Jessica was your quintessential high school student at Brooklyn High School. Her life appeared picture-perfect on the outside: long, silky black hair that cascaded gracefully to her waist, a face of natural beauty that seemed to always carry a serene expression, and a presence that exuded poise and charm. Her academic prowess was as sharp as her character, and she was known for her impeccable manners. Teachers adored her; classmates admired her. A gentle voice paired with a warm smile seemed to make everyone feel comfortable in her presence.
She was the kind of girl who walked through life with the aura of someone far too composed for her age, untouched by the usual turbulence of teenage years. No drama, no stress; Jessica carried herself with a calm that inspired awe. It was easy to believe, if you only observed her from afar, that this girl had it all: beauty, grace, and an unshakable tranquility.
But that serene exterior? It was nothing more than a carefully crafted façade.
The truth, as she knew all too well, was far less dazzling. Beneath the surface, Jessica was a bundle of nerves, hiding her fears behind that ever-present smile. And while she appeared graceful and collected, deep down, she was terrified of one thing: horror. The mere mention of ghosts, ghouls, or anything remotely spooky was enough to send her heart racing. As a child, she had been so haunted by nightmares that she would often wet the bed in terror. Those memories still lingered, leaving her with a lingering fear that now translated into a near-paralyzing reaction to anything scary.
It wasn't just films that scared her, her fear seemed to take over in everyday life, too. If she ever faced a sudden danger, like the thought of a speeding truck heading straight for her, she knew her frozen body would betray her emotions. To an onlooker, she might look brave, standing there with an eerie calm as if she'd accepted her fate with a smile. But inside, she would be screaming, panicking, begging for a way out.
"Who would ever want that kind of misunderstanding?!" she thought, clenching her fists in frustration at the idea of someone thinking she was courageous in the face of death.
That's why Jessica was always extra cautious. Crossing the street was an exercise in safety; her eyes darting left and right, scanning every inch of the road before stepping off the curb. She took zero chances, always careful, unless, of course, a rogue Transformer somehow fell from the sky and crushed her. That's the kind of wild card she couldn't control, but otherwise, she prided herself on avoiding danger. Her dream was simple: to live a quiet life, untouched by the chaos that seemed to lurk around every corner.
Yet, as much as she wished for peace, life didn't always comply. For reasons she couldn't quite understand, trouble seemed to find her. More often than not, she found herself facing odd situations and unforeseen challenges that tore away at the calm life she so desperately desired. Every now and then, she would entertain the wish that the world was like a one-way mirror, where she could see out, but no one could see in. That way, the things she didn't want to deal with could stay on the other side, safely out of view.
"If only I could just lock everything I don't want to face outside that mirror," she mused, wishing she could shield herself from the uncertainties that kept sneaking into her world. But, much to her dismay, this was only a fantasy.
In reality, the world was like a massive one-way mirror; but with a tiny crack. A small, imperceptible flaw allowed darkness from the other side to seep through, and it just so happened that this darkness always seemed to find its way to her.
While everyone else basked in the warmth of their own reflection, oblivious to the shadows lurking beyond, Jessica stood there; silent, smiling, but feeling the weight of that creeping darkness behind her. Just like everyone else, she wore the same flawless smile. But while others were blissfully unaware, she could sense the ominous truth looming from the other side of the mirror. And as the world admired her perfect facade, she felt herself slowly unraveling behind that smile, trapped in the quiet struggle that no one else could see.
Jessica had developed an almost paranoid sense of caution, one could say it was a survival instinct. It was as if she could see a never-ending line of dump trucks barreling down on her every time she stepped out into the world. Each truck seemed to be waiting for the precise moment she made a misstep, like running a red light, to swoop in and end her. In her mind, life was a series of close calls, and one wrong move could be her last.
