The Exchange Student

Setting:
The grip. My ankle. My body and then the inevitable darkness. Feeling the slimy texture on my ankle, the sharp pricks on my body, I stayed silent, too scared to even make a sound. And then what followed was a pair of eyes I saw, a red pair. They never blinked so I decided to blink, hoping I was just seeing things. Blink, open, blink, open. It was still there. Scrap! A sound echoed as I immediately clutched onto my elbow. Who scraped me? Darkness engulfed me as I felt myself being released into water. I held my breath, for as long as I could. Squinting, I could see the red pair of eyes again. What was happening? Who gripped me? What was the slimy thing? Where was I? What was that red pair of eye? Am I going to die? I felt like dying already. Every part of my body was aching as I let out my breath. My last sight was the bubbles in the water. That was all, and I just wanted to go to heaven right then.

Ling! Widening my eyes, it was darkness. Under my hand was a ringing alarm clock I could feel was vibrating. My whole body ached still and I stretched my leg but realised I was in a box. It smelled musty and I felt suffocated. I felt like I was in hell. So, where was Satan? I thought I would be seeing how he looked like if I were in hell. The only thing I could remember was me drowning and the red pair of eyes and my scraped elbow. Struggling, I kicked the box real hard, I used my arms to hit the box until I saw an opening. It was the early morning. Bewildered, I crawled out of the box, still clutching onto my scraped arm. Realisation hit me----I was in a coffin. I was alive. I was not in heaven or hell. I was not dead. Glancing at my watch, I realised it was a Monday, 7.00 a.m---school. As I dusted off the dust off my clothes, I realised I was in my school uniform! Since when did I wear it? Why was I in a coffin? Fear tied a knot in my stomach, sending a chill running down my back. Shivering, I spotted my school bag under the tree and bolted to a nearby subway to school.

As soon as I reached the school gate, a crowd was making a ‘commotion’ in school. Curiosity overwhelmed me as I strolled towards the crowd. “ Don’t go near her,” one of my classmate warned. But, I took a few more steps closer and saw a girl, tall and way too skinny as if she had anorexia. “ She looks like she has anorexia,” I whispered to my close friend--Ester who was standing right beside me. No sooner had Ester nodded than the new girl instantaneously whipped around and gave a glare at Ester and me. The glare was not just a glare. They were red eyes. Red eyes, legit. Red. Eyes. Blood-shot glares. Goosebumps appeared on my arms. Red eyes. Red eyes! Red eyes? The new girl flicked her red curly shoulder-length hair and stomped her way to the principal’s office.

“ That...that...was...ab...absurd,” I muttered to Ester as we strolled along the lockers, heading for the lecture theatre. We felt a firm grip on our shoulders. We widened our eyes in horror as we shivered again. Trying to take a step forward, we felt the grip pulling us back. That grip was the same feeling on my ankle in my… my nightmare? Summoning our courage, we turned around but no one was in sight.

“ Hurry, let’s go!” I whispered in fear as I pulled Ester along, bolting to the lecture theatre. Most pupils were there. Taking our seats, we prepared our lecture books. We were in the first year of high-school.