Atdonus High

Episode 8: The Girl That Reads

Middle Of Who-Knows-Where

Who-Knows-When

In Atdonus Highschool

8:00am, a girl sat down at her seat.

She was quiet, not getting involved with the crowds around her. Instead, she brought out a book and started reading. She had brown hair tied into a singular braid, she stood at 164cm tall. Her expression was soft, her eyes kind behind her lenses. Her name was Eva Hardner.

She looked to her right briefly, seeing that the girl on her right was absent. The girl two seat away to her right was there, wrapped in bandages. She did not know why she was bandaged, and did not want to know. Eva just stared at her book, reading it, her mind filled with images created by the words on the book.

When Mr. Andrew walked in, he tried waking her up to no avail. Pretending to listen, she had replaced the cover of the book with math textbook’s. She just continued to read, Mr. Andrew not knowing.

11:30am, the bell rang for lunch break.

While the other students all went for lunch, she was left alone in the classroom, still reading. She was completely absorbed in the book, the outside world being drowned out of her mind.

Sometimes, in her head, she imagined what it would be like to be something other than a student, maybe a lawyer, or a superhero. She kept reading, a story about a man who changed his life through a single wish. She wondered what it would be like to be like that, it was interesting to her.

If she had one wish...

She thought about it, putting the book down and staring out the window. What would her wish be? She did not seem to know, she tried to think as hard as possible, only managing to come up with one.

“I wish I meet a wonderful man!” She told herself, full of conviction.

She stopped herself, scratching her head, something was wrong. She felt like those thoughts were her own, but not? She spoke almost like a character in one of those superhero stories, full of conviction, hope, determination.

Eva thought, what if she could really be like that? Strong and independent, with no need for worry.

She shook the thought out of her head, trying to get rid of her thoughts. Instead, she continued reading her book.

What the world of fiction offered her was infinitely more than what real life did, it was only a matter of perspective. She felt like that line of thinking was wrong, but ignored it for the meantime.

3:10pm, school ended.

She walked out of class silently, Evelyn walking out soon after, talking to the air. Eva walked towards where she would normally be alone to read, but the bandaged girl was already there, swinging her legs. Not long later, the new transfer walked up to her. Eva walked away, not wanting to get involved with them in the slightest. Instead, she headed towards one of the stores, specifically, the bookshop.

3:32pm, she entered the store.

It was her favourite place to be, surrounded by the things she loved, things she could feel comfortable around. The bookstore would normally be empty at that time of the day, however, to Eva’s disappointment, she was not alone. The person stood out quite a bit, standing much taller than her. He looked at her, his black eyes sharp but had a hint of kindness. She knew who it was, her entire body shook. She never expected to see him ever since he got suspended from school not too long ago. She wanted to run, but her mind disagreed. The characters would stand up to the bully, she would show her courage, either change the mind of the bully or be rescued by someone else.

He reached out, Eva twitching. He simply brushed a leaf off her head and bowed slightly before walking past her, out of the store. She watched him through the transparent glass door. He looked right and left before walking off. For a reason unbeknownst to her, she chased after him. She felt like the situation was familiar, the girl would meet the bully alone and see a soft side afterwards, starting their relationship.

“Hold on!” She shouted, trying to catch up to him.

She accidentally stumbled on herself, not quite used to running. He held her shoulders, stopping her from attaining any injuries. After helping her to her feet, he tilted his head, wondering what she had wanted to talk about. Meanwhile, Eva was trying her best to think about a topic to talk about. She looked around her, trying her best.

There was nothing but stores, some trees and pavement. Not many people were around, those that were just looked away. She cleared her throat, trying to act like the characters she read about.

“My name is Eva Hardner, may I have yours?” She asked.

There was a moment of silence, the boy not knowing how to reply. He fumbled with his belongings at hand, not having much, only his wallet and some change. He sighed and put his left palm in front of him, his right hand pretending to write on it. He leaned in closer, letting her see what he was writing on his palm.

“A-zel?” She asked, unsure.

He nodded, then turned around, ready to leave. Eva panicked, trying to think how things would go, how she should be acting. She decided and said, “Do you perhaps like to read?”

He stopped in place and nodded. Her heart leaped, she finally had a topic to talk about with him, the world of fiction.

“Um... What are your favourites? Favourite authors?” She asked.

He signalled for her to follow him, walking towards the dorms. She felt slightly frightened, was he going to do something to her? Maybe he might attack her, she was unsure, she just followed for some reason.

4:08pm, she entered his room.

To her surprise, it was very clean, even better, there were shelves of books on one side. She stared long and hard at the collection, it was massive, almost comparable to her own collection.

He scanned through the shelf and pulled one of the books out. He wrote something on a sticky note and handed it to her. On it, was written ‘favourite’.

She looked at the book, wandering what his favourite book would possibly be. The book was tattered, held together by tape and stitches. The pages were old, the front cover was too faded to properly see. She could barely see the words ‘The Voice Of Silence”.

