My dreams haunt me like a ghost, moving in my brain from side to side as I find my way out of bed and into the bathroom where I prepare myself for the day. I stand unsteadily in front of the mirror, looking at my pale skin and my yellow-ish eyes, exhausted and not ready to start the school day. I yawn as I turn on the water, splashing the cold water on my face. It feels like a slap to my brain, a way to signal, “wake up!” and it works. Suddenly, I feel choked up. I cough for a long time. Then I hear something from the drain. “Inez…” they call. I can feel my heartbeat slapping against my chest. “Inez…” I panic and back away from the sink, almost fainting as I see colorful circles everywhere. “Inez!” Lindsay’s boyfriend appears in front of the bathroom door. “You okay?” His voice echoes annoyingly in my mind. I blink and snap out of it. “Yeah,” I sigh. He nods. “Get ready soon, your mom’s making breakfast!” I look at him strangely. Mom? I get ready quicker and head downstairs, eating my eggs and bacon, then packing everything I need for school. Lindsay is writing notes for everyone in their lunch bag. When it comes to me, I read the note immediately. She keeps on jabbering about how it’s only special if it’s read later, but I ignore her and keep reading it. “With every day that passes, I love you all more and more. To this wonderful day, this amazing day, I hope it’s filled with joy and peace. May you find love and happiness in your life and always let goodness guide you and never let your heart get corrupted. Keep on the sunny side of life and life will only show you the sunny side. Love, your mother, Lindsay.” As we walk to school, I observe the lunch Lindsay packed. Napkins, matcha, buldak noodles, chopsticks, and sauce. “Mommy always packs this kind of stuff.” Chloe grunts. “You don’t like it?” I chuckle. “It’s decent, I guess,” She also lets a little giggle loose. “I’m sure you’ll like it.” “I’m not sure I like anything,” I sigh. “Buldak… noodles?” “Oh, yeah,” she says, rubbing the back of her neck. “All my friends talk about it. When mom was talking to one of my friend’s mom, she recommended this and of course my mom had to get it!” “Have you ever tasted it?” I ask, unsure if I should eat it or not. “My friend let me have a bit of hers with my own spoon,” she says. “It wasn’t my favorite.” “Then there’s no way it’ll be mine,” I mumble, looking at the container of buldak noodles weirdly. Then the incident at the bathroom bounced back into my mind. Who was calling my name? Why was it coming from the drain? Is it relevant to the man who left the note at my doorstep? What did the note mean? Why am I being chosen for all of this? I’m not ready. I’m just a freshman caught up in an elusive mystery case that I’m not ready to solve. I just got a new life. I’m not ready to give it away yet. “Matcha might be good,” Chloe breaks the silence. “I always get chai. It’s my favorite. But matcha is good, too,” “It is?” I ask, clueless. She nods. “Maybe you won’t like it. Maybe you will. Who knows?” “I guarantee I’ll detest it after I take the first sip.” I chuckle. Then I stop and stare at the humongous building in front of me. “That’s the high school. Which is your cue to leave,” she sighs. “I’ll walk the rest of the way to my kindergarten center on my own. Have a good day!” She knows I hate hugs, so she just waves me goodbye and I do it back. I gulp and turn to face my school, my heartbeat hitting along my chest. I can feel it, like it’s about to drop. Especially after what happened this morning. I want my old family back. Tears begin to fill my eyes so I blink them away and get myself ready for the crowd. I walk inside the high school as the hallway crowd is noisily and nudges me from side to side like a leaf in a current. I search for my locker until I find it. I run my fingers along the gold nameplate on my locker, and it reads, Inez Wynder. I open it and find my ticket and books. I grab my ticket and read the information printed on it. Inez Wynder, Room 301, Grade 10, Teacher Ms. Martis. I use this information to get to my class, room 301. Everyone is surprisingly sitting quietly as I walk in. I try to fake a smile and walk to my seat as everyone stares at me. I know I’m a new student and a stranger to them, but I feel uncomfortable and choked up. I look around nervously and these group of people are laughing, others are neutral. I try to block it all out but of course, every new student has to introduce themselves to the class. Ludicrous, really. “Dear, how about you introduce yourself to the class?” Ms. Martis says warmly. Dear? That’s what Lindsay calls me. I already feel suspicious about this school. I walk up slowly and tensely to the front of the room, my hands in fists.
Hi,” I say nervously. It’s almost not audible. Then I gain my strength. I wasn’t raised like this. “Inez Wynder. Freshman. Mess with me and you’ll find blood on the floor.” Ms. Martis looks concerned. I turn to her and smile sarcastically. “Interesting,” Ms. Martis says concerningly with a fake smile. “You may sit down, Inez.” As I walk to my seat, Ms. Martis adds, “Oh! And nice to meet you!” “Not nice to meet you.” I mumble. As the room is silent, laughs fill in the silence. But they’re not laughing at me, they’re laughing at Ms. Martis. I wonder why. Is she one of those weak teachers who doesn’t yell at anybody therefore everybody does what they want to her? I hope she’s not. If the whole class is gonna be wasted on Ms. Martis getting hated on and not us actually learning anything, then I’m out of here. Spontaneously and immediately. “Excuse me,” I break the laughter. Everyone looks at me. Ms. Martis lifts her chin and forces a smile. I continue. “May I excuse myself to the bathroom?” Then a real smile forms on her face. “Of course, dear,” she responds. As I walk out of the door, she adds, “Oh! And don’t forget to take the bathroom pass!” I roll my eyes and pretend I don’t hear her, but I actually do. I just don’t want to take a silly bathroom pass. I walk in the bathroom. It took a while to find the bathroom, from hallway to hallway, floor to floor, I ended up going in a circle until I went another direction and found it. There was a label on the door, but I didn’t read it. And the truth is, I don’t even need to use the restroom. I just need to get out of that asinine class. I bet they’re still laughing and throwing paperballs at Ms. Martis. So I just decide to wash my face since I’m in here anyway. The cold water slaps my face, giving it a refresher. People love hot water, but me personally, cold water is better. It’s so refreshing. But then, something disturbs that refreshing feeling. “Inez,” the voice from the drain calls again. It wasn’t just at my house? It’s not just something that Lindsay needs to fix? It follows me everywhere. But what is it? I back away. I can’t hide my fear. What if I die? What if I die right after my life just started? I just got adopted and accepted into a new home, a new school, a new life? Why couldn’t it kill me when I was roaming the streets? Why now? Why must it come when I’m finally happy? Then an image appears on the mirror. My sister, Rylee. Then the image begins to move like a movie on a screen. Is it really her? Or is it just her ghost haunting me? Are her intentions good? I hope they are. Rylee jumps out of the mirror and is standing in front of me in a ghost-like form. “Rylee?” I say, confused. Is she still alive? Is she here to give me answers? Is she real? Then my mother and father come next to her. They hold their arms out. My heart beats like a professional drummer playing the drum. I can feel it beating along my chest, and it feels like it’s about to drop in fear. And I’m about to drop dead in fear. They walk towards me. “It’s your fault!” they yell in unison. Their voice echoes hauntingly through my ears. “It’s your fault we died!” What?, I think. It’s not. I tried to look for them. “And now,” they start. “You must die with us!”
