by the sports clubs would turn on by themselves even during the day. Weird sounds can be heard also, but no visual hauntings.

Finally, they took me to the Northern Building, which is the fifth and last building of the university.

Surprisingly, they didn’t have a ghost story for this part of the campus.

“This is a relatively new building”, Ken explained. “Unlike the other buildings which have been around for decades, this has only been up for less than ten years.”

“Probably not old enough for ghosts to inhabit”, Marie claimed.

I really have no way of knowing if it was valid or not, but I was not interested in finding out either way.

Still, they gave me a tour of the place. The first floor is dedicated to the university’s canteen. But, in general, it was the building where the I.T. programs have their specialized classes as two of its five floors are full of computer labs.

At the end of the tour, I realized that this building was where I needed to be. At the topmost floor, I found the classroom where my first class was. It was still going on, but there was not much point in attending now since it was about to be over. However, my next class will be held in the same classroom.

I told this to my guides and thanked them.

But, before we parted, they asked me an odd question.

“Who scared you more?”

“Huh?” I was confused by the question.

“We’ll be honest”, Marie said. “We made those stories up. We were competing on who can tell the scarier ghost story.”

“Wait, what?” I asked in surprise. "They were made up?"

“Well, not all of them”, she replied.

I wanted to ask which ones, but Ken seemed impatient on continuing asking me who had the scarier stories. He asked, “Which story gave you the creeps the most?”

“I don’t know… Both of you told some really spooky stories.”

Before they could continue to grill me for the answer, the bell rang indicating the end of the current period. Apparently, the two also had a class for the next period. So, they told me they would come back for me afterwards and that I should think about the winner in the meantime.

However, I just couldn’t decide. They always knew where to find me for some reason so they visited me in between periods for a few days. Eventually, due to my indecision, they just decided to call their competition a draw.

Incidentally, this was how I got my nickname “Kat”. It’s not my real name nor is it shorthand for my actual given name. At first, I tried correcting people, but it stuck because my classmates kept hearing the two calling me “Kat” the entire week.

It was “the lost kitten” at first, actually. It turned into “the lost cat” when I complained that the moniker made me sound like a kid, and, eventually, just “Kat”. At some point, I gave up correcting people and just owned the nickname.

“Afterwards, whenever I saw them around campus, I started greeting them, which is how I got to befriend them”, I said to Naomi to finish up my story.

However, she seems distracted. Distressed, even, that I felt concern for her rather than be offended she wasn’t listening to the story she wanted me to tell.

“Say, did those two say the building we’re in right now is haunted?” is the first thing she asked once she broke her silence. Quietly, in a hushed voice.

“They said the Northern Building is new and not haunted.”

“Have you noticed anyone coming into the room?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

As soon as I answered her, she grabbed my hand and hurriedly dragged me out of the classroom. We didn’t stop until we landed on the first floor.

I tried asking her what was wrong. Her face was white as a sheet, as if she’s seen a ghost. But, she wouldn’t answer.

It was only later when she had calmed down that she would tell me what happened.

Apparently, while I was in the middle of telling my story, she saw there was a lone girl standing at the back of the classroom. It wouldn’t have been weird since it was daytime, the room wasn’t locked and anyone can freely enter, but Naomi watched this mystery girl through her peripheral vision just standing there and staring at us.

Furthermore, both doors of the classroom were closed. If someone had swung one open, at least one of us would have noticed it. The door in front was in our line of sight and we didn't see it open. Neither of us heard the back door open the entire time we were there as well.

I had no explanations on what Naomi saw. It could still be a prank by her. She was the only one who’s seen the apparition between the two of us, but her reaction seemed genuine so I don’t think it is.

Could this be a new case of the supernatural in this university? I’d rather not find out, to be honest.

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