"What you forget might lead you to a truth you can't forget."
— Chapter 2 —
In P.E. class, Mr. Ahmet had randomly picked someone again. That person, as usual, dutifully started leading the warm-up exercises. Then we ran two laps around the school yard. With every step, I could feel my morning coffee sloshing in my stomach. I was out of breath. I was about to say, "My lungs are done, you all keep going," but I gave up as soon as I made eye contact with the gym teacher.
— Alright kids, no free time today. You'll split into two teams and play dodgeball.
According to the hallway gossip, one of the upperclassmen had reported Mr. Ahmet to the principal for always letting us off easy. I guess today's torture session was because of that.
Voices rose from the back:
"What is this, are we kids or what?"
"Man, we were supposed to play soccer, not dodgeball!"
"Shhh, the teacher will hear you."
...
My plan was simple: Get eliminated from the game as soon as possible. Running had already drained me, and I just wanted to rest.
When the game started, teams picked their strongest players as throwers, as usual.
The first ball hit Elif-she was out. The sun was right above us, and I still hadn't recovered from the exhaustion. I could hear some throws and voices of those getting out, but my vision was becoming increasingly blurry. At that moment, I felt a heavy blow to my head and collapsed.
The voices I barely heard started fading.
"What are you doing?! You can't throw at the head!"
"I'm sorry! I didn't do it on purpose!"
"Call the teach–"
.
.
.
When I opened my eyes, I was staring at a completely white ceiling. A half-empty IV was in my arm, and familiar faces surrounded me.
— Ahh, you're awake?
It was Sera. Next to her, Buse was looking at me with worried eyes.
— How are you feeling? Does anything hurt?
I slowly sat up on the bed.
— My head hurts a little, but I'm fine. Thanks.
— Ozan threw that ball like a beast. But don't worry-he got what he deserved.
— What do you mean? Did the teacher punish him or something?
Buse answered:
— No, nothing like that. After taking you to the infirmary, the teacher let us go. The boys started playing football. When the ball went out of the yard, Ozan went to get it.
Then Sera continued:
— Just then, a delivery guy on a motorbike almost ran him over. Ozan freaked out and threw himself to the ground.
I was horrified.
— What?! Is he okay now?
— Well, last we saw, he was yelling "my arm, my arm," but the gym teacher checked and said he was fine.
Just then, a nurse entered, and the room fell silent. She removed the IV from my arm, did the final checks, and told me she had informed the principal that I could go home. Meanwhile, she sent Sera and Buse-who were clearly hanging around to skip class-back to their classroom.
I reached into my bag to check the time, but my phone wasn't there. A mini heart attack. "Damn it! I must've left it at the café this morning."
When I stood up suddenly, I wobbled a bit. My vision darkened for a second, but I pulled myself together and headed out.
All the way, I prayed it hadn't been stolen.
At the café, there was a big man with scruffy facial hair behind the counter. The bags under his eyes looked like leftovers from a night shift. I approached him:
— Hi. I was here this morning, and I think I left my phone. A black Samsung. Have you seen it?
The man looked like he remembered something.
— Oh yeah. One of our morning staff mentioned it.
He opened one of the drawers and handed me the phone.
— Yes, that's it! Thank you so much!
— Excuse me, are you in line?
— Oh, no, please go ahead.
I let the woman with a child behind me take my place and left.
When I got home, it was only 2:55 p.m.
Feeling bored, I decided to hang out on "Happy Faces."
As soon as I opened the app, a notification popped up:
Bip bip.
"You have 1 unread Happy message."
The message came through private chat. The username was unfamiliar...
I quickly swiped across the screen.
Shadow: I'm glad you're okay.