Chapter 9: Still Day 2 – I'm Blind

[JUSTIN]

That was really embarrassing! Why am I the one who wanted to humiliate that girl back but it turns out that I was humiliated back and forth?

Ramon and Jared were giggling on their way out of class after nearly getting run over by Alexa earlier. Is that girl just loves to crash into someone or what?

"2-0 to Alexa!" Ramon says using some hand sign language.

I scowl. "Let's go to the forest!"

I know they are idle after this.

"What are you gonna do?"

"Come on let's go!" I affirm as I walk out of the classroom.

"Do you take Jack and Ken with you?" asks Ramon.

"I'll pick up Ken later. Just bring your own car, okay?"

"OK, let’s meet up in front of the cafeteria!"

I’m walking down the corridor of the lockers, and suddenly a hand clung to my right arm.

"Lisa? You alone?"

I keep walking, not trying to let go of her hand.

"Kimmy and Candy are still in the toilet, and it's going to be a long time," she says, giggling.

We walk together towards the cafeteria. I peek at the bike parking area, out of the corner of my eye. The dull blue bicycle is gone, meaning Alexa is home. Safe. I don't want her to see me walking with this witch.

Lisa's hand drops from my arm and her fingers start to intertwine with mine.

"Justin, I have something for you," she says, looking at me in the eye. She took something out of her small bag.

"Oatmeal biscuits, wow!" I almost scream.

"I made it myself," she adds. Somehow she knows I like oatmeal biscuits.

"Thanks," I reply, smiling sweetly at her.

"Ehmmmm .. Justin," she adds a little hesitantly.

"Yes?"

"Will you come to my house tonight? Let's eat ramyeon," she says shyly.

"I’m not sure, Lisa. I can't promise you anything," I reply.

My friends start to come and they code me to go straight to the car. I nod at them.

"I have something to take care of today.”

Lisa's fingers are still intertwined with mine, and her green eyes are looking straight at me, a little disappointed.

I tap the tip of her pretty nose with my index finger. "Next time, sorry. I have to go, I'll call you later!" I shout to Lisa as I leave her and head for my car which is parked in the middle of the field.

I think about Lisa's invitation earlier while driving. Eating ramyeon? Are you kidding me? People say that in Korean dramas, an invitation to eat ramyeon is like an invitation to sleep together. My friends will call me crazy if they know I turn her down, but I'm bored with the one-night-stand lifestyle and stuff like that. Sometimes I feel that it makes my heart even more empty.

I call Ramon and put down my phone, letting it connect to the car phone on loud speaker.

"Ramon, have you all headed to the forest?"

"I saw Ken and Jared's car, but I didn't see Jack's car. You already made it clear that we are going to the forest together, right?"

"Yes.. But I'm a bit nervous, you know."

"What are you planning?"

"I can't tell.. It's hard to explain. I'll see you later. You know what? Lisa invites me to eat ramyeon at her house and I suddenly got a headache."

Ramon burst out laughing. "Hahahahaha! You like Lisa right?" he asks.

"Not really. I mean.. She's amazingly pretty! But I don't want to date her or anything like that."

"Yes, it's clear that she already has a direction to date you, Justin," replies Ramon.

"She asked to me to come to her house, while cradling me tenderly in my arms. How am I supposed to say no to that? But I did! I did!"

Ramon laughs even harder. "Hahahahaha! Isn't it normal for Lisa to do that to like every good-looking man in the campus?"

"Oh, I don't know," I moan.

"You focus on Alexa first, Justin. After you're done, then you can approach Lisa," Ramon argues.

I see Jack's car overtaking me while honking in a funny way a few times.

"OK, Ramon, see you in the woods," I conclude and hang up the phone, then drive my car faster to Ken’s house. I promised to pick him up at his house.

"Hey, Justin! Long time no see," said Ken as he leaves his house. We haven't seen each other for only two days, but it feels like a long time.

I smirk."I need to talk to you, Ken.”

"The gank has told me a bit, but I also need an explanation from you," he replies.

I sigh. "Later, at the lake. I need to concentrate on speeding now."

Arriving in the forest, I park my car behind Ben, the car Mera gave us. I look at my watch, and it’s still 10 o'clock. The forest feels a little warm, but the breeze is blowing slowly, giving it a chill. With only about fifty paces I find Ramon, Jared and Jack, sitting on wooden coasters jutting into the lake. Jack is soaking his feet in the water.

Ken and I walk over to them.

"So.. What is it, Justin?" asks Ken who then sits down next to Jack, while I remain standing, looking down and playing with the grass I step on.

