Chapter 1

I am Milo, a normal high schooler who's currently in his first year. I am not handsome, not popular, not even smart, I'm just an ordinary me. But I have a little secret, I can disappear.

Ever since I was 5 years old, I could disappear whenever I covered my face with my hands. I found out about it when we were playing hide and seek, like any