Chapter Text
1:37 am.
1:37 a.m. flashed on the alarm clock.
Over and over. I pick up my phone for the 80th time.
No notifications.
I decided to check my social apps.
On messages, I pressed Langa's contact. Our last message was two days ago. Well, the last message we both answered was two days ago. He kept texting yesterday, but I didn't answer. I couldn't be bothered to pick it up and read them, so I just laid there.
❄️🛹 "Wanna go to the park?"
❄️🛹 "Reki? Are you awake?"
❄️🛹 "It's 4 in the afternoon"
❄️🛹 "Reki?"
❄️🛹 "I'm going to assume you're taking a nap, so I'll ask again tomorrow."
❄️🛹 "Love you, have a good sleep!"
He's too nice. So, he'll ask again today. If I don't answer again, he'll be at my window or in my room to check on me.
I look up out the window.
That's creepy.
It's a bird just watching me.
Weird.
I look back at my phone.
1 Notification
At 1:37 in the morning? Who's up at this hour?
I look at the notification center and it's a message.
From...my manager?
What the hell is Oka doing up right now. Work is tomorrow.
I open the message, "I'm sick so no work tomorrow"
Geez, sometimes I think he just predicts this stuff.
"Kay, get better soon"
I typed back.
So I'm free tomorrow, great! It's only Friday.
And with that I put my phone down and continue to lay down with my music, wide awake until the sun came out. Which is when I actually fell asleep.
—————————————————
3:58 pm.
*Ding*
*Ding*
*Ding*
*Ringing*
I groan as my eyes fight to stay shut.
Who's calling me at..3:58 p.m. oh.
I picked up, it was Langa.
"Reki!" Langa exclaimed.
"Hey Langa" my voice was that classic 'I just woke up' voice.
"I thought you were dead. Do you want to go to the park with me?" I could tell Langa was smiling.
"not dead yet, and yea! Let's go to the park!" I mumbled the first part.
"What was that?" He dared to question.
"I said y- OW!" I hate that creepy bird.
"What just happened?" Langa was slightly laughing at me.
"A bird just scared me by running into my window. I dropped my phone on my face." I reported.
"Am I on speaker?" He questioned stupidly.
"No, my phone was just way up in the air!" I joked.
"Very funny. I'll see you at 4:30. See you later."
"You too, bye."
4:30, gives me about 32 minutes to get ready. 5-10 minutes just attempting to get out of bed.
I looked out the window, the bird was in the same spot as before, just watching me.
—————————————————
4:28.
I grab my skateboard that go outside. I'm excited to see Langa.
4:32.
That's expected, he's usually a bit late.
4:47.
Did something happen? He's not usually this late. No messages from him either.
5:00.
I go on our messages.
What?
There's no mention on him asking earlier.
I go over to my phone calls.
No recent calls either.
I imagined it all?
My mom and sisters won't be back till 6 on Sunday. That gives me enough time to go to a random place and cry out my problems, the usual. Then again, she couldn't care less where I am. She always says I'll come back when I'm hungry, which is true.
I get on my skateboard and start going anywhere it'll take me. No one's out right now, surprisingly.
I zoned out while skateboarding.
—————————————————
12:08 am.
*smack*
*thump*
That was rude and unnecessary. Who tripped- ...
Okay, I know I zoned out, but what the hell. I'm in the middle of a forest. I would've noticed if I went this way, right?
...
HOLY SHIT- that bird, I swear. Always following and staring.
I guess this is a good place to cry. I needed to anyway.
I won't be found here.
I'm alone.
Tears start to bleed out of my eyes as I put my back against a tree.
I got what I wanted, right?
To not be here anymore.
Tears started rushing now.
Why am I here still?
I shouldn't-
"REKI!! WAKE UP!" Everything is blurry, I was being shook. Why though?
Is any of this real?
"OPEN YOUR EYES REKI!" I know that voice..Langa?
My eyes start opening, everything's all blurry and wet.
"Oh Reki.." A cold hand wipes my face. Am I crying? Yea, I am.
"Langa?" I get pulled into a hug.
"I thought you were dead. You gave me a big scare. You weren't moving, like at all." Langa moved my hair.
"Is this real?" I quietly asked him.
