Anna

 

 

The story of Van’s misadventure in the deserted corridor is quick to spread. At first his friends cannot believe it, and they only did when they meet Van moments later outside the Principal’s office.

“Okay Van, tell us what you did,” said Alice sounding shocked and disappointed all the same. Van is not really in the mood right now to recount what happened. He just survived an excruciating hour in the Principal’s office and he reckons his ears are now bleeding after hearing words like idiot boy, or stupid lad, and mischief. Nevertheless, he did tell his friends what happened and as what is expected, no one believed his story that an invisible girl in black is to be blamed.

“You’re joking,” Alice said for Van is insisting that he is telling the truth.

“Do I look like I’m joking?” He replied coolly.

“No wonder why the Principal is furious, it’s like telling him a Sasquatch broke into your home and ate your homework.”

And as if the hour-long verbal abuse by the Principal is not enough, the enraged Alice then began nagging Van how much of a prat he is for concocting stories to cover up his carelessness. It’s like being in the Principal’s office again as he hears words like idiot boy, or stupid lad, and mischief.

“R-rock,” Don muttered suddenly.

“What are you saying?” asked Alice.

“Van… R-rock…”

“Just say it please,” said Alice before whacking Don’s knee with a steel ruler.

“Hey that hurts!” Don shouted after yelping in pain, “I mean Van here, is listening to too much Rock Music.”

Van slowly turns to the hysterical Don.

“Please man, I’m already having a bad day,” he pleaded.

“See what I mean, he’s not well! Van was never been the same since he bought the latest album of Stonehearts on Fire.”

And Don explains to everyone how Van’s addiction to Rock Music is causing him to go insane.

“And you will burn your CD collection tonight Van, for your own good,” he added.

“You’re probably the one who’s driving him crazy Don,” Alice retorted.

“Yes, since he’s crazy enough to make friends with a girl like you,” Don chuckled.

And this culminated into a loud mudslinging by the two and Van could only watch helplessly. Thankfully Cara chose to keep her silence, sort of as a respect to the already strained Van.

“What worries me now Van is that you might get expelled,” she said to him calmly.

Van goes silent. The thought of seeing his friends receive their diplomas without him is simply too depressing to digest. And what would his parents say if they learned that their son won’t be finishing high school thanks to a simple mischief?

Those thoughts haunt him throughout the night and he’s expecting the worst the next day. But to his surprise the Guidance Councillor only gave him a few hundred lines to write as a penalty.

“But he made me swear to never tell anyone what I saw,” he said as his friends finish their studies in the library.

“It’s better than being expelled Van and this calls for a celebration,” Don chuckled.

“Don, breaking school rules is not something to be celebrated,” Alice interrupted, “but again, it’s great that you escaped expulsion. Just don’t do it again Van.”

“But isn’t it strange? We saw how a lot people got kicked out for minor offenses, but Van here got away almost unscathed,” Cara said suddenly.

“Who cares, maybe the Principal had a change of heart,” Don suggested.

“And I wonder what that girl is up to then,” Cara said while pointing behind them. A few tables away sit a beautiful girl with brownish hair and misty eyes. Every minute or so, she kept throwing them a dirty look.

“You know, I think that Kirsten is following us,” Don added.

“What made you so sure,” Alice asked.

“I noticed her tailing us on our way here.”

“Well, she’s outside the boy’s bathroom reading a book when I took a pee,” Van said, remembering how startled he is to see her there.

“You mean pretending to read a book; the outside of your smelly bathroom is not a good place to study Van. And I think it’s you who Kirsten is following,” Cara concluded, her eyes narrowing.

“Guys be reasonable, this might be just coincidence! And why would a haughty girl like Kirsten waste her time on a punk like Van,” Alice asked, her face breaking into a smile.

“Dunno, she must be upset that Van is not expelled. She could earn extra points from the school officials if she catches you breaking rules again,” Don chuckled.

“Or the Principal sent Kirsten to watch Van, just in case he decides to go back to that hallway again,” Cara suggested. Van doesn’t like the sound of that. It’s like he is now a closely monitored dangerous criminal. He always hated this school and now he had a new reason to hate it. He doesn’t like that Kirsten girl either. She doesn’t really deserved to be a valedictorian if the only thing she’s good at is to memorize stuff.

