The angel who held me in her arms

“Have you ever wanted to be an animal? A bird to fly? a fish to swim without breathing? Or how about a cat? To get away from responsibilities, sleep all day and eat as much as you want, I particularly prefer the latter option. But here I am... Like a human.”

Facing the Hoshi School, Neo watched curiously as the excitement in his chest grew.

The entrance was full of different clubs looking for new members: there were cooking clubs, art clubs, journalism clubs, photography clubs and sports clubs such as soccer, kendo, basketball and baseball. Practically an endless variety.

“Since I'm here, I could try something new. “

He looked at the watch on his wrist and changed his mind; he had more important things to deal with. He walked unnoticed through the crowd until he reached the double doors.

The corridors were like a marketplace with so many people moving around, and as well as the noise, he missed the silence of the day before, the scene that seemed to have come out of a dream.

Neo realized that he didn't know where Principal Karine's office was.

“Which clubs are you thinking of joining?” A student from a nearby group asked, drawing the boy's attention.

“I think the photography club, my mom gave me a camera.”

“I'm already in the journalism club, it's hard to join another one.”

He had no choice but to ask them.

“Sorry, do you know where the boardroom is?” He asked.

The smiles gradually faded from their faces. None of them looked directly at Neo, making him uncomfortable. It seemed as if they were deciding who would make the effort to answer.

“Up the stairs, on the second floor, turning right almost at the end of the corridor.” He answered in a harsh voice, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

Neo thanked him and started up the stairs, while he could hear whispers behind him.

“Is that my smell?”

Turning right after climbing the stairs, a man with short light brown hair was coming towards him, his serious face changing to an expression of surprise as he looked at the boy.

“Neo! Good to see you again!” He exclaimed, full of energy and happiness as he stretched out his arms.

The boy was startled, took a step back and stared.

“Guesstimating his age, I'd say he was in his thirties. But his energy seemed like that of a physical education teacher. Even though he spoke as if he'd known me for years, I wasn't convinced. It may well have been a mistake like the one with Karine the day before.”

“You must have mistaken me for someone else. “Neo replied and continued on his way towards the principal's office, leaving the man behind.

But the man didn't give up and put his hand on the boy's shoulder and turned him to face him.

“No, it's you!” he shouted as he took a good look at his face. “Your name is Neo, isn't it?”

Neo felt a little uncomfortable with this invasion of space and pushed both him and his hands away.

“Yes.” He replied as he straightened his T-shirt.

“Then of course you know me! There's only one Neo in the school. Unless you're a new student.”

“Yes, I'm new, today is my first day.”

The man smiled as if he had discovered something new.

“Ah! So now there are two Neos and the other one looks exactly like you! You need to meet him, you'd feel like you were looking in a mirror. Which room are you in?”

“3 - G.”

The man's smile gradually faded and his face expressed doubt.

“Same room as Neo? Something's wrong. Are you kidding me? Are you sure it's not you?”

“He looked so desperate that I felt sorry for him, so I thought about it. Something about his face looked familiar. “

“No, I really don't know who you are.”

The man became angry and his desperation grew more and more along with his voice.

“Of course you do, look at my face, I'm sure you'd never forget it!”

“This insistence was already getting on my nerves, especially as he kept coming closer and closer to me. But something in that attitude, in that anger I felt, in that little fragment of familiarity made me see an image.”

The man went on and on about things that were characteristic of him. Pressing more and more, talking about details and more details that weren't clear in Neo's head, only increasing his anger.

But gradually a puzzle appeared in front of him. A piece was missing. Some information. More images formed.

In these images: Neo was carrying something on his back. Several different faces that he couldn't recognize and that were familiar. Karine fighting with him. A celebration with a trophy. A race around the school.

“Remember when we first met? I asked if you were a new student like now.”

That was the only sentence of many that Neo heard the man speak as the visions continued to appear and disappear until they formed a scene. Neo's eyes turned orange.

The two of them were sitting and talking inside a room, several objects were missing, it was as if they were blurred. Only the light made it clear that it was afternoon and the man looked much younger than he did now.
“Huh? Are you a new student? You must be happy that it's your first year at school, right?” The man straightened his posture and continued. “Relax, don't let the pressure crush you, my name is Erick, nice to meet you, you seem to be a boy full of doubts, but I see potential in you, if they are tormenting you, come and talk to me!” He said, smiling and excited.

Neo came back to the present, his eyes returned to normal, they were fixed on the eyes of the man in front of him.

“You're Erick...”

Erick smiled, crossed his arms and before he could say “Did you see that?”, the boy's body began to weaken more and more, his vision was going dark and the ends of his limbs were tingling.

“I think I'm going to fall. “

Before he hit the ground, he stopped midway between soft arms that held him, it was so cozy that the urge to black out only increased, all he could see of the person who held him were strands of blonde hair that shone in the sun. His last words were:

“An angel...”