Compared to that constant anxiety, the chaos that had erupted at school yesterday felt almost trivial. Sure, it was a major incident, people were still buzzing about it. The story was shocking: a violent altercation broke out, and when the parents of one of the students got involved, they were beaten so badly their faces were swollen, grotesquely resembling pig heads.
The scandal was impossible to ignore.
Three students, gone in an instant. Including the instigator, that made four. The back row of the class was now hauntingly empty, like a shadow had settled there. Jessica vividly remembered the serious expressions on the faces of the dean and the principal as they marched into the classroom yesterday. They urged the students to stay calm, to avoid fueling the fire by spreading rumors. They tried to downplay the situation, but it was too late. The whispers had already begun.
And in a school, whispers grow louder by the second. If repeated enough, can become truth. By now, the entire school was abuzz with exaggerated tales. The rumor mill churned out wild stories: some claimed a student had beaten three classmates to death right there in the classroom, that blood had splattered everywhere, and that the perpetrator was already rotting in prison, sentenced to death on the spot.
Jessica couldn't help but feel a shiver run through her as she thought about it. The incident was disturbing, sure, but it was the students' collective imagination that truly unsettled her. How easily they turned half-truths into full-blown nightmares.
Her thoughts drifted to William, a classmate she had noticed before. He was the kind of boy you'd describe as unremarkable; thin, withdrawn, with a demeanor that suggested he'd rather blend into the shadows than draw any attention. Jessica had lent him money a few times, mostly because she felt sorry for him. His family seemed to struggle, and on more than one occasion, she'd caught him skipping lunch, his head resting on the desk as his stomach growled in hunger. He always paid her back, though, like clockwork the following week. There was something about his quiet timidity that made it hard to imagine him doing anything violent, let alone standing up for himself. If backed into a corner, William seemed like the type who would mutter something fatalistic like, "Fine, believe it or not, I'll just die right here in front of you."
Jessica wasn't someone who wished ill upon others. She didn't have a dark outlook on life. But she was pragmatic, she understood the social hierarchy, the invisible rules that people abided by. And in her mind, William was too fragile, too harmless to survive in such a brutal system. So, when the rumors of his involvement in the incident surfaced, she was shocked. She couldn't picture him as anything but the quiet, timid boy who barely scraped by.
What really troubled her, though, was the uncomfortable possibility that this timid boy, someone she had helped, could now be a part of her life forever, even in death. Jessica wasn't the superstitious type, but the thought of a ghostly William haunting her days, floating alongside her as some eerie reminder of her past kindness, was more than she could handle. She could deal with many things, but the thought of being trailed by the spirit of a classmate was too much.
Thankfully, that particular nightmare was short-lived. Whatever transformation William had undergone, it didn't matter anymore. She hadn't seen him since, and it seemed like she wouldn't get the chance to find out what had really happened. As for how he was doing now, Jessica couldn't say. Perhaps, like so many others, he had simply vanished into the ether, another casualty of the chaos surrounding her.
Jessica entered the classroom with her usual radiant smile, the kind that only a young girl, seemingly unburdened by the world's troubles, could manage. She kept her distance, careful not to get too close to anyone, but not so far as to raise suspicion. It was a delicate balance. After all, the last thing she wanted was to attract attention, from her classmates, or worse, from the shadows that seemed to be lurking just out of sight.
As soon as she took her seat, her deskmate Sandra leaned over, her face lit up with fresh gossip. "Did you hear? Teacher Lin's been suspended."
"Really?" Jessica's voice was calm, almost indifferent. It wasn't a surprising development. Given the gravity of what had happened, it was inevitable that Anna, their homeroom teacher, would face some consequences. Suspension was bad, yes, but it wasn't the end of his career. Once the storm blew over, he'd likely return to the classroom, back to the same old routine, as if nothing had ever happened.
But Jessica knew better. Even if Anna returned, things wouldn't be the same. The cracks were already starting to show, and who knew how long it would be before the whole mirror shattered.