“Fake scholar, teacher’s pet,” he muttered savagely.

And much to Van’s annoyance, Kirsten seems to be there wherever he went. It looks like she is indeed following him like what Don said. Kirsten did leave him alone one day to practice her graduation speech and Van took this opportunity to head to the library.

“Mom will be upset,” he muttered while reviewing the list of graduation expenses pinned on the library message board. But his woes about the mounting expenses are driven out of his mind by something else. He thought he saw something flashing outside the library entrance. Van ignored it at first, could be it’s nothing more than trick of the light. But he saw it again and Van is sure that he saw the profile of a human figure this time.

“It’s her, that girl in black,” he said to himself as he rushes towards the exit to investigate.

There is no sign of her or anything supernatural outside the library. Partly disappointed, Van decides to head to the school ground instead. He could use a healthy breath of fresh outside air, sort of as a cure to anxiety. Enclose spaces like hallways are pushing him to the point of insanity. But the air in the school ground is neither healthy nor fresh. The ground is so dry that a gust of wind will kick dust and dry leaves, much like a miniature sandstorm. Van wandered aimlessly for a few minutes before finding a bench under the cool shade of a tree.

“Wait, I know this place,” Van said. Coincidentally, the bench where he now sits is where he first met the girl in black. This place looks different from the rest of the school ground. The grasses here are still green and the earth is moist with dew. The air is fresh, like the cool morning breeze. It seems that something is protecting this small patch of ground from further decay, it doesn’t dry out or crack like the rest of the school ground.

Van is half expecting the girl in black to show up here any minute. But near the foot of the tree, Van saw a moss-covered boulder there with a strange shape. It is pointed, not rounded, like a roughly carved miniature pyramid. Etched on the boulder is a barely readable inscription:

Dedicated to the Dawn Spirit that dwells in this place

The Dawn Spirit, he is sure he heard that before. Yes, he saw it in a story book, and books about folktales.

“Do you know it was said that a Spirit lives in the school ground,” said a voice of a girl from behind. Van is so startled hat he tumbled backwards and landed hard on his elbow. Van gave a pained yelp; he is hoping that none of his bones are broken.

“Sorry, did I surprised you,” the voice asked, which is in fact a stupid question. Did she saw how he tumbled backwards and busted his arm? Van tries to get up and thankfully there is a pair of hands to help him.

“Thank you, but please don’t do that again,” he said as his elbow throbs.

“I will Mr…”

“It’s Van, call me Van,” he replied.

“Well you can call me Ana,” she said. Ana is an inch shorter than Van, but the way she holds herself made her looks taller. Her pretty face is framed with long black hair that reaches below her waist.

“Hmm, I never saw you here before.”

“I’m your classmate in physical education, don’t you remember,” she chuckled.

“Ah, you’re in a higher section. Well, I’m not much of an observer and I tend to forget faces,” Van explained, though in reality he is not too fond of the students there.

“Wow you’re very different from most people here,” Ana chuckled, and Van is not sure whether he is offended or flattered.

“People differ I guess,” he just said.

“There is nothing wrong with that, at least you’re true to yourself,” Ana smiled, and Van felt a strange and pleasant sensation that he often associate with Rock Music, ice-cream soda, books and toy collection.

“Really, people often say I’m weird,” he chuckled.

“And you know not too many people venture to this place. They are afraid to come close to the Monument there.” Ana said while pointing at the strangely shaped rock behind Van.

“The Monument, so that’s what this thing is called.”

“Yup, the Monument dedicated to the Dawn Spirit.”

But before they could exchange more stories, the bell rings much to their displeasure.

“Too soon, well I’ll be seeing you then,” Ana simply said.

“Same here err…”

“Ana is my name, you do have a short memory,” she laughed.

“Oh yes, well see you soon.”

But before she leaves, Ana gave Van a mysterious smile and asked, “Why pigeons are like men?”

“Is that a riddle?” Van asked himself while watching Ana walk away, glad that he met someone as eccentric as him.