"Huh?" He pulled away from our hug.
"What time and day is it?" I asked him.
"It's Friday at 8:47 p.m. Your sisters and mom are still on that trip." He answered back.
"Oh, why are you here?" I asked again.
"To check on you. You didn't answer my messages." He pointed to my phone on the bedside.
"Oh, sorry." My head went down.
"No problem, I'm just glad you're okay." He hugged me again.
Why is he so worried about me? Did I say something? Did he see anything?
"Langa, are you okay?" Oh wow, that came out of nowhere.
"What?" He looked at me.
"I asked if you were okay." And I just keep going apparently.
"Yea, you just scared me." He smiled, sadly. "Do you want to take a walk?" He asked me.
"Sure." I looked up at him.
"I'll be waiting downstairs, I'm going to cook you an omelette. I doubt you've eaten yet." I heard him walk downstairs.
I looked out my window. No bird was sitting there watching. God, I hate that thing already.
After I was done getting dressed and ready, I stood at my door. Cross my fingers this is real.
I ran downstairs to be greeted by a Canadian who cooks well.
"Here you go!" He pushed a plate that looked like an omelette. I didn't know he could cook this well.
He gave himself an omelette as well.
—————————————————
"Okay, where to?" He held his skateboard.
"You pick." I told him.
"Ok, I will pick. Reki, I want you to pick. Cause I pick that Reki picks." He tried to make sense of the sentence.
"Oh yea? Well I choose that we get ice cream." I answered back in the same tone.
"Well, I like that idea." Langa answers back in the same tone.
"Wonderful. Let's go now before it closes." I said, breaking the tone.
"Which store?" Langa asked.
"The corner store, the only store that doesn't close at 9:00. It's open till 11:00!" I answered him while we were skating down there.
—————————————————
I walk out to meet up with Langa after I order my ice cream too.
I looked at his, it looked waxy.
"What'd you get?" I tilted my head, licking my cone of delicious ice cream.
"This is vanilla with blueberry dip. The outside is kinda like a wax, but edible." Langa read my mind. "And you?"
"I got a twist with rainbow sprinkles."
—————————————————
We're now sitting on top of the ramp, watching the sunrise.
It's so pretty.
Then, out of no where, Langa asks, "Are you busy tomorrow?"
"Don't think so."
"Would you like to go on a picnic with me and my mom?"
"Sure, just text me the time!" I'm honestly extremely happy for the first time in a hot minute.
Langa gave me one of his 'the best in the world' smiles.
Langa pulled out his phone.
"My mom texted me and I gotta get back, go get some rest, okay?"
"Okay!" I smiled at him.
—————————————————
8:00 am.
❄️🛹 "It's going to be at 1"
❄️🛹 "I'm not sure if my mom
is going to be bring other
people, so be prepared."
❤️🩹🛹 "Thanks, I'll be there!
Tho I can't cook for the life
of me so I could bring a
recipe if something
needs to be offered."
❄️🛹 "You don't need to
bring anything! The
adults will cover it all."
❤️🩹🛹 "Okay! See you later!"
❄️🛹 "Later!"
That gives me like 4 hours to sleep, so I'll try to.
—————————————————
My eyes shoot open. I'm drenched in sweat. I'm laying in my room..but I fell asleep on the couch?
I look around and get a sight of a terrible thing. The damn bird is staring at me again. Honestly, I'm over this bird just being there.
I grab my phone, 12:08 am. Friday? Wasn't it Saturday when I fell asleep?
What's going on..?
I get out of my bed and look around my room, it's an absolute mess. There's a note on my desk and the my room is locked.
I start to dig through my stuff. There's a lot of things that I hid away from myself or at a spot where I need a taller person to get it. Why's it all the way down here?
I gravitate towards my razor blade. I only looked at it. It looked freshly used, but I didn't use it. No blood on me.
I kept looking around. My medicine was gone from my desk, the medicine that helps me sleep at night. That's a bit weird, it's always there.
I turned to my window. The bird was still there, not moving. It looks dead or something.
I walk up to the bird.
"Hello?" I bent down to see the bird at the same level from my window.
It didn't move.
I knocked on the glass.
Still no movement.
What's wrong with this bird?
