When Worlds Collide

Chapter 27

"Hello? Earth to Ivan?" Vera waved a hand in front of my face, startling me as I diverted my attention from staring out into the parking lot to her. "Are you alright? You seem really. . . out of it," she raised an eyebrow, looking me up and down closely.

"Some things are happening at home. Mrs. Clarissa has cancer. The outlook isn't good," I muttered absentmindedly, messing with my notebook pages.

"Shit, I- I'm so sorry," she breathed, staring down at her desk.

"Things are just rough right now," I supplied with a dead tone.

"Yeah, I can only imagine," she whispered, giving my arm a comforting squeeze as the teacher began her lesson. "I'm so sorry."

My head was in a kind of fog the entire day, time seemed to go by so fast, and I was retaining none of the information being taught. It was as though a parallel universe had opened up, an entirely different timeline where nothing added up and everything seemed slightly out of place. Not enough to be entirely obvious, but just enough to where it really got under my skin. I was trudging through my daily life like it was the Twilight Zone.

Ethan insisted that we sit at a quieter, more secluded table, and Vera was eager to agree. I sighed, willing to comply only if they didn't try to dwell on what was going on with Mrs. Clarissa. I was already on the edge, I wouldn't be able to take another moment dwelling on the subject. I would simply lose it.

Maybe I am losing it.

"I'm just still in shock, and- and I need to work through it on my own," I explained as we sat down, and they seemed to agree. Ethan offered me a hug, and I quickly wrapped my arms around him, feeling a bit more soothed knowing that he was there.

"We're not going to leave you, Ivan. Ever. Right, Vera?" He stressed, and Vera nodded vigorously as she cracked open her coke can.

They're lying.

Save yourself.

Don't trust anyone.

The voices came suddenly after such a quiet morning, making me startle. Those were the only discernible words they spoke, after that it was just mindless chatter, which was already getting on my nerves.

"Ivan?" Ethan's voice suddenly broke through.

"Huh? I whipped my head around to look at him as he stared at my lunch, slowly chewing on his chips. "Are. . . you going to eat? We only have five minutes before gym."

"Oh. Right," I frowned, finally picking up my turkey sandwich and taking a bite. It just tasted like cardboard. I'm sure I was making a sour face, but I ate as much as I could bear, mostly to appease Ethan, who I could feel staring at me.

The bell went off, signaling the end of lunch. The cafeteria became a mess of students weaving in and out of tables to get to their next class, so we quickly threw our trash away and left the cafeteria, knowing the process would take longer trying to get through the hoard of students. I stayed close to Ethan, feeling like he was my only anchor as I could no longer tell the difference between the student's conversations and the conversations in my head. It was all very confusing and overwhelming, and I was beginning to feel really anxious about it, as well as incredibly overstimulated.

We entered the locker room together, and I was forced to part ways with Ethan, as my locker was much deeper into the room. I tried to hyper focus on suiting up, pulling on the black basketball shorts with the school logo and the matching grey t-shirt with green lettering. I was wearing the same thing as everyone else, but the voices were doing a really good job at convincing me that I looked much, much worse.