Traces of Midnight Fallacies

CHAPTER TEN

I tried to adjust to my new world, where I found my happiness. I decided to stay here for my own sake rather than to seek a way back to the real world. Why would I return to the physical realm even though I know I'd have nothing to go back to?

I'll admit that I was reminded of how much pleasure it is to live in this unusual world once more. I found my happiness here. I found a happy family that I don't have in real life. I made friends that I knew were concerned for me. Despite the fact that no one ever sided with me when I was alone, they never made me feel like I was unimportant to them. I've found my ideal life here, and I'll never give up the chance to see the world that the Lord has given me.

I will never trade my precious life here for the life I have in reality. I will never do that thing. This is also my chance to choose my own happiness now, right?

I walked by a peaceful river and watched it from afar. It was amusing to witness the clear water still flowing in our direction from the peak a few meters away. My gaze stayed focused on it till I felt the presence of a person sitting beside me.

Kevin said, "This is the place that you adore the most. When we have an errand like this, you keep recommending it." This drew my attention to him. He gave me a friendly smile. "This is also where we first met."

I sighed heavily before turning to the river. "It looks like I've forgotten a lot."

I decided to just go with the flow with everything to get along with the people here in this unusual world with me, and to stay here for a while without anyone noticing my true identity. I'll just go with the flow of everything going on around me, just like the river flowing right now. I'll carry on with what Charmaine started in this world as well as to finish the goals she set for herself so that I can keep things in order.

He laughed before looking at me, which made me smile a bit. "I'm not sure if you've really lost your memory or you're just doing all of this to escape the embarrassment of what you did to Lawrence."

I barely laughed at what he said, and I was unable to answer back when Celeste sat at his side. Kevin was in the middle, who is now laughing as he faces the river. He put his hands across our shoulders with his blanket, like he does whenever Celeste and I put him between us.

He seems like he could be my brother in this world. I have considered the two of them as siblings since I came to this place. They are always here whenever I have a problem. They are always by my side whenever I need someone to lean on, even though I haven’t had a week to stay in this place.

They treat me as a human, far from the people I'm with where I came from. I never again felt the a***e I received from my parents. I never again felt the a***e I usually receive in the real world. I am thankful because I met them and that they were always supportive of whatever I did.

"Charmaine is so lucky to have you guys," I said. They both turned to me with astonishment at how they both looked at me.

We've made it to the top of the peak we climbed earlier. We won't have a hard time coming down later when we consider heading home because it's not that high. I finally feel like I'm having this much fun in my life again. After years of loneliness, I've recently rediscovered what it's like to be a human.

"What are you saying?" Kevin asked, laughing, before hugging me with his blanket.

Celeste looked at me as if she was curious about what I said, while I did nothing but make faces at her, which made her roll her eyes before she chuckled.

We did nothing but stay under the tree where we had made ourselves comfortable earlier. We watched the orange sky and the sunset to the west. They were blabbering about random pieces of stuff, while I, on the other hand, just remained silent while watching the setting sun.

Before making a wish for myself and for the new week that would begin tomorrow, I closed my eyes slowly and made a wish for myself. I know it won’t be too late for me to change the things I did in my first week here. I will not abandon them, even if fate is on my side. I will stay by their side as they have stayed by my side until now.

"I will treasure this moment," I promised myself before I opened my eyes.

My eyebrows lifted a bit when I woke up in an unfamiliar place once again, just like what I experience whenever I go into an illusion.

I immediately lifted myself from my seat before I shook my skirt. I was in a class. If I'm not mistaken, I'm in a computer room that is also part of our campus. I'm not familiar with the decorations inside the room, so I was a little stunned when I looked at it earlier.

I decided to take a walk inside. I'm trying to figure out what exactly I'm doing here and what my purpose is for coming to this place today.

Do I need to find something or do I need to know something in her memory?

I stepped back when I heard the familiar footsteps of the students outside before the door opened. I watched the students enter the room where I was, while I remained standing on the side of the room. I tried to bump myself into the girl who passed by in my direction, and just as I expected, I penetrated her body once again, like a cloud of smoke.

Some of them were pushing and joking at each other that caught my attention. I felt my eyes widen when I saw how Charmaine kissed Lawrence on his cheek, which surprised me so much.

Lawrence maintains his stance. He seriously avoided looking at our classmates who were already busy shrieking at him with the girl next to him. Charmaine did nothing but lean on his shoulder while Lawrence angrily shooed away our classmates who were screaming at what Charmaine had done to him.