I felt a vibration, like my phone. Is that an alarm from my phone?
The world started going blurry again, and black dots appeared until my vision was completely black.
My eyes opened again, this time I was on the couch. I slowly sat up, blinked a couple times, and grabbed my phone.
12:01 p.m. Saturday.
Uh..yea okay. Langa's picnic is happening at one, so... yea.
—————————————————
I grabbed my skateboard and sat down outside my house.
12:40
❤️🩹🛹: "Where is it gonna be at?"
❄️🛹: "It's gonna be at a park, we'll pick you up. Just a warning tho, some of my relatives here aren't that fond of skateboarders. Don't be alarmed if they give you dirty looks"
❤️🩹🛹: "No problem, I get those all the time. I'll be waiting"
—————————————————
12:58.
He's still not here, but his mom is cooking something so it'll take a bit, I think.
1:05.
Okay, it's happening again. Just like before, in that dream thing.
1:15.
What the hell is happening. Everything fell apart in the last 10 minutes. My skateboard broke in half, a bee stung me and I almost passed out, my phone is at 20%, and my headphones died. I'm so stressed out right now.
1:17.
I have no idea what to do right now! I'm so fidgety, anxious, and just overall in a panic-ish state.
1:20.
I wasn't thinking. I just wasn't thinking. It's all my fault! I fucking relapsed. I moved a chair to grab it! It's under my bed now. I feel better about the stress but worse about my self esteem.
1:21.
My phone is now at 47%, which is good. I put some ice on that bee sting and it's all better now. I grabbed another pair of headphones that are at 64%. And I grabbed the other board from my room. So once again, I freaked out over nothing. Everything is fixed except..that.
1:24.
Langa still isn't- oh never mind. He's pulling in right now.
"Hey Reki! Sorry we're so late, someone didn't set the timer correctly on the oven and we almost overcooked it." Langa yelled from the backseat seat as I put my skateboard in the trunk.
"All good!" I yelled back, pulling my sleeve over my bandaids before shutting the trunk.
I jumped in the back of the car, with Langa.
"Hi, sweetie! Glad you could join us." Nanako, Langa's mom, smiled.
—————————————————
1:45 pm.
When we got there, I carried the food that Langa and Nanako cooked to the table.
I was almost going to walk back over to them but there were a lot of people talking to them. Langa looks so confused, it's funny.
Someone dropped something, so I looked over. Then I turn my head back and Langa is jogging towards me.
"Reki! There's a lot of people here." He leans his whole body weight on me. I pat him on his head, which is slightly on my shoulder.
"It's your family, I think." I reply in comfort.
"You think?" He looked up.
"Well yea, are they not?" I look around at the people.
"Yea, you're right. But I don't know these people." Langa stood up now.
"You know your mother, that's a place to start." I shrug.
"Good idea. Let's go." He grabbed hand and basically drag me over to his mother.
"What do you mean 'let's'? It's your family, I truly don't know these people."
"You know me and my mom." He answers back.
"Wow so original." I smile.
"Ah, this is my son Langa! And this is Reki!" Nanako pointed out both of us to someone.
"And both are your sons?" The lady asked while staring at me.
"Nope, only Langa's my son." Nanako smiled at me.
The lady's glare did not move. "Why is he here then? If not family?" She asked.
Oh geez. Would hate to be me right now. I can't even speak up for myself.
"Because he's my..best friend and I want him to be here with me." Langa spoke up.
Thank you Langa.
The lady hummed and then left.
I let out the breath I've been holding while Langa chuckled at me.
"I thought I was going to be killed in the first conversation that we weren't even apart of."
That sentence got Langa and Nanako laughing.
—————————————————
1:52 pm.
A couple minutes later Nanako is having a conversation with an older man while me and Langa stand behind her.
They were having a conversation about cooking and he said something so out of pocket.
"So where's your husband?"
This question surprised all three of us when it was asked. I watched Langa's reaction go from happy to surprised to sad in a matter of seconds. I looked over at Nanako, she also looked sad.
"Oh sorry, I didn't realize it was a fragile topic." The man apologized.
"It's okay, my husband passed away a bit ago." Nanako answered while hugging Langa.
"Is that your son?" The man tried to shift the conversation to a different topic.
