My room was still there. Which is odd, considering I wasn't supposed to exist. Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. I assumed it was Mika. I considered just pretending to sleep, but something was telling me I shouldn't ignore her.
"Come in." I said.
"Hey, I know you've been feeling down since this morning." said Mika.
"I'm fine." I replied.
"You don't have to hide it from me." responded Mika, "I know you and can tell when you're hurting."
"Um, thanks." I said, unsure of how I should be feeling.
The two of us went silent for a bit. I was having a lot of trouble thinking of what to say. Luckily, I managed to eventually break the ice with one word.
"What?" I said.
"Oh..." replied Mika, "Well... I'm sorry you had to go through all of this."
"But it's not your fault." I said.
"I'll do what I can to fix this." she claimed.
"But what can you do?" I asked.
"You'll find out tomorrow." answered Mika.
After that, we just chatted about random things. That was when, for the first time ever, I felt like I really was glad to have her around.
***
The next morning, I eat breakfast with Mika, who remained silent the entire time. I was a little surprised, since she was usually a lot more talkative.
"Is something wrong?" I asked.
Mika didn't respond, but no long after I asked, my parents told me that nothing was wrong. I had no idea what that was about. I wasn't even asking them. I was asking Mika. Whatever, I would just talk to her on the way to school.
"Mika, what's bothering you?" I asked when the two of us were finally on our way to school.
"I'm fine." the girl replied.
"You don't need to lie to me." I responded.
"Just... don't worry about it." said Mika, "I'll tell you when the time comes."
"You really aren't yourself today." I said.
"You think so?" she asked.
"Yeah." I said.
***
When we got to class, our teacher took attendance and he... called my name! Why was my presence suddenly being acknowledged? When I thought about it, the morning was pretty odd too. My parents had actually acknowledged my presence What the hell was going on? Our teacher continued taking attendance and called everyone's name... except Mika's. Why didn't he call her name? I looked over in her direction, but she was looking away. I figured I should just talk to her after class.
"Tell me what's going on." I demanded.
"You noticed, didn't you?" said Mika.
"It would be pretty hard not to notice." I said, "So why is it happening to you now?"
"It's only natural." responded Mika.
"Wait. Does this mean you knew about this the entire time?" I asked.
"Yeah." replied Mika.
"Are you talking to yourself again?" asked a random classmate that appeared out of nowhere.
This was when it really sunk in that I was the only person that could see Mika.
"Don't worry about me." I said, "I'm fine."
"If you say so." they said, "Weirdo."
"Well, that was rude." I said, as they walked away, "But anyways, tell me everything you know!"
Mika stood there, silently.
"Please..." I said.
"You were right all along, you know." said Mika, with a sad smile on her face.
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"I was never real." she answered.
"That makes no sense!" I exclaimed, "Where did you even come from?"
"I came from you, Oscar." answered Mika.
"From... me?" I said.
She nodded.
"You're not making any sense." I replied.
"You've been lonely for a long time, haven't you?" said Mika.
I had no idea what where this conversation was heading, but it went in a direction that I never would have expected.
"One day, you decided to create an imaginary friend." continued Mika, "And that imaginary friend... was me."
"You're... imaginary?" I said, feeling very confused, "What are you talking about?"
"You created me so you'd have someone to talk to." said Mika, "That's why I've always been there."
There was no way this could be real. I couldn't believe it. She was a real person and I had been talking to her and now she was suddenly telling me her whole existance was a lie? What was that about?
"You were playing that game on the day you created me." continued Mika, "Y'know, the one where I kept telling you what to do? Then I was spending all this time with you. But because I wasn't a real friend - because I was only imaginary, you stopped playing with me. You got too old for imaginary friends. But you still wished you could have a friend for real. And I... always wanted to be real. But for that to happen, I'd have to replace you."
All this information was too much for my brain to process. I was afraid of what that last sentence was implying and started to sweat."
"However, you're still that kind boy I remember." she said, with a sad lookn on her face, "So I couldn't do that to you."
This was when she started crying. I didn't completely understand what she was saying but was sounding somewhat familiar.
"So that's why I didn't exist yesterday?" I said, raising an eyebrow.
Mika nodded.
"So, it's my turn now, I guess." she said, trying to hold back her tears.
"So this is it?" I said, "You just randomly show up in my life one day to just disappear? Do you even know how cruel that is!?"
"I-I'm sorry." said Mika, "But I'd rather you get to live instead of me."
"But-" I started.
"I can't stay here." interrupted Mika, "By the end of the day, I won't exist anymore."
"You can't be serious!" I exclaimed.
"It's the truth." she said, "But still, I'm glad we got to spend time together again."
"Please... don't go!" I exclaimed, starting to tear up a bit.
"There's nothing I can do." she said as she wiped her eyes.
"There has to be something!" I yelled.
"There isn't." replied Mika.
"But-" I started.
"Our time was short, but still, I had fun." said Mika.
"I don't want you to go!" I exclaimed.
"I'm... sorry." was all she could say.
After that, Mika turned around and left me. All I could do was stand there as her figure got smaller and smaller until it disappeared completely. Then, I went through the rest of the school day without her. I didn't see her anywhere. It was the same on the way home as well. After reaching my house, I decided to skip dinner again and I found myself quickly going to sleep.