"Argh! My head," a young man awoke to a stinging pain in the back of his head.
His head was full of muddled thoughts; he had no clue why he was suddenly jolted awake by this intense feeling.
"What's happening to me?" The pain was agonizing he began thrashing around before falling to the hardwood floor.
Thump!
He lay there for a few moments of torment before blacking out; his muddled thoughts and inner turmoil made him shudder involuntarily in this state.
Suddenly jolting awake, he heard a voice, "Null is he...," the boy jerked his head around in attempt to find the source of the voice.
When he saw nothing in his room, he thought he had gone mad except the voice continued, "... who defies the creator."
The elusive voice trailed off eerily like the final words of a dying man.
Then, there was nothing; no headache, no creepy old guy whispering in his ear, just silence.
"What in the- what- did I just- am I still dreaming," calming himself down, the confused clutched the side of his head, beads of sweat dripping down his face as he gathered his thoughts.
He was able to think clearly now and as his thoughts flowed, he gradually remembered what day it was.
Monday.
"Ugh," he grunted and lazily slumped to the floor, thinking to himself, 'All this crazy shit just had to happen before school.'
------------------------------------
"Same shitty place, same shitty people, same shitty shit."
Of course, he couldn't wait for the day to end because it was his last at school and his experience here was to say the least, boring.
He never studied, never cheated, nor had he been bullied or befriended by anybody.
He simply came and went as he pleased, and he felt nothing good about it.
Everyone knew him as the loner who was always avoiding confrontation of any kind; he just wanted to be an invisible specter.
Except when she was around.
"Hey over here!" He turned his head to a familiar someone calling out from beside him.
The figure of a female student could be seen walking towards him.
"Morning Sofina." He could never bring himself to ignore this person; maybe it was her cheerfulness or her casual demeanor.
Maybe he liked her.
Nah.
"It's good morning for the last time I guess, huh," she asked without skipping a beat.
Not only was she nice to him, but she even greeted him every day since they first met in class.
A whole schoolyear had passed he never said anything to her besides their morning greeting— that was, unless you counted his nonverbal communication.
Nevertheless, neither of them seemed to mind the silence between each other.
He never asked why she bothered with him given the fact that he never expressed any particular desire to be in her presence.
They walked to class in silence while the hallways gradually cleared out before the bell rang.
---
'Staying here in this prison has done nothing for me my whole life.'
The boy was daydreaming about his bleak future as always while in class.
'All I want to do after today is get a job, find a place of my own, and live out the rest of my days in solitude,' his mind wandered about as he rested his head on his desk.
For his whole life he had never had a dream; no goals or aspirations, all he ever did was live out his days appeasing his boredom through his daily observations and whatever enjoyment he could find on the Internet.
'When is my life going to feel worth living.'
A sudden irksome feeling arose inside of him out of nowhere, spoiling his mood.
Just because he had no dreams or goals didn't mean that he didn't desire them.
'Whatever.'
He told himself as always and fell asleep; if he wanted to do something it wasn't like there was anything stopping him.
'If anything, I wish the world would just end so I can get it over with."
Sometime later, the bell rang signaling the end of the last class of the schoolyear.
"Alright folks, I know that it's the end of your last class with your favorite teacher, but I've got a date tonight so scram and live your best lives.'
"Always remember not be afraid to dream big and party hard as long as you be the responsible young adults that I know you can be."
And with those parting words, the class ended with farewells and other small talk.
As everyone left the class one by one, finally there only one person was left.
"Ahh it's him," Mr. Zolial sighed as he saw the one student he couldn't figure out.
'Good grades, decent looks, but a bit too antisocial. Just another snot-nosed brat ready to be sent out into the real world.'
Mr. Zolial thought to himself, 'I wonder just how that Sofina does it?'
He strode slowly towards the desk of the sleeping beauty considering his next choice of action carefully.
BANG!
Mr. Zolial struck the desk without hesitation and just like that, the slumbering princess jolted awake without the need for a good smooching.
'Fuck me!'
As he gained awareness, he could already see where this was going.
Another lecture about the meaning of life and the importance of eight hours of sleep a day.
It seemed like Mr. Zolial was adamant about reprimanding him solely as he was always joking and smiling with the other students.
Contrary to his expectations, Mr. Zolial just smiled at him and said one thing:
"Scram!"
And just as he was about to go through the door...
The ground began to shake violently, causing him to lose his balance and fall to the ground.
'Huh? What's happening?'
"Earthquake! Quick get under a desk and stay there until I get back," Mr. Zolial quickly spat as he rushed past and out of the door.
Without regard for his orders, the boy sought the nearest window out of curiosity.
He saw on the campus a bunch of students and teachers scrambling in through the nearest entrances and out of the corner of his eye was Sofina's figure looking worried.
That look on her face didn't sit him right and left him coming up with a plan.
He grabbed a piece of paper from his notebook and ripped it out before hastily writing down something and heading back to the window.
He was on the second floor of the building and not too far from where she was about to enter so he opened the window.
"Sofina!" His voice made it through all of the clamoring and reached her, prompting her to look back in his direction.
As soon as he saw that he chucked a paper ball at her feet she quickly grabbed and opened it up.
The note simply read, "Classroom 705."
After reading, her face brightened noticeably as she nodded back before entering the doors.
Meanwhile, Mr. Zolial had returned with a group of students, some visibly panicked.
"Alright now, the shaking is dying down, but I need you guys to be safe," Mr. Zolial reassured them to take cover as well.
"You," he abruptly said as he pointed at the window, "I leave you in charge of these kids so don't let me down."
And without another word he was back in the hall probably off to look for more stragglers.
Thus, the so-called 'one in charge' looked towards the rest and they stared back at him, as if they were awaiting instruction.
'Don't mind me,' he shrugged.
Before any of them could react, the building shook again much softer this time.
Without thinking twice, they all dove under a desk and took the proper position with their hands over their heads.
Some of them were softly sniffling while others stood stronger in face of the natural disaster.
All of a sudden Mr. Zolial reappeared, this time he only brought back with him a single person.
Unfortunately, they were in fact not Sofina but another teacher, Ms. Florie, the teacher from across the hall.
"Are you all okay," he asked as soon as he walked in noticing all but one under the desks.
"We're all good, Mr. Z," they replied collectively.
Turning his head to the lone student by the window he sees a bizarre sight.
'Really? All he gives me is a thumbs up. Is this kid even taking this seriously,' Mr. Zolial was relieved at their response despite having a problem with someone's lack of concern for their own safety.
Too bad the feeling didn't last because that was when he felt another surge of pain in the back of the head.
'You've got to be kidding me!'
And with that, he began losing consciousness for the second time that day.