ᴍᴇᴛᴀɴᴏɪᴀ - ʜᴀᴇᴄʜᴀɴ

≫20

"Where is everyone?" Lina muttered, pushing away her barely-touched bowl of cereal.

With one hand, she propped open her new book, scanning its pages as she absorbed every single intricate detail, wondering how George Orwell- the author- had the creativity to generate such a complex dystopia.

Losing her previous appetite, Lina turned towards Jaemin as he curled into a ball on her couch, blue hair bouncing as he turned towards her.

It was strangely quiet; the laughter of a cute couple had ceased, the frequent arguments that broke out within the house had gone silent, the constant clicking of weapons had dispersed, and Haechan's loud booms had stopped, leaving the house seeming empty- not that she minded; Lina rather preferred the quiet.

Thinking, Jaemin glanced towards the ceiling, swirling his cup of black coffee around in his grip.

"Chenle and Rin are out eating ice cream- Rin is dead-set on tasting every flavor," He began, clicking his tongue. "Jisung is out buying the newest shooter game, Mark is probably smuggling something somewhere- I don't know, he doesn't tell me about that stuff- Jeno wanted to try the new restaurant on the block..."

He hesitated a moment, narrowing his eyes at empty air as his lips touched the edge of his mug, and let the bitter taste of his coffee play along his tastebuds.

"Renjun tends to sneak out every once in a while, and Haechan- well, it's Haechan. We never know where he is," Jaemin concluded, shrugging.

Lina nodded subtly, eyes falling to the dozens of words that painted a stunning, yet horribly twisted narrative, lips pursed together.

Her eyelids seemed to weigh as much as stone, and her body felt like it was filled, right up to the fingertips, with sand, leaving her limbs feel heavier than earth itself.

Shuffling her feet in place like a zombie, Lina leisurely turned the page if her book, eyes widening slightly as a plot twist redirected the story.

Watching the tired girl, Jaemin lifted his cup to his mouth once more, sipping the harsh liquid down with pleasure.

"Do you go to school?" Jaemin wondered, peeking over the back of the couch.

Pulling her eyes from her book, Lina lazily nodded, and a stray hair fell into her eyes as she did so, but she didn't bother to move it.

"Yeah, why?" She prompted, blinking her awkward contacts back into position.

Jaemin's eyes trailed from the oven, where a clock tracked the time, then back to Lina, lips curling into an endearingly amused smile.

"It's Monday-" He pointed at the clock that read '10:49.' "-And you're late."

Turning sharply on her heel, she gasped loudly when she noticed the time, and quickly whirled back around, snatching up her book.

Her footsteps began to patter towards down her hallway as she called out a quick 'thank you' to Jaemin, to which he only chuckled in response.

Stumbling into her pale-colored room, her eyes found her white desk that rested beside her door, covered in neat papers and folders sorted into small stacks, organized by subject.

Running a stressed hand through her hair, Lina pursed her lips tightly together, and plucked her sagged, pastel blue backpack that was slumped against the legs of her desk.

Plopping it onto her chair, she began to grab one stack after the other, filing it into the bag as quickly as she could before zipping it, slinging it over her shoulder.

Dashing forwards once more, Lina stabilized her bag upon her shoulders as her fingers found the front door, and she flung it open, hastily speeding out offer closing it before her.

Her breaths grew heavy as her apartment neighbors' green doors whipped past her vision, and she soon found a carpeted, slightly stained staircase, which she immediately stumbled down them.

Somehow, she managed to crawl her way out of her apartment complex, and began to sprint down the sidewalk- feet pitter-pattering against the rough cement.

The bitter cold nipped at her cheeks and played impishly with her long, black hair as her heart hammered in her chest, feet dragging slightly.

Breathing heavily, Lina staggered towards her school as her stomach swam with anxiety, unable to surprise the vicious swirling of her intestines as she desperately made her way towards the place most would avoid.

That is, until she tripped.

—

Lina sat grouchily at a long, white table within the cafeteria, surrounded by empty space.

Swallowing nervously, she felt the burning of a million imaginary eyes glaring into her back, stalking her every move.

Her raw elbows ached, knees bleeding, and she sported a small scrape on her cheek that stung worse than a paper cut with lemon juice poured onto it, but she tried to ignore it the best she could.

Glancing to her right, she saw a five-person distance between her and the next student, which prompted her to sigh lazily. Eyes drifting to her right, an eight-person gap sat beside her, leaving her accompanied by nothing but air.

Lips forming a thin line, her gaze fell towards her book once more- the same one she had found earlier that day: 1984, by George Orwell.

It's not that she didn't mind being alone- it gave her time to read without interruptions, but she felt like an outsider. Like some type of alien, or maybe a disease, and everyone was afraid they'd catch the plague if they spoke to her.

It was... disheartening, but Lina has convinced herself that she liked it better that way; she was much more comfortable in silence, after all.

Who needed friends, anyway? Lina had herself, and that was enough.

The putrid scent of old, undercooked corn dogs and soggy fries filled her nostrils, and she crinkled her nose, finding it quite rancid.

Her fingers brushed over the textured pages, feeling the slight rises where the ink was rather soothing as she engulfed herself in the story, awaiting the obnoxious ring of the lunch bell- signifying the end of her break that was soon to come.

Expelling a sharp breath from her lungs, she felt as though her stomach was jelly- swishing around uncomfortably as she tried to block the constant chatter of children from her ears, yet she couldn't seem to tune them out.

Unable to subdue her persistent nerves, Lina felt like she was being watched- as if the entire school had stopped to stare at the poor girl; judge her.

Teeth gnawing against her nails, Lina felt a shiver run up her spine and the continuous spinning of her guts seemed to worsen, making her eyebrows pull together as her leg bounced idly.

"Look who we have here," A voice taunted, making the girl flinch noticeably.