"I like you, Lawrence!" Charmaine said something that made me a bit embarrassed about what she did. "I will do everything just to make you mine!"

"I don't like you!" he said, which made the whole room roar. "So, please leave me alone and don't come near me!"

I felt my head hurt a lot when I lifted my head. Kevin looked worried while looking at me while Celeste was busy carressing Kevin's blanket around my knees.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

I smiled a bit before lifting my head from leaning against his shoulder. I turned my gaze to the sunset, which made me grin. In a few moments remaining, the darkness would be completely covered by the light coming from the setting sun, a sign that we needed to finally end this day.

"I'm just dizzy. Maybe I'm just lacking sleep, "I replied before I shifted my seat on the grass.

Celeste lifted her finger in front of me before removing from my knees the blanket she had covered me with earlier.

"I think she's okay now," she said before she stood up and handled Kevin his blanket. "Just a bit and I'll believe this blanket of yours can heal us, Kevin!"

He rolled his eyes before he whispered his foul words for her. Celeste did nothing but dance in front of us with Kevin's blanket. We waited for darkness to reign before we decided to go home and finally end our errand for the day.

It was late at night when we arrived at the plaza before we dispersed. We simply bid our goodbyes to each other before going home. Dad picked me up at the terminal, which I secretly thanked myself for. If he didn't think to pick me up, I might have had a hard time coming home, especially since I'm not yet familiar with the places in this world.

As with usual family gatherings, my parents and I had dinner together. They keep on questioning me about the errand that happened with my friends before they allowed me to go to my room to have a rest.

I hadn't fallen asleep yet after taking a shower, so I decided to temporarily wander around Charmaine's room. I felt my lips rise a bit when I had something to prove to myself.

"We have the same taste in everything," I whispered to myself when I saw the design of her entire room.

The color of the wall of her room is light pink. Its floors are carpeted and there are also bookshelves near the walk-in closet. She has her own bathroom, which made me impressed because it is one of the things I dreamed of whenever I planned to make my floor plan in my previous subject in high school. There are encyclopedias and various romantic novels on her shelf and on its side, I saw some picture frames with her family which I hovered over.

I carefully lifted the frame I saw to observe the photograph in it. I saw a young girl with her stilettos. Based on the picture, I can say that Charmaine had a passion for ballet when she was young, just like me. There is a red ribbon strangled on her ponytail which is the same as my ribbon when I was young. I caressed the photo as I watched it.

"We were the same…" I said to myself before I put it on the shelf and stared at another picture that I kept on staring at.

I looked again at the frame next to Charmaine’s picture when she graduated from the primary. I saw how my father hugged her while my mother was smiling widely while staring at the two of them. Based on what I observed, Charmaine and her daddy looked so close to each other when I first glanced at the two of them. They can easily throw pranks at each other, like what her daddy said the other day.

I wonder if this is how my biological father and I would be if he didn't molest my mother and they talked about everything? What if that didn’t happen and instead of me ending up with my abusive parents, I ended up with a complete family?

I don't mind the riches. All I want is pure happiness with them. I don’t care about money because all I want is their presence with me as their own child.

I want a simple family just like what I dreamed of.

I soon proved to myself that all the things that I have here in the unusual world are the things I seek in reality. It seems like it’s a slap for me to wake me up to face everything. All I can do is to appreciate the things that are here in the unusual world just like the things that I own in reality that I failed to appreciate.

It was like it was the second chance that was given to me to prove to myself that I could change everything and protect the thing that I had failed to protect with my own hands. All I need to do is to protect it while I am still here.

I smiled as I walked down the corridor right in the middle of the students busy with what they were doing. A few looked at me and smiled when they saw the smile creeping on my lips. Some greet me and I answer it with a gentle nod along with a smile that even surprises some.

"Oh my!" the girl wearing the black boots said. I looked at her smilingly at her reaction. "It seems like I haven't seen that smile in a long time, Charmaine! I missed it a lot!"

I nodded at her. "I missed it too. See you later!" I said before I bid my goodbye to her.

I decided to continue Charmaine's life in this world and to accomplish that, I had to get along with all the things and attitudes that she had in front of them, and that included…

"Hi, Lawrence!" I smiled while looking at him when I entered our class.

He looked at me confused, while Kevin and Celeste looked shocked when I saw them.

Just like what you guys expected, I'm coming back again as you expected.

Charmaine del Real is now signing on…