"I can't really explain how I felt when I fell, with books scattered and coffee spilled all over my shirt and head, but I was – no, I am still right now – hurt, angry and embarrassed."

"So you think Alexa deserves your humiliation?"

"I'm sorry, Ken, but yes," I reply confidently. "I think she deserves it. She hates me anyway. I've tried to be nice to her, but she keeps avoiding me."

"No need to be sorry, Justin. You didn't do anything wrong to me. But you have to make sure what you do is right."

"I'm certain."

"I hope she doesn't get hurt too much," Ken says.

"I don't think she will.. It's only for a week, and the love that grows in a week can't be that deep. Ah.. It won’t make you hurt in any way."

"Well, in that case I think that's smart, but you need to be careful," Ken gushes with a smile.

"I'm not that bad, Ken," I try to validate myself. I can see that my other friends are not totally agree, but they are just trying to supportive.

Then I motion for Ken to follow me and walk to Mera. I want to tell Ken my plan first before doing it.

"Now I want to try something. I want to see what Alexa is doing now. I want to know what her focus is, what she likes, or what are the things that interest her."

Ken looks at me thoughtfully.

"I'll draw two eyes and write Alexa's name. I hope I can borrow her eyes to see what’s going on around her. Umm.. But I don't think it will work, tho.."

"I'm not sure Justin.. Is Mera supposed to do such kind of magic?"

I look at Ken with a shrug and smirk.

"Hey guys!" I shout at the others and wave for them to come to us.

"We're negotiating a name for the lake, Justin," Jared says.

"Huh? Good idea! Then what's the name?"

"Lisa!" Jared shouts. Everyone burst out laughing. Ramon must have just been gossiping about me and Lisa.

I pick up a boulder and pretend to throw it at Jared. Jared runs off laughing even louder.

"I want to try something new. I don't know if Mera knows what I mean," I say to the others, then explain my plan, as I told Ken earlier.

"Does it work that way?" asks Ramon.

"I don’t know, but I just want to see what Alexa is doing right now."

"Try it," says Jack.

I take out a piece of paper and a marker from my black carry-on bag, place them on top of Mera and start drawing. I draw two eyes, and write Alexa's name next to them.

When I am done, I stand up and walk towards the lake. I crumple up the paper, then toss it into the calm water.

After that, I return to my friends, who are still gathering around Mera, but before I reach them, my eyes suddenly feel strange. I am quite shocked and scared. I didn’t expect it would feel like this. My vision slowly disappears, and everything turns white. I stop walking and my hands begin to grope for something to hold.

"Guys.. I'm blind!" I scream. I hear the voices of my friends surprised, then I feel their hands hold me.

"Hold on! I see something!"

Slowly the white layer in my eyes seems to blur and I feel like watching something.

"The house. I see the house," I say. I'm not scared anymore. My eyes don't feel hurt, and my body is fine. I only see the house. It is white, almost finished. There are two people working on the roof of the house, and they seem to be talking to me, but I can’t hear them.

I then look around the house. There are a lot of dead white roses.

"What the hell," I say in disbelief. "Guys.. all the white roses are dead.”

"Huh? White roses?" exclaims Ramon.

"Where?" ask Jack and Jared in unison.

"I don't know where this is."

Then the two workers in the house come up to me in a panic. They are like holding my face, checking my eyes, but I don’t feel anything. I don't know what happens. Can they see me? I reach for them, but they aren’t real. I only see them, but couldn't touch them.

Who are they? Then whose eyes are they examining?

Alexa?

It’s now certain that I seem to take over Alexa's vision.

"How to end this?" I ask my friends, "Why isn't it over yet? Why aren't my eyes turning back to normal?"

"Mera doesn't know how long you want to have the vision, Justin," says Ramon.

Oh shit.

"I should have written down the duration earlier!"

Jared hands me a piece of paper and put a marker in my hand. They all led me back to Mera.

I write the word NORMAL on the paper, on Mera, then my friends lead me back to the lake. I crumple the paper and throw it far forward.

The two working men are still busy examining me and their faces look worried, but slowly their images blur out and disappear, then I can see normally again.

I fall to my knees, and my friends look worried and curious.

I stare blankly at the lake. "House. I see a house that is almost finished, with two gentlemen busy installing the roof."

"Where do you think it is?" asks Ramon.

"Oh, you remember the white roses that died, don't you? The house has a garden, and in the garden all the white roses die. Gosh, there are lots of them."

"So we know now that the other white roses have died," replies Ramon. "The question is, whose house is that? We have to find out."

"Tomorrow you guys really have to talk to Alexa to find out. Approach her, please," I plead.

They look around.

"I have an idea," Jared says.