3 Mei Ashford

Having been through a very rough childhood, I slowly developed hatred towards humans and alongside that hatred, another side of me began to also show itself. Being alone my entire life, I started to speak to myself from a very young age, having an imaginary friend was normal I guess? But fueled by the catalyst which was my awful childhood, I realized that I had developed a split personality.

He was the complete opposite of me. I resented social interactions, but him he was always cheerful, filled with energy and loved making friends. So whenever I was in a social environment, he would take over, with me acting as the subconscious, all the while talking to him like the little angels and demons on your shoulder when you need to make a critical decision. He may be the polar opposite of me but as our upbringing was very dark, it casted a shadow over us both to which we can never truly find the light. I feel like that's enough about me. Before I get any late, let's continue to my class.

Gemei entered the academy at around ten, usually class starts at eight but he didn't care. As it was ten, the first class of the day was over and it was break time, all the corridors leading toward the cafeteria were filled with students. Nevertheless, as Ashford made way to his class, all the students around him unconsciously got out of his way even though it was crowded.

"Look, it's that Ashford kid, his always late and only attends the literature class."

"I know, how can someone like him even be admitted in this establishment, I thought it was for the elites only, so much for working hard at the entrance exams."

From the very first day when Gemei was admitted in Ashford academy, people all around bad-mouthed him behind his back and in front of his face even though he tried to be inconspicuous.

"Sigh, these people always talking behind my back, which totally justifies my hatred towards humankind."

"Look at the bright side Gemei, you only have one more year until we can get out of his hell hole." Replied Mei, his alternate personality.

"It's you, Mei, how long has it been? You've been gone from my head for like two months now, where did you die off too?"

After Mei came back, Gemei was finally able to speak to himself once again, which made him even creepier in the eyes of the other students as he did creepy gestures with his hand.

"You should probably stop with the hand gestures Gemei, look at the other kids, they're giving you the death stare."

"You're right, I probably should, but fuck it, who am I to care for what other people say about me. It's not like they've treated me as a normal human being up to this point, so how is being a little more mental going to affect their judgmental opinion towards me, ANSWER!"

"Alright, I'm sorry, now I see why you resent other people. I apologize for leaving you."

Here is what happened two months ago, on the night Mei disappeared from Gemei's consciousness. It was on a Friday night, the first term had just come to an end. Students all around the campus were hyped, it was finally over. As usual, the popular kids decided to throw a party inside the gymnasium to which everyone may they be freshman or teacher could attend. Being himself, just the thought of him inside a crowded environment made him puke a little inside his mouth. But then again, after fifteen minutes of begging, Mei finally convinced him to partake in the party. The only condition Gemei had was that Mei would have to take over once they entered the gymnasium.

"Thank you Gemei, this is going to be fun, I'll prove to you that the students on this campus aren't that bad."

It was three o'clock and the party was set to start at six, that being said, our heroes headed home with Gemei having second thoughts throughout the journey even after giving his word.

The Ashford's owned a two-story house, which considering Gemei staying there alone made it even more depressing. The outside was painted white but thanks to the bad weather it began to turn dark green as moisture from the rain started to decay the layer of paint and of course as the water ran down from the roof, stained it. Upon first look, from a total stranger, it totally looked like the house was abandoned or haunted. However, for Gemei, it totally suited him and his personality as he thought it gave the house more character.

Inside was even bigger compared to the outside, long corridors reaching from room to room just like tree branching over from foliage to foliage. The house also had a basement that was never used. All the furniture around the house with the exception of Gemei's room was covered with a layer of dust alongside the sight of cockroaches and spiders being a common treat. Living alone wasn't such a bad thing, but it was sure lonely and tiresome as cleaning was the worst possible job for Ashford to accomplish. In the end, he decided to complete the chore at a regular interval of one month.

Once home, he made a beeline straight for the study. The passion of reading and writing gave him a whole other perspective on how the world works. There was a special chest in which he stored countless stories he wrote. The only person who has even read one of his stories was Mei, aka himself. After the first chapter, Mei was totally drained of energy as the story was deep and depressing. That was the one and only time Mei read one of those books.

Six o'clock finally came by,

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Mei?"

"Trust me as you trust yourself Gemei, I'll take over from here. Just admire a master at work."