There he stood outside the high school. He had been here for about two months, but still felt a bit nervous; however, given the problems he had, this was but a minor ordeal.
Arwin Greenwood was a boy of average height with golden brown hair and eyes. He didn't consider himself that much of a pretty face, but at least he wasn't ugly, which was good enough for him.
He was a second-year student at Whistleburg High School, one of the most prestigious schools in the country, where only the richest, the talented and the brightest attend. Arwin wouldn't call himself the smartest, but at least his family had enough money to bring him here.
He didn't quite remember the school he attended before this, since his memory had always been a mess; he couldn't remember anything from a year back and beyond, plus he always had a voice in his head that kept haunting him, which was always accompanied by that dreaded chest pain.
But for now, it was a new day and what better way to spend such days than with a friend. As Arwin walked through the hall, he saw a familiar face in the distance.
He saw a tall boy with an athletic build, he had light brown hair and eyes, and a face that Arwin had to admit was far more pleasing to look at than his. He let out a quiet sigh before moving forward to greet the boy.
"Hey, Ambrose, what's up?" Ambrose turned around as a smile quickly appeared on his face the minute he laid eyes on Arwin. He stepped forward and gave a gentle pat to his friend's back before speaking in an excited tone.
"Fine, now that you're here, how about you? How are you feeling?"
Arwin was about to answer the question sent his way when he felt a sharp pain strike his heart and a gentle whisper that used his own voice follow soon after.
'Avoid him at all costs, he's a liar and a cheat, he's just using you for his own gain, don't listen to him'
Arwin winced at the pain, but living with it for as long as he could remember, though that wasn't long, he was more than capable of ignoring its silly antics. He took a deep breath and turned to Ambrose with a wide smile.
"Never been better my entire life, so what are you planning on doing today, place you want to visit after school?".
He strained to maintain his jolly tone, but at least Ambrose didn't notice anything 'It's simply because he doesn't care what you get about this. ' The voice was smooth as a whisper, but the pain it brought upon was almost too much to bear.
Ambrose answered his previously asked question, briefly distracting him from his current painful experience "Hmmm, I think this time we should go to dinner, don't you think, just to have a meal before we head home".
Arwin was thrilled with the idea, but that was not all Ambrose had to say as he gently scratched the back of his head, saying;
"I would also like to invite some friends over just to introduce you to some new people you don't know that many to begin with, so this could be your chance. The only problem is I don't have the cash, unlike you. I had to get into this school using my sports scholarship, so are you willing to help out?".
Arwin hesitated to answer the question as the voice resounded in his head once more, 'This isn't new, he always doesn't have money, can't you see he's using you'. He could take the voice's advice for once, but again, Ambrose was his only friend, so the answer felt obvious.
"Fine by me, just tell them to wait for me after school, and I'll be there besides, it's just some money, what else am I known for?".
Ambrose's smile felt endless at that point as he placed his hand gently on Arwin's shoulder, "Thanks, buddy, I appreciate this".
Arwin felt a soothing joy take him over as he felt the appreciation from his friend, but that was not meant to last long as the voice whispered again, 'huh, you really like disappointment, don't you?'
But as usual, he ignored it. What would a voice in his head that only knew how to cause him pain know about his life? Ambrose was the one guy who ever cared, so this was worth it; he was quite sure of that fact.
The day blew by fast for Arwin, maybe it was the excitement that filled his heart or the thought of meeting someone new that crowded his mind, and even better, he hadn't heard anything from the voice in a while, so to him things were moving quite fine.
The bell finally sounded, and Arwin was at last free to do as he pleased. He moved with steady steps to the meet-up place where he would meet Ambrose and the friends he would invite over.
Their shapes came into view as he moved closer, but then a distant conversation met his ears.
"What an idiot that Arwin is, and he thought you wanted him around, didn't he?" The voice belonged to one of Ambrose's escorts. It was another athlete, like Ambrose, who had orange hair and eyes. He laughed as the state meant left his lips, and with him, the rest laughed as well.
Arwin felt his heart sink as he saw Ambrose laugh along, but did Ambrose really mean it? And as if listening to his thoughts, Ambrose's voice followed.
