"Pretty girls like you get lost in these woods all the time, Alexa."
On the night of Sebastián's annual Beginning of Summer Bash, amiable and adventurous Melody Tryniski went missing. What might have appeared as a juvenile escapade - a casual incide...
Levittown's local library September 26, 2018 5:50 p.m.
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"I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT you like about science." Micah scrunches up his nose.
We're in Levittown's local library, sitting on a wooden table that's far away from the common reading area. Our table is hidden behind some wooden shelves, one of the fiberglass windows standing behind me.
Out of sight, out of mind.
That's what I want to be right now: invisible. A chill runs down my spine, the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. Someone's watching me, or at least, I feel like something is. It's hard to know, specially if that someone is unknown to me. This something seems unnatural, ominous even. Worse yet, if they're close to me, they're hiding under their pure mask.
I'm always watching. I'm everywhere. I'm omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient.
The note burns in my bag, so close to my friend's reach. As I rub a hand on my arm, I look around the place, above Micah's head, but only see people studying and minding their own business. There's no one looking at our table closely, not a person hiding behind the shelves. Nothing suspicious. Maybe I'm being paranoid. This U person might've planted the thought in my head to drive me mad or to scare me. Maybe a little bit of both.
No one's omnipotent, omnipresent or omniscient. Those terms are only related to God.
This thought calms my queasy stomach and soothes the goosebumps prickling my skin. I fold my arms on the table, my eyes scanning the books and notebooks scattered around it. So much homework, not enough focus. The ceiling lights are on, as always, but the natural light coming from the sun illuminates our assignments and reveals our struggling answers. My back is warm against the glaring sun, but I like how it feels inside this air-conditioned room.
Micah has his eyebrows slightly furrowed as he solves another equation, in ink. He actually uses a pen to solve math problems. Catalina rests her chin on his shoulder, looking at his answers and frowning when comparing them to hers. Meanwhile, I'm still processing the fact he's doing his homework with a pen. Who does that?
I think about what he said a couple of minutes ago. The only thing crossing my mind is, why do you like math? Science - I don't think I like it anymore. The world around me has changed, and I've adapted to it. My positive perspective of life is dimming the more time passes, the more people die. People I love; people I have to watch die or the ones I find dead. It's always so bloody, so inhuman, so dark.
I've simply come to the conclusion that nothing will ever be the same.
"I don't know," I say, sighing. "Science is new. It changes. It's filled with new discoveries, unlike math. At least, interesting discoveries." Micah drops his pen and looks at me, unbothered by my late reply. "That or I got familiar with it thanks to my dad."