"Oh, yes! This is Langa and his best friend, Reki!" She smiled sweetly.
Then Langa elbowed me on my bandages. Which hurt a bit but the hit was strangely right on the market.
I kicked him back, lightly.
"How sweet! How old are they?" This man is so nice.
"I'm 17 and Reki's 16." Langa smiled.
"Same grade?"
"Yup!"
"Aw, young love." The man joked and left.
My face instantly light up red.
Langa had a slight blush on his face and his mom was laughing at us.
—————————————————
2:20 pm.
After everyone ate, Langa and I were just standing around and talking. A kid around our age came up to us. He looked high.
"Wanna come smoke with me?" He asked.
So he is high.
"No." Langa took my hand and walked over to the playground.
Uh, okay.
"Want to see who can hang upside the longest?" Langa blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. "Without passing out!"
"Sure." I shrugged and got ready on the monkey bars.
"Ready?"
"Ready!"
We both let go and hung upside with Nanako on the bench, watching us just in case.
"Your headband fell off." Langa pointed down.
"Oh no, my washable headband in the dirt!" I put on a shocked face.
"I was just pointing it out!" Langa crossed his arms.
"It's been two minutes now." Nanako called over to us.
What if I just let go? Would it hurt? Just to slip and fall? It's not a long drop so I should be- SHIT
"Reki? You good?" I was laying with my head under Langa's and on my back.
"Possibly, yea." I blinked to stop myself from being dizzy.
"You okay?" Nanako called over to me.
"He said yea." Langa called back for me.
When my eyes focused again, Langa was next to me and staring at something. I glance over to what he's looking at. My sleeve was showing my (awesome) bandage skills.
I bounce up, showing him I'm okay.
"Looks like you won?" I smile.
"Yea, I did. And um, can we talk later?" He looks worried. Shit.
"Sure." I turned around to see a bird fly by.
"Did you see the bird?" I look at him, I need to know if this is real.
"Yea, it looked like a raven." He was also looking at the bird.
It was now a couple feet away from me.
"No, that's a crow." I whisper.
I start to walk up to it, it didn't move, only watched. I bent down to it. "What do you want from me? To see me suffer?" I whispered.
"Reki, we should talk now." Langa spoke up. I look back at him and then again at the bird.
"Okay." I didn't move away from the bird.
"Why are you always here?" I mumble to it.
"Reki, it's almost time." Langa sounds off, so I looked back.
He's standing very close to right behind me.
"What are you talking about? Almost time for what?" I'm very confused.
"It's Friday. 12:08 in the morning." Langa repeated it twice.
"Ok. What about it?" What in the hell.
—————————————————
2:24 pm.
My eyes start to open.
"Reki! Mom, he's awake!" Langa screamed over me.
"Langa? What happened?" Was none of that real, again?
"You fell of the monkey bars head first and went out like a light. You were out for about..3-5 minutes." He answered my questions all in one go.
I start to sit up to see everything.
Once my eyes adjusted, I started searching for the crow. What's going on on Friday at 12:08 a.m.?
"How are you feeling?" Langa brought me back to reality.
"Um..decent. Do you see a crow anywhere?" I looked more.
"Uh, no crows here." Langa shrugged.
I have roughly 6-7 days until Friday.
"Why don't we go back to the picnic?" Nanako gestured to the gathering of people.
"Come on," Langa took my hand and walked over there.
—————————————————
2:27 pm.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Langa was still worried, for no reason. It was just a fall.
"I'm sure." I smiled at him.
"Okay..." He didn't seem convinced.
A couple minutes later, Joe texted the chat.
(Joe) 🦍🛹: "Lunch at my restaurant tomorrow? 10 am?"
(Reki) ❤️🩹🛹: "I'm in"
(Langa) ❄️🛹: "Me too"
(Miya) 🐈⬛🛹: "Free food is always a yes"
(Cherry) 🌸🛹: "Same for me"
(Shadow) 🎆🛹: "Yes"
—————————————————
2:38 pm.
"Thank you for inviting me and driving me!" I smiled at them.
"Anytime sweetie!" Nanako smiled back.
"See you tomorrow! Text me and be safe!" Langa smiled.
I waved to them as they left.