Another life inside me

Days were flying by smoothly and everything returned back to normal—no more murders, and nol more threats. I stopped having nightmares about that night and my paranoia slowly faded away, too. Whereas for Noel and I, we've eventually become great friends over the past few months. Noel was really smart, but more than that, he was weird. I had seen him texting people with his phone upside down. He's too lazy to even switch on the lights in his room. I'd yelled at him several times when I saw the lights off as soon as I got home. 

But he just says, "Lazy is such an ugly word. I prefer the term 'selective participation'." 

Even though our differences stood as a barrier between us, his friendliness and weirdness eventually drew me closer to him and it gradually broke the wall between us. The awkwardness was no more there and it almost became an everyday routine for Hazel to hangout at our apartment as well.

I hadn't expected this but it was quite surprising when it became clear that Noel's father was in his mid 40's and not in his late 20's. He looked kind of young, but I guess, our eyes can betray us sometimes.

I came across many surprising events related to Noel. He told me that he'd once been caught up in a murder case and was held as a suspect but managed to defend himself and get away from the suspect list. After all, he was a law student and knew his work really well— extremely well, to be exact.

Hazel talked about how he'd once helped a detective to put the last piece of the puzzle in place. All of this, including his orphanage eventually increased his father's position as a businessman among the politicians and ever since, he had many connections with high post officers and famous politicians.

Hazel and Noel kept me so occupied that I had forgotten all about my family and the killer.

I still continued my job as a worker in the coffee shop regardless of the consequences. 

And just like any other day, I woke up to the annoying buzzing of the alarm. In my half - asleep state, I slammed the clock shut and went back to sleep.  

"There's still a minute before 7 am. I can still sleep..." I muttered and slowly closed my eyes.

"Hey! Wake up. You're gonna be late for work!" I could feel Noel's foot kicking my back. 

"It's 7:45! Can you hear me? 7:45!" He yelled loudly.

When my mind finally processed what I was hearing, my eyes flew open almost immediately and I jumped out of the bed. 

"7:45?! I have only 15 minutes! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" 

"I did, but a certain someone just didn't wanna wake up." He scoffed. 

I ran to the bathroom and brushed my teeth while slipping into my shirt in such a hurry that I forgot to wear my tie. As I was buttoning my shirt, my eyes fell on an old scar on my chest. The memories of my father flooded back into my mind. I stared hard at it, and a disappointed smile formed on my lips, "It never went, huh?" 

"Are you planning on staying there for the next century?" Noel's sarcasm interrupted my thoughts.

"Coming." I replied as I made my way out of my room while buttoning my shirt.

I managed to reach the coffee shop just in time to see a new manager at the place. She was nothing like Damon. Her name was Mira. When I met her, she was really nice to me and treated me like her little brother. She was in her 20's. All of my co-workers couldn't stop talking about how beautiful she was. I just stood in a corner and laughed at them when I saw their dejected faces. They were all head over heels for her, but as expected, she politely refused their initiatives to make up a conversation with her.

"How did it go?" I asked, barely stifling a laugh.

"Laugh all you want, kid." My co - worker sighed. He looked like all of his energy was drained out.

The rest of the day was as lively as ever. When I reached home, I was greeted my Hazel at the door instead of Noel. 

"Oh, it's you! Where's Noel?" She smiled at me as I took off my shoes and walked inside.

"He went out in a hurry. Told that he had some important work to do." She said, "I've already made dinner for us. I'll bring the food to your room." 

I thanked her and made my way to my room. I took a shower and came out of the bathroom wearing only my shorts. I ruffled my wet hair with the towel hanging around my neck. Just when I was reaching for my wardrobe to take out a shirt—

"Here's your dinner!" Hazel barged in with a smile. 

Her sudden appearance startled me.

"Woah! Don't surprise me like that." I sighed. When I began wearing my shirt, I could feel her eyes on me. For a long time.

She kept the plate on the table and asked in a concerned voice, "How did you get that big scar?"

"Oh, you mean this?" I looked down at my chest, "I was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy when I was 13 so I had to get a heart transplant." 

"It must have been really tough on you... Cardiomyopathy is rare for children to have." She frowned.

"Everyday, I had to listen to listen to their apologies. The hearts in the hospital had been over and there were no donors. I would have died if I wouldn't have gotten a heart transplant in the next 5 hours. I felt weak and hopeless." I continued, my expression grim, "My father is a cardiac surgeon so I was really lucky to have him by my side. He came running into the operation theatre saying that he'd found a heart donor. I never asked him how he got it, but I was relieved that he did. He personally carried out my heart transplant and it went well. He saved his son but... left him soon after." 

She put her hand on my shoulder and smiled, "But hey, look on the bright side! You're living a better life now."  

I snorted, brushing off her hand dismissively. "My father left. I got accused of killing my sister and mom. I tried to suicide and then I had a near death encounter with a serial killer. And you're saying that I am living a better life? You have a weird way of thinking." 

"You're still alive, though. So, doesn't that count?" She smiled bitterly, "Some people... are finding it hard to do just that."

Somehow, the way she said it made me pause. I shook my head, thinking that I was just imagining. 

"No one can win against your words." I sighed in defeat.

"I should be thanking your father for keeping such a fun person alive." She chuckled and I smiled back this time.

Even though my father saved my life, to this day, I couldn't shake off this weird feeling that someone else's life was beating inside my chest. But whoever that person was, I am glad that they were there.