It was a picture book, one children read. While he looked through the rest of the shelf, she flipped the book open to read, curiosity overwhelming her.

It was a short story, not something to really take note of.

‘Once upon a time, there lived a boy. He disliked talking. The boy refused to talk to anyone he met, crossing his arms. Everyone in the village knew him. He was happy, and so were they. His friends all loved him. One day, he decided to talk. Opening his mouth, he tried, but could not talk. He tried his hardest, but could not talk. Crying, he could not cry. Without making a sound, he lived his life. He could not talk, he was silent, because he refused to talk.’

She put the book down, the boy looking at her. She felt her face become red, not expecting him to just look at her. Eva could understand the story. It was supposed to be a children’s book on why they should sharpen the skills they had early on. By rejecting those skills, they would end up without it in the future.

Eva returned the book, the boy receiving it and putting it back. He scanned through the shelf again, Eva also doing the same, seeing several familiar and unfamiliar titles.

4:18pm, footsteps were heard from outside.

The boy turned around to see who had arrived. Eva turned too, seeing a figure there, breathing hard. It was the new transfer student, the one that dressed in all grey, she had sharp eyes that Eva never noticed about her.

“Help...” She wheezed, catching her breath. “I need your help.”

The boy nodded, striding off without even a moment’s hesitation. He exited, turning the corner, leaving the transfer student looking at her. Her eyes were weird to Eva, the girl seemed to not show an interest, but had a deep hatred hidden within her.

The girl turned and left.

Eva took a step forward, reaching out slightly before pulling her hand back. What was she supposed to do? What would the characters in stories do? Should she have went after them, followed them? Be stubborn and not read the room? Ask him not to go? Follow them in secret? The more she thought, the more her head started to generate ideas of all the books she had previously read.

At some point, it was almost like a c***k, all the ideas overwhelmed her, her head feeling like it would split apart. She clutched her head and started to walk out of the dorm, wanting to visit the infirmary.

4:30pm, Alex and Angela were at a store.

They were there, buying a few ingredients so that Angela could teach Alex how to cook better. Angela picked something up and said, “This thing is funny.”

“How so? It is a cabbage.” Alex replied.

“I’m not sure where I was going with that joke.” Angela laughed, putting the cabbage into their basket.

“Anything else to get?” He asked.

“No, I don’t think so.” Angela hummed, looking around the store.

They paid and left the store, carrying plastic bags with their ingredients inside. They were suspended from lessons, so that just meant more time together. Alex had requested to learn how to cook things other than sponge cake, and Angela was more than willing to help out with that.

Angela walked past someone familiar.

She looked back, recognising her table partner. Alex took the bags from Angela and went off into hiding. Angela smiled and said, “What’s up, Eva.”

Eva looked back, her eyes wide and confused as she looked at Angela. Recognition crossed her face. She replied, “Hello. What? Huh? Good evening. How are you today? Fine? Eh? No good. What’s up Angela. Isn’t the weather nice? Why are you here? Help. Hm? What?”

Angela, slightly concerned, asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yes. No. Why? Of course I am. Nothings wrong. Nothing happened. Perfectly fine. Don’t worry. Hm? Eh? I...! Don’t bother. Who are you? What’s that? Hey. My name is Gwen...”

Eva paused when she said ‘Gwen’, her eyes staring at the ground as she desperately tried to figure out why she said all that.

Angela could tell she had a problem, but could not quite place her finger on it. She seemed to have similar yet different conditions from Pandora. Instead of just a few definite change in personality, she was rattling on about random stuff, she was confused. Angela looked back, not seeing Alex. She continued what she had planned to do, unfazed, knowing Alex would follow them in the end. She was just that confident in her boyfriend.

“Could you follow me?” Angela asked.

“Yes. No. Yes? Maybe? Why? How’s the weather up there? Definitely! Of course I will. Don’t you dare look down on me! You got a map? Get lost! Yes. No? What’s that? What’s going on?” Eva rambled on like a broken radio.

Angela grabbed her arm and dragged her along while she continued to spout random stuff and lines. Angela could not help her even if she wanted to, and she did not want to. She needed someone who could help guide her to the correct path, hopefully help her manage her tendency of losing her mind.

4:54pm, Angela knocked on the door of the staff room.

Not long after, Mr. Andrews poked his head out, seeing the two girls. He asked, “How can I help you two?”

“Could you help call Mr. Connor? Thank you very much.” Angela replied.

5:02pm, Mr. Connor exited the staff room.

“Yes?” He asked.

“You see, you know Eva here, right? Since you take our class and all.” Angela explained.

“Yes, I do know Eva Hardner. The one who always reads during my classes, yes.” He confirmed.

“You knew? Huh? You? Who are you? Who am I? Two men cross the road. One falls over and a car rushes behind the one in front. Of course you knew! I planned everything. Don’t worry.” Eva rambled, clutching her head.

Angela gestured to Eva like ‘you see the problem?’ to Mr. Connor. She cleared her throat and continued, “Anyways, yeah. Bye.”