"No, guys, Arwin isn't an idiot; he is just a gullible fool who just wanted a friend, and I was there to reap the benefits".
Arwin almost found hope at the start of the statement, but lost it soon after he backed away as the group continued to laugh about how much they would get from his wallet this time.
He couldn't describe what he was feeling, whether it was rage, maybe, no, it wasn't then, maybe betrayal, no, it wasn't, but before another thought flew to his mind, the voice spoke first in its usual whispers.
'No, it's disappointment, none of this would have happened if you had just listened to me, but no, you just had to act out on your own, didn't you?'
Arwin didn't have the motivation to think up a retort for the menacing voice this time; instead, he left school and headed home, soon finding himself in front of a mirror.
The mirror was a family antique; it was old but well preserved, and its frame was of a golden lustre, and the frame was clean and without a scratch.
His family treasured this mirror, and he did too. It felt like looking at his reflection through the mirror always relaxed him.
"Am I really that pathetic?" he spoke with a gentle voice as a simple smile twisted his lips, but suddenly the voice answered, "Of course you are".
His eyes widened as he came to realise that the voice had not resounded in his mind but from the mirror itself; his eyes moved to face it, and soon he realised.
His face was full of shock, yet his reflection stayed indifferent. He moved his hand, but the reflection's hand didn't move, prompting him to pull back.
"Who the hell are you? What is going on?" the reflection stayed indifferent for a while before finally speaking in a cold, calm voice.
"If you have to know, you can call me Orez, and I know your pain better than anybody else, how you smile while you are actually in pain, how you hide your uneasiness around others, I know it all".
"What are you talking about?" his lips trembled, and who could blame him? He was literally speaking to his reflection.
The reflection tilted its head, "I'm I that hard to understand, or is it that you doubt my existence? I think I can help convince you of both my words and my existence".
The reflection stretched the outfit's hand to him, passing it through the mirror and presenting it to him. "Take my hand and I'll solve all your problems and make sure you never feel disappointed again".
Arwin looked at the entity's hand carefully. If it told the truth, then could it really help him? His thoughts seemed clouded as he reached out to take the entity's hand, and as soon as his fingers touched the hand, the entity grabbed him and pulled him into the mirror.
Arwin found himself in a strange desert with white sand, the sky was full of dark grey clouds with no sun or moon in sight, and the atmosphere of the place was unusually cold.
"I would like to welcome you to humble prison, the collective conscious" The voice came from behind him, forcing Arwin to turn around and see a complete copy of himself, just because this one had dazzling emerald eyes and was tied down in chains that forced it to its knees.
"So are you Orez?" the entity stared blankly at Arwin with no emotion in its eyes as it soon answered him with a calm, spoken voice.
"Yes, and I would really appreciate it if you freed me from these shackles". Arwin was hesitant to comply as he asked Orez, "Why would they chain you up, and what is this place?".
Orez let out a sigh before answering in a voice that betrayed no emotion, "This is my prison, like I already mentioned and even if I explained to you why I'm here, the most likely outcome would be your own insanity".
Arwin still could not bring himself to trust Orez, and so instead he asked, "What will happen once I free you?"
There was a brief silence from the entity before it finally replied, "I will grant your desire, no one will ever fool you again, and you will never be a disappointment".
Arwin seemed to fall into a trance as soon as he heard those words. He slowly moved to the entity and picked up a stone that he used to shatter the entity's chains, setting the lookalike free.
The force after he broke the chains pushed him back and threw him into the sand, but when he tried to get up, he himself was seized by chains as his eyes quickly moved to the entity that now stood unbound from its shackles.
Arwin called out to Orez, "Hey, what's happening to me?" The entity spared him a glance before speaking in that emotionless tone.
"What does it look like? I'm granting your wish, I'll take over your existence and ensure that I never make the mistakes you did"
Arwin pulled on his chains, but the sand below him slowly gave way, sinking him deep into the sand "Hey, what the hell are you talking about?".
The entity turned to him with emotion still lacking from its eyes.
"You are a worthless piece of trash misusing such fortunate luck that you were blessed with, but I won't misuse my chance, as you and I will live the best life I can as you and just try not to die".
The entity then turned and walked away, leaving Arwin behind, who was slowly engulfed by the sand.