"We need to split up, Faith," said a young man in a dull tone, looking at her with no enthusiasm at all.
Mariely was stunned by what he said. "W—Why? I—Is there a problem?" she asked the boy in front of her.
He sighed and looked at her intently. "I'm done playing your game."
"G—Game?" She repeated, shaking her head in disbelief, unable to understand what he was saying.
"I'm done playing with it. You see, it was just a fake relationship; everything we had was a lie," he said flatly.
She was shocked at what she heard; her heart ached from his words. "You've just been toying with me from the very start?" Tears suddenly streamed down her cheeks.
"Yes," he said dryly, showing no emotion. "Do you think I was serious about you? You're just a plain girl to me. I just kept playing along because I was bored," he muttered under his breath.
"By the way, thanks for keeping me entertained. I had fun with our fake relationship. And thanks for giving me your first kiss." He even smirked at her.
"See you around. I hope we meet again, Faith," he said before walking away as if nothing had happened.
She was left alone, confused and devastated, her tears falling uncontrollably. Her chest tightened, unable to accept that the love she had given had only been played with.
"So you were just playing with me, Frank," she sobbed.
Suddenly, Mariely woke up from her dream, gasping for air as if she had just been crying. She felt the wetness on her cheeks from her tears.
I'm crying? she asked herself. She tried to calm her heart that seemed deeply wounded by the dream. As she wiped her tears, she couldn't understand why she was having such a dream.
In her dream, she was a high school student. Frank? She muttered the name. Fear crept into her. The dream felt so real.
"Calm down, Ely, calm down—it was just a dream, just a dream," she told herself.
She took deep breaths, doing it repeatedly to ease the feeling inside her. Eventually, she managed to calm herself.
No, Frank wouldn't do that to me. She shook her head. That would never happen. There was no relationship between me and Frank in high school. She tried to convince herself it was just a bad dream and nothing more.
She lay back down, but she couldn't fall asleep anymore. She started wondering why such dreams kept appearing out of nowhere.
She was left with so many questions in her mind. She sighed; sleep never came back to her, so she stayed awake until morning. The lack of sleep left her dazed and sluggish.
"Stupid dream," she thought bitterly. She walked through the hallway half-asleep, yawning nonstop. She logged in at the biometric scanner and headed straight to the faculty room.
She frowned when she realized she was the first one to arrive. She sat at her desk, her eyelids growing heavier as they began to close.
"Ten minutes, I'll just nap for ten minutes," she said to herself. So she grabbed her pillow and slept at her teacher's table. Luckily, she fell asleep instantly.
***
Veron raised an eyebrow when she found her friend asleep at her desk in the faculty room. She entered quietly to avoid disturbing her.
What did this girl get up to that she's this sleep-deprived? She wondered silently. She sat down at her desk, which was next to Mariely's, and checked her watch.
Well, it's still early; I'll just let her rest. She picked up her phone, scrolled through Facebook, and then checked Messenger. To keep herself from getting bored, she took out her wireless Bluetooth earphone. She only placed one in her ear while she started organizing her messy table.
Then, she heard faint sobbing. She frowned, removed her earphone, and listened carefully to locate where the sound was coming from.
She realized it was coming from Mariely. Her brows furrowed deeper. Gently, she brushed aside her friend's hair and heard soft sobs.
She seemed to be murmuring something. Veron listened carefully to catch her words.
"Frank—I love you so much—don't leave me…" were the words she heard.
What happened? she thought, alarmed by what she was hearing.
"Frank!" Mariely suddenly woke up screaming, startling Veron with her reaction.
Her consciousness hadn't fully returned yet.
"Faith? Are you okay?" she asked, now worried.
Mariely looked around and then saw her.
"V—Veron, y—you're here already," she said, as though she had just come back to herself.
She was startled to see tears falling down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away.
"Faith? What happened?" Veron asked with concern. "You can tell me."
"It was just a dream, Veron," she replied. "Seriously, I'm okay." She forced a smile.
"I know you're not okay. What did that Frank do to you?" Veron asked seriously.
"P—Please calm down. I—It was just a bad dream, Veron. Nothing more." She shook her head.
"Okay then, tell me about the dream. Why were you crying like that?" she pressed.
Mariely sighed.
"I don't know, but in my dream, it was so pathetic. Frank and I had a relationship, and he left me," she explained.
Veron frowned. "Why do you say it was pathetic?" she asked, confused.
"We had t—this relationship, Frank and I, back in high school, but that's not true. I hated him back then. That's impossible." Her friend kept shaking her head.
Veron gulped.
Are her memories starting to return? she wondered. She sighed and tried to stay calm.
"W—What if it really happened?" she asked.
Mariely frowned, then let out a nervous laugh. "No, no, that's impossible. And besides, that's not happening in our relationship now." She smiled.
Veron nodded, keeping herself from saying more. Not now, Veron. You can't tell her yet, she reminded herself.
"Well then, fix yourself up," she said with a smile.
"My crying face is so embarrassing," Mariely muttered.
Veron chuckled and gave her a pat. "Don't worry, I'm the only one who saw it."
Mariely raised an eyebrow at her and grinned. "Good thing it was just you. I looked like a fool." She laughed.
But inside, Veron still felt worried for her.
Faith, she thought, watching her friend's happy face.