"William has really crossed the line this time," Sandra said, her voice tinged with anger. "Teacher Lin didn't deserve any of this. She's always been kind, and now she's caught up in all of it because of him. Why didn't I see through him earlier?" Her frustration was palpable. It wasn't just Anna who had been affected, Sandra felt implicated, too.
No one had ever treated her this way, not even her own parents. Sandra could still feel the sting of the slap she'd received, sharp and humiliating. She bit her lip, trying to suppress the discomfort that had lingered ever since. The pain hadn't completely faded, and neither had the burning anger that accompanied it.
"Actually, he's not doing so badly now..." Jessica's voice was steady as she stared straight ahead, her expression unreadable.
Sandra shot her a sharp look. They had been friends for a long time, closer than most. But even so, Jessica found herself caught in the middle, unable to judge whether what had happened was truly right or wrong. She didn't condone William's drastic actions, revenge was never something she agreed with, but to him, it had probably seemed like the only option. It was a matter of survival, of standing up after being pushed down for so long. Anyone in his way, though, was bound to get hurt.
Sandra's eyes narrowed in frustration. "Jessica You, how can you defend him like that? I get it, Zhang Haotian and his gang are awful. They've bullied people for years. But William? He's no better! Fighting violence with violence doesn't make him a hero, it just makes him another problem."
Jessica let out a soft sigh. "You don't understand the whole story, Sandra. He was in a really tough spot. No one ever stepped in to help him..."
Sandra's tone turned bitter. "Tough spot or not, his future's ruined now. He was expelled; he's not going anywhere from here. What does he have left? Probably carrying cement bags somewhere, working manual labor jobs for the rest of his life."
Jessica reached up, brushing her long black hair aside as if to shield herself from the heaviness of the conversation. Her voice softened as she warned, "Just... don't get involved in things like this, Sandra. It's dangerous."
Sandra blinked in surprise, not expecting the sudden seriousness. "Ah?"
Jessica hesitated, her eyelashes fluttering slightly as she tried to keep her composure. Her eyes flickered with emotion, but she forced herself to speak calmly. "William's dangerous now. It's best to keep your distance from him."
Sandra scrunched up her nose in annoyance. "Well, maybe he should consider how his actions affect others! We live in a society with laws. He's just out there hurting people, and for what? It's not like anyone owed him anything."
That memory of being struck still lingered for Sandra, a reminder of how things spiraled out of control. She hadn't even done anything to him. All she had done was speak up, and instead of ignoring her or walking away, he had hit her. It didn't make sense to her. William wasn't someone she had ever wronged, and yet he had lashed out. She hadn't told her parents, mostly out of kindness, knowing full well that if they found out, they would have made life even harder for him.
Jessica, sensing the tension in the air, was relieved when she noticed William wasn't around. She turned to Sandra, who still remained in the dark about much of what had transpired.
"No," Jessica said quietly. "There's no one left for him to worry about. He doesn't have anything, or anyone, to hold him back anymore."
Sandra frowned. "What do you mean?"
"You've probably heard bits and pieces about what happened in the Dean's office yesterday, right?" Jessica's voice lowered, as if she were sharing a forbidden secret. She couldn't quite find the right words to describe what had become of William. The last time she had seen him, he seemed almost unrecognizable, like a weight had been lifted, and with it, any restrictions on his actions. He moved with a dangerous kind of freedom, as if nothing could touch him anymore. He was no longer the timid boy who shrank from conflict. Now, it was like he had shattered the chains that once bound him, and in their place was this unsettling sense of liberation.
Sandra stuck out her tongue, a nervous gesture that betrayed her unease. "Yeah, I heard some wild things. Someone even said he shouted that he wanted to kill an entire family! Is that true?"
The rumors had spread like wildfire, but the teachers had tried their best to keep them under wraps. Still, the story was too explosive to contain, and the murmurs in the hallways only grew louder.
