by Aaron Zeta

It was Tuesday, early in the morning. I was stationed in my classroom, going through my notes on today’s topic. It has been a struggle to find lessons that hold these students' attention. As much as I strongly disliked it, I might settle with just showing them a short documentary on Mesopotamia.

Suddenly Alberto Blueberry ran into the room. While he was not the most emotive student, currently he was in a state of disarray. He started slamming his hands on my desk and screaming.

“There’s a girl in the boys’ bathroom! I really need to go but she won’t leave!”

I was trying my best to piece together what series of events would lead to such a scenario. Part of me was tempted to tell Blueberry to just go into a stall and lock the door. However, I remember during my youth, my classmates used to torment me in the restroom and locks did very little to stop it. There might be a possibility she might be teasing the other boys in there.

“There is a gender-neutral restroom in the nurse’s if you do not feel comfortable being in there right now.” I suggested reasonably.

“I would use that toilet, unfortunately, Toto is having diarrhea. He’s been in there for like 20 minutes. Zap even called his mom, it’s that bad. I heard he accidentally drank milk with lactose in it.”

Poor Toto Bronzo, he always appears quite sickly due to his many allergies. I had heard he was severely bullied at his last school. One incident involved peanut butter being shoved in his face. I feel deeply for him, the bullying of my youth was so bad that I dropped out and spent the next few years being homeschooled.

However, I think it is best to not pester Bronzo in his current state. Even though I was a bit hesitant, I believe it was best to just deal with this issue myself.

I followed Blueberry to the restroom yet when we arrived, he refused to even take a step inside. Somehow the girl’s pure presence was enough for him to avoid the place altogether. Sometimes I feel tempted to lecture the students on gender and why these things should not matter but unfortunately this is neither the time nor place.

Standing in the middle of the empty boys’ room was Tamara Simms of all people. She is always so energized and approaches every moment with a smile. However, at this moment, she was acting quite unusual. She was staring off into space like she was mentally somewhere else. I have seen her do this before. Her file mentioned that she somehow and unfortunately opened her third-eye. She will blank out from time to time when she activates it. I do not fully grasp what one sees when they do this but I have heard it is a window into an almost parallel realm. Though, prolonged usage could damage one’s mental health.

“Simms, is something the matter?” I inquired. My statement seemed to break her attention, she turned to me with a smile.

“Hello, Zetty.” 

“Simms, are you aware that you are in the boys’ restroom?”

She glanced over to the urinals along the wall. “Oh my gosh, I am! So this is what it looks like.” She giggled.

“Is there a reason why you are in here and not the girls’ restroom?”

“You are totally not going to believe this but I saw HIM run in here.” She reached out and pointed at an empty corner of the room. “Like, what‘s his deal?”

I was a bit confused but played along, “Who?”

She lowered her voice to a whisper, “Triangle Face.”

“Triangle Face?”

“He has triangles on his face.” She pointed at both her cheeks, her forehead, and her chin. “He’s invisible but I can see him.”

A chill ran up my spine. Was her eye giving her a window into a parallel realm of Immortals? That triangular face pattern is quite similar to Immortals with plant-magic and fire-magic. Maybe in his attempt to wander the mortal world unseen, he did not account for psychics. I have heard psychics can see into one’s soul. Our school’s principal, Roy Burnetto, uses his powers to help identify people. However, his usage is more of a visual aid for his limited vision. I sometimes wonder what they truly see. Can they see nervous systems? Chromosomes? Dysphoria?

“I think you should let him be.” I told her, concerned about the motivations of this unknown being.

“You're just gonna leave an invisible man in here?! He might be a peeping tom!”

She has a point, an unseen being hanging out in the boys’ room is quite unsettling and creepy. It does make sense to remove him immediately. 

“<Immortal, we do not wish you any harm.>” I spoke in Faya. “<We wish only for our privacy in this laboratory.>”

Simms' eyes widened, “What did you say?” She glanced over at the corner. “He’s moving!” She pointed at the invisible figure as he moved past us and towards the door. Simms followed soon after. I felt like my actions to remove Simms was quite successful. I ended up following soon after her.

There was a huddle of boys standing around the door outside, muttering among each other about the whole restroom situation. When they saw Simms exit, they broke out in a loud cheer. Without much hesitation, several of them raced into the restroom. However, it seemed as though Simms did not notice any of them. She instead continued walking down the hall after the invisible force. I followed but a few steps behind, curious of where the spirit would lead her.

She continued along until she came upon a set of double doors. These doors were always kept locked. They led to the back of the school which was unneeded due to our small student enrollment. However, she did not even notice the doors and walked straight into them. She ended up smacking her head, which jolted her out of her trance. The bump did not faze her much. Instead, she was desperate to pry the doors open.

“Are you hurt?” I asked concerned.

She ignored the question, “Why won’t these open?”

“It is locked.”

“Then unlock it!”

“I do not have the power to do that. I think it is best if you leave Triangle Face alone and return to class.”

She looked confused, then pulled a smartphone out of her pocket. “Oh my god! I’m late for class!” She ran past me and down the hall.

At that moment alone in the empty corner of the hall, I pondered to myself. I am unsure how to feel about an invisible entity lurking in the school. Has it always roamed these hallways? Has it always been observing us? Even in perceived isolation, one might be observed by this unseen force. Is he the only one, could there be more? Is there any way to truly escape their watchful eyes?

“<Hello?>” I stuttered. I do not know what in me compelled me to ask. Maybe I hoped he would remove his invisible cloak and explain himself. However, after standing awkwardly in the empty hallway for a while, it was clear to see that he did not want to respond. Part of me wondered if that was for the best.

***

At the end of the day, I filled out an incident report for Simms. I could have just submitted it to Rasa but I thought it would be best to discuss it with Roy directly.

He was in his office, sitting at his computer, typing with an adaptive braille keyboard at quite a rigorous speed. Sometimes I wanted to quietly observe him, but I also understood that gawking at his process of adapting to his disability was rude. Though I may not have been able to even approach him unnoticed, because the moment I stepped into his office, he stopped typing.

“Hello Zeta, what can I do for you?” He said with a smile, his fangs pointing out a bit.

“There was an incident in the boys’ restroom. Tamara Simms claims she saw an invisible man with triangles on his face and decided to follow him in there.”

“Holy moly, did she see Lord Green?” He said enthusiastically. I was a bit confused by such a cheery response. Him identifying the figure as Lord Green was also a bit jarring. Green is an ancient Tree-Immortal, not someone I would expect to just hang around a middle school.

“You were already aware of him?” I inquired.

“Yeah, I see him from time to time.” Roy tapped his forehead, “I don’t know what his deal is, to be honest. He sometimes likes to hang out in my office and usually sits over there.” Roy pointed towards a corner of his office which housed an antique stool.

“You just let him?”

“Listen, I don’t mess with Immortals. I’m just going to let him do his thing. He will leave when he wants to leave. I’m just happy he’s not trying to cause chaos or anything.”

He is right, us mortals have no power to command ancient Immortals. It is best to be thankful they are not aggressive or wrathful.

I left Roy’s office and entered the empty hallway. I thought at that moment I sensed something. I have heard of common folk who built up psychic powers. Could it be possible that I have some of these abilities hidden away? Though it might be possible I am just overthinking.

Maybe the anxiety of the invisible presence was messing with my sanity.