Angela ran off gracefully, her steps not even making a sound. She shouted, “Alex! Time to bounce!”

Alex stopped hiding behind a nearby column and ran out, bags in hand after Angela, leaving Eva and Mr. Connor alone together.

Mr. Connor looked at Eva awkwardly and asked, “Shall we talk about this over a cup of coffee?”

He did not wait for her answer before walking towards one of the few cafes in school. At that hour, few students would be there since they really went to cafes during the weekends. He took a seat, Eva sitting across from him.

“What would you like?” He asked.

“Expresso. Coffee. American. Cocoa. Chocolate. Sweets. Bitter. What’s coffee? I like tea. What kind of drink is coffee? Bitter, I don’t like it. Best drink in the world.” She replied, her right hand pushing down on her temple.

He sighed. “Let me rephrase, what’s your favourite coffee?”

Eva opened her mouth, but no words came out. Instead, she scratched her head, what was her favourite type of coffee. For some reason, she could tell what some fictional characters would drink, but not herself. She stared blankly at the menu, unable to decide what to order.

Mr. Connor, obviously seeing that his approached failed, tried changing his question. “Forget the coffee, since you read quite a bit, may I know your favourite piece of literature?”

“The wish that changed all.” She replied instantly, surprising even herself.

“Favourite author?”

“Although the up and coming new author is good, my favourite has to be Steven Sven. His works are unique to read and plays with interesting themes.” She elaborated.

Me. Connor arranged his thoughts in order. He could guess what was goi nuh through her mind as she replied the other questions. She was confused, after spending so much time in the fictional world, she was unable to develop herself personally, instead, she was influenced by the many fictional characters she read about. He had read her report that she had started reading at a young age, but could never guess that it brought such an effect.

“I have a suggestion.” Mr. Connor said to Eva. “You have to listen to me.”

“What is it?” She asked, her mind much clearer after his previous two questions.

“Stop reading.”

“No.” She replied faster than she ever had before.

“Listen to me.” Mr. Connor emphasised. “You have to stop reading, get back into reality. You have no reason to remain confused, you’re sixteen, you should know yourself better. Stop reading for some time, look around you, try different things, talk to different people, find out what you like and what you want to do. Is that possible?”

“I’ll... try...” Eva muttered.

7:49am, Eva entered the classroom, looking around.

“Hey, you heard that those two are returning tomorrow?” She heard someone say.

She looked around, ignoring the comments made by them. She saw the new transfer at the back, playing with her fingers and giggling to herself. When she sat down, two seat to her right, the bandaged girl was sleeping, her uniform at her right torso seemingly red.

Eva looked around, surrounded by the class atmosphere, for the first time in a long time, she did not feel isolated. However, she felt alone, after all, she had wasted an entire year not even trying to socialise.

She desperately looked around for someone she could talk to, anyone at all. She looked to her front, surprised to see a boy there. Had she really not realise him? He had spiky blonde hair and a gangster look, he looked more like the bad guy than the class’ ‘bad guy’.

Although scared, she reached out, tapping the back of his seat. He turned around, dark rings under his eyes, he was obviously tired.

“Do you not sleep well?” Eva asked after seeing his face.

“Huh? Oh yeah... was too busy... playing games... yeah, playing games.” He said softly before yawning.

“I apologise that I have not caught your name.” Eva said.

“Oh? I’m not surprised.” He replied, rubbing his eyes. “People don’t like talking to me. I think it’s because I’m too quick tempered. I’m Yuki Herro by the way.”

“Oh, I’m Eva Hardner.”

He looked at her face and yawned once again. “Huh, thought your name was Grace or something. Aren’t you usually reading?”

“I decided to stop.” She answered.

He looked around before closing his eyes, his head slacking backwards, facing Eva. He started to snore a little before waking up a few minutes later. He sighed, “Lately, I haven’t been getting enough sleep because of my wri- games, I mean.”

“You should stop playing then.” Eva suggested.

“Eh? But they’re fun though. Want me to introduce some to you?” He joked.

“Games... don’t believe I’ve had the luxury of playing one before, could you teach me?”

He laughed slightly, his smile seemed so bright to her despite how rough he looked. He replied with a simple ‘sure, why not?’. Eva could feel the effects of no longer being stuck in fiction, it was interesting. Fiction gave her imagination a run for her money, it satisfied her brain. She could read about these extraordinary people doing extraordinary things, accomplishing what would have been impossible to achieve through perseverance or gaining the power to do so.

Fiction allowed her to roam in a realm outside reality, it was the best place to see what she could imagine, what would she go through and why. However, with the short span of reality she had seen, it was shocking. The dull and boring reality she envisioned was ruined. In truth, it was warm, friendly, nostalgic and made her wish she had not wasted so much of her life. Reality, with people to talk to, unscripted conversations, friends, joy created by her own efforts.

Reality was too unlike fiction.

Fiction satisfied her brain, providing her what she wanted and when.

Reality did the opposite.

Reality satisfied her heart.