The memory brought back a feeling she never thought she would experience again. It had happened before, but she never expected something she had given up on to resurface. Without realizing it, she felt a soft tingling sensation on her cheeks as a tear rolled down her face. As she gazed at her reflection, tears were visible streaming down her face.



When she saw her tears, she stopped for a moment and stared at them, feeling a brief moment of confusion. After a few seconds, she understood what was happening and spoke, even though her voice was shaky.

"Haha, what the... am I... really crying?" Y/N touched her face and felt the tears streaming down. She knew they were her own. "Pathetic... this is... Haha..."

Suddenly, more tears kept coming, they wouldn't stop. She wanted this feeling to go away, it hurt as much as when she felt angry. But no matter how much she wiped them away, more tears kept flowing.



'Why is this happening to me? Why did I suddenly have to remember that, why now? Why me…' She thought, hugging her arms as tears continuously poured down her cheeks.

After some time, the tears stopped, and she honestly felt a bit more relaxed knowing she had let it out, even though unintentionally it calmed her. Glancing away from the mirror, she realized she had been in her room for quite some time, meaning class had already started. Though she still didn't feel the need to go, she knew it was necessary. Before leaving, she took one more look at herself and wiped her face to get rid of any evidence of her crying. Once she was done, she left and headed to class. When she arrived, all eyes turned towards the door.

Everyone, including the group, looked at her. The teacher noticed her presence and looked at her with confusion.

"Y/N, you're here. I heard from the group that you weren't feeling well. But seeing you here now, it seems you're better," Mr. Thomas said with a smile.

She looked at the group; it seemed they had made up an excuse for her absence.

"You can take a seat," Mr. Thomas said as she made her way to her seat.

She noticed the group looking at her with concern. She also realized that Ben and Aiden were not present. It was strange, and she wondered if something was going on with them. Y/N sat behind Ashlyn, placed her elbow on the desk, and rested her head on her hand as she stared out the window.

'I can feel them watching me...' However, they were just worried. The way she yelled in the hall made it quite concerning, especially for Logan and Taylor.

Soon, class ended faster than she had anticipated, or maybe time was moving faster than they thought. Regardless, she was relieved that class was over, for many reasons at least.

"Alright, everyone turn in your assignment on your way out!" Mr. Thomas said to the class.

Y/N grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder, holding her homework as she walked towards the teacher to turn in the assignment. As she reached the doorway with Logan, Taylor, and Tyler, they all had different expressions - two looked sympathetic and one looked annoyed. Y/N avoided their gaze and sighed at their stares. Tyler made a disapproving sound and shifted his position, hands in his pockets.

"Hurry up," he said, making Y/N look at him. They made eye contact, but he quickly looked away.

"Why don't you be quiet?" Y/N heard Ashlyn's voice, realizing Tyler was talking about Ashlyn, which reassured Y/N.

Once they all gathered, they headed to lunch and ran into Aiden and Ben on the way. When a certain blond made eye contact with Y/N, he felt a sense of unease as he still couldn't understand her earlier anger, as it was something he wasn't used to seeing. However, he decided he would talk to her about it another time. When they found a table and sat down, they noticed Ashlyn's shadow. Everyone gathered around and looked down at the table, seeing that her shadow depicted her hair being cut off, just like in the phantom dimension, even though her hair looked perfectly fine in real time.

"Am I seeing this right?" Tyler asked, looking down at the table with his arms crossed.

"I mean, we're all looking at the same table, so yeah... I believe so. You have eyes, don't you?" Y/N said sarcastically, although it was unintentional.

"Will you stop it?" He said, starting to get irritated by her comment.

"Doing what? I'm just stating facts..." She replied, looking at him from across the table with her arms crossed, but with less tension.

Suddenly, their tension was interrupted by a distraction as Ashlyn held her hair with curiosity and fascination in his eyes. "Woah that's pretty rad-"

"Let go before I break your arm." the redhead warned the blonde boy.