Jessica didn't answer immediately. She wasn't sure how much of the rumors were true, but the look in William's eyes that last time, they told her everything she needed to know. Whether it was true or not, William was no longer the person anyone thought he was.
As a girl who had always followed the rules, Jessica found the most troubling thing in her life to be the occasional fight between classmates. Until now, that was the worst she had encountered. But William? He had taken things to another level entirely. The ruthlessness he displayed in his actions had left her deeply shaken, as though the ground beneath her feet had been pulled away.
The idea of someone going so far as to kill an entire family, as the rumors suggested? That was something she had only ever seen in crime reports or the dark corners of the internet, not something that would happen in her world.
"This guy... this dangerous guy... he's ruined. He'll never have a good life. No one will ever like him," Sandra muttered, shaking her head in disgust.
Jessica lowered her eyes, not responding immediately. She wasn't sure what William's future held, whether it would be dark and full of suffering as Sandra predicted, or something else. But what she did know, with an odd certainty, was that in this very moment, William was likely feeling more alive than ever before. Maybe even happy, like a bird that had finally broken free of its cage and soared into the sky.
When would she ever get that feeling of freedom?
Her eyes drifted out toward the window. She looked up at the vast sky, endless and unreachable, and for a fleeting second, she wished she could disappear into it, leaving behind the suffocating chaos of her life. But that moment of serenity shattered as her gaze caught something; no, someone; staggering past the second-floor window.
Jessica's body stiffened. This is the second floor... no one should be walking past the window.
Her heart raced as the figure floated closer, staring directly at her, its head grotesquely flattened like a fan, bobbing back and forth as it hovered outside. Then, slowly, it inched inside the room, its face twisted in an unnatural expression, its eyes locking onto hers with an intensity that sent chills down her spine.
Can you... see... me?
The voice was a hoarse whisper, as if dragged from the depths of something dark and terrible. It was a sound that clawed at her ears, making her feel like she was drowning in the weight of those words.
Jessica, her face frozen in place, kept her eyes forward, forcing a smile that felt like it was glued onto her lips. "Sandra, don't you think the weather's lovely today?" she said, her voice unnaturally calm.
Sandra, oblivious to the horror unfolding beside her, glanced out the window with a grin. "Yeah, it's a perfect day! Blue skies, white clouds... I was thinking it would be nice to go on a picnic. Just imagining it makes me happy!"
Jessica's heart pounded in her chest as she bit the inside of her cheek, trying to keep her composure. She didn't respond, too focused on the figure that was slowly fading from her peripheral vision. Its form became more and more transparent until it vanished entirely, as if it had never been there.
Am I going insane? Or has the world finally lost its mind?
The thought sent a wave of panic through her, but she fought to keep it buried beneath the surface. In the eyes of everyone around her, she was the perfect girl, flawless, composed, always with a smile on her face. But inside, Jessica was gritting her teeth in quiet desperation.
I can't keep this up... I'm going to snap... just like William.
Sooner or later, the tension would crack her like an egg. When that day came, she knew she wouldn't just quietly lose control. No, she'd explode. She'd flip the table, scream, and tear down everything around her, just like William had done. But until then, she had to pretend. She had to act like everything was fine, like she didn't see ghosts floating past windows or feel the weight of the world crushing her spirit.
I'm so scared...
A deep, suffocating sadness welled up in her chest. When would this endless facade end? How much longer could she endure this life, one filled with fear and the constant sense that something terrible was lurking just beyond her view?
She thought back to yesterday. When William had come into class, she hadn't seen those things, those haunting figures that now seemed to appear whenever they pleased. How was it that William, of all people, had managed to escape from this nightmare?
But Jessica didn't have time to dwell on it. Today, just like every day, she had to focus on surviving. Today was another day to make sure she didn't get crushed, by a dump truck or by the weight of the terrifying, unseen things that lingered around her.
One day at a time, she reminded herself. Just make it through.