Part 5: Between What I Felt and What Was Real
That night didn’t feel like a dream.
It felt like something had *entered* me.
I woke up gasping, my breath broken, my heart still running from something I couldn’t name. The room was still, but my mind wasn’t. Her face—glowing, unfamiliar, impossible—stayed behind my eyes like it had been burnt there.
I lay there, unable to sleep, unable to escape it.
One thought kept circling, tighter each time.
*Why did both of them come to my classroom?*
It didn’t feel random.
It didn’t feel like a joke.
So I did something I don’t usually do.
I called Anika.
She picked up.
“Hello, bro… Why are you calling suddenly at night?” she yawned.
“Why did you come there?” I asked directly.
“Where?” she replied casually.
“To my classroom.”
“Oh… that? Just to look, boys," she giggled.
I frowned at her. “Just for seeing boys, ah? Are you joking?”
“Really… Yeah, we came just for seeing them,” Anika said.
There was a pause.
“I’m serious. Tell me properly,” I said, slower this time.
“Are you mad? Calling me at night and asking silly questions?” she said.
“Don’t play, please,” I said quietly.
“You’re the one playing at night,” she shot back.
“I don’t want to argue. Please answer properly,” I said, holding my patience.
She laughed softly. “Why should I tell you? What will I get in return?”
I sighed. “I’ll buy you a new pen.”
“Hello, Uncle," she said sharply, “I don’t need a pen. I need a keychain.”
I smirked. “What? Keychain?”
“If you want the answer, buy it," she demanded.
“Okay. 'Deal'," I surrendered.
“I want one with the letter 'A'," she added, making a point.
“Fine. Now tell me.”
Another pause.
“Hm… we came there to submit our class name list.”
“That’s it?”
“Yeah.”
Something about that answer felt… hollow.
“Okay. I’ll still buy it,” I said.
“Good. Don’t forget!” she said and cut the call.
I dropped my phone on the bed and leaned back.
“Just a name list…”
I brushed my forehead absentmindedly.
Then I stopped.
Something felt… off.
I walked to the mirror and touched my forehead again.
There it was.
A small pimple.
My first one.
Exactly where she touched me in the dream.
Same place.
Same spot.
It was just a pimple.
But it didn’t feel like one.
I stared at it longer than I should have—not because of what it was, but because of what it *echoed*.
Coincidence?
Maybe.
But it didn’t feel like one.
---
The next evening felt normal. But the dying evening orangish sunlight grabs my attention. The pinkish-coloured clouds looked like cotton candy, and my tongue craved tasting them.
The school bell rang. Students rushed out. Noise everywhere.
But inside me… everything was muted.
Too muted.
Same van. Same seat.
I always sat in the last corner, behind the driver.
I sat there, staring at the sunset.
The sky burnt softly, like something beautiful trying to disappear without being noticed.
But inside me, the silence felt heavier than the sky.
From behind, laughter broke through.
Anika.
“Bro, are you still okay with this brand new school?” she teased.
“Mister DevDas, look at me!” she shouted.
I didn’t react.
I kept looking outside.
Then Tanvi’s voice came, softer.
“Anika…”
“What?” Anika smirked.
“Is he alright? He looks… off.”
Anika giggled. “Ohh… okay. Let’s go surprise him.”
Footsteps.
Closer.
Then—
A tap on my shoulder.
I flinched, jumping out from the seat.
They laughed.
Tanvi sat near me.
I turned. “Why did you come here?” I asked, slightly annoyed.
Anika tilted her head. “You looked like something was missing.”
Tanvi nodded. “Yeah… so we came.”
For a moment, I didn’t answer.
I stared at Tanvi's eyes.
Her eyes question me, like, "Why are you alone?"
My eyes stumble to answer for it.
Then something inside me loosened.
Slowly, we started talking about school gossip.
Random things.
Pointless jokes.
Laughter.
And just like that…
The silence inside me cracked open.
For the first time, Tanvi sat beside me.
Not across.
Not distant.
Beside me.
I could feel her presence.
Not heavy.
Not loud.
Just… real.
And strangely, that was enough.
---
Anika suddenly interrupted.
“Hey… where’s my keychain, bro?”
I smirked. “Sorry. I forgot.”
And I grabbed my ears dramatically to apologise to her.
“You bloody cheater!” she snapped.
I laughed like a wild hyena. Everyone in the van looked at me weirdly. But still, I couldn't control it.
“My mistake," Anika shouted.
She turned away. “From now on, if you ask about me and Tanvi, I won’t tell you anything.”
Tanvi’s eyes locked onto me.
“Why did you ask about us?” she asked quietly. Both her eyebrows rose simultaneously.
I shook my head stubbornly and unclearly.
Anika jumped in. “I need that keychain… or I’ll tell the truth.”
I looked at her. “What truth?”
She gritted-teeth smiles. “About her", her eyebrows dancing up and down.
Her eyes shifted toward Tanvi.
I raised my hand. “Wait.”
Tanvi didn't notice Anika's look.
Slowly, I opened my pouch and took out the keychain.
Anika’s face lit up instantly.
“Drama? For a keychain?” Tanvi said, amused.
Anika ignored her and reached for it.
Just then—
The van jerked. The van hit a pothole on the road.
The keychain slipped.
Both of us bent down at the same time.
*Thud.*
Our heads collided.
We froze.
Then, instinctively, we both rubbed our heads.
For a second…
Everything felt too close.
Tanvi closed one eye, rubbing her forehead.
She whispered, 'Be careful."
My vision blurred.
Tiny sparks flashed in my eyes.
I looked at her.
Through the blur… she looked like she was glowing.
I whispered, “Again… the same thing.”
Darkness crept in.
A sharp pain spread through my head.
Voices reached me—
“What happened to you?”
Fading.
Distant.
Gone.
---
The sunlight faded as the van moved.
But something else had already begun.
Something small.
Something quiet.
Something I still couldn’t name.
---
Maybe it was nothing.
Maybe it was just another normal day.
Or maybe…
That was where everything actually started.
But something inside me whispered—
*It won’t stay this way.*
Suddenly, the van came to a halt.
The bags and everything were thrown forward.
A sharp jolt threw us forward.
The driver tried to restart it.
Once.
Twice.
Nothing.
The engine refused.
Stubborn.
Like it had decided not to move at all.