"Ha…another mystery…" Taylor mumbled as she slouched her head against the table. Some of the group members who were standing decided to take a seat.

Logan pondered aloud, "This might have something to do with why injuries from the phantom dimension don't transfer over to our dimension."

Y/N muttered under her breath, "Figured as much." It was pretty clear, considering she had been quietly observing on her own.

Ashlyn, the group leader, looked up at Logan and asked, "Speaking of injuries, how are you holding up?" She seemed concerned about his well-being, as evident from her question.

"Oh, um…" Logan seemed surprised as he looked up and touched his injury. He placed his hand on his waist, saying, "It kinda feels like I have a rash and it's pretty sore. Like I've been doing sit ups or something. But it's nowhere near as painful as last night."

'So it's the same.' Ashlyn thought to herself. She raised her arm and examined it, as if she was reflecting on the injury she had received a few weeks ago from the phantom dimension.

While they were talking, Y/N's gaze had been wandering around in boredom. Not long after, she felt a slight chill on her body. Unsure of where it was coming from, she looked around and saw Ashlyn. Ashlyn's emerald eyes met hers, sparking Y/N's curiosity. It seemed like Ashlyn was lost in thought, but then she shifted her gaze towards Ben and Aiden.

"And what about you guys? What happened?"

"Ah- right. That." Aiden seemed a little nervous as he turned to Ben and asked, "Ya sure you want me to tell em?"

Ben stayed silent for a moment, then took out his phone and started typing. "It's best to have things out in the open if we're going to be a team." The message was delivered in an audio recording, indicating that he wanted to convey emotion in his words.

" 'These types of things'?" Taylor asked, curious about the topic.

"But I'm putting on my earbuds in until Aiden's done." After Ben finished explaining, he took out his earbuds and plugged them into his ears while the group watched in confusion, trying to understand what was going on.

"Ight well, that's that then. Aiden shrugged and told the group, "He is right though, it's probably best to let you guys know before you accidentally set him off or somethin."

"...Set him off?" Ashlyn questioned.

"Yup. But..." Aiden stopped abruptly, his entire demeanor changing in a surprising twist. He then said, "…This conversation doesn't go outside the group." His face turned slightly to the side, with a smile that seemed creepier than anything she had seen before. "Understood?"

Compare from what Y/N has seen, she rather not question this new behavior of his and just obliged with the others, "…Okay."

Tyler was annoyed by the order, "Don't tell me what to-" but before he could finish his sentence, Taylor pinched his arm, causing him to let out a yelp. Irritated, he reluctantly agreed.

"I don't think any of you realized this yet, but Ben has anger issues. Like- extreme Haha. Much more than that half-wit over there." Aiden was clearly aiming the last part directly at Tyler, who was clearly getting annoyed. "And…"

"...The reason also had to do with why he doesn't speak."

"Ben was in sixth grade when the incident happened… Or was it seventh? Anyways-He's always been a big guy for his age, and his size tended to intimidate people. Despite his appearance though, Ben was pretty timid. And more than anything, he loved to singing. It was everything to him."

"However, because his appearance didn't match his personality, he started to get bullied for it. It didn't start out as bullying. The group of idiots offered to 'fix' him. Offering him to join their group and they would teach him how to fight. Once Ben refused though, that's when it started. They started to beat him nearly every day."

"Afterwards the leader, Shane, would ask Ben to join his group, and every time, Ben would tell him no. Then one day, Shane decided to take things to a drastic level."



Sorry y'all!! 😭😭😭

I know I may not always meet deadlines or post as frequently as others, but I promise that every word I write comes straight from my heart. Writing is not just a hobby for me, it's a part of who I am. So thank you for your patience and understanding as I navigate through my own challenges and strive to share my thoughts and stories with you all. Your support means the world to me, and I am truly grateful for each and every one of you who takes the time to read my work. Thank you for being a part of this journey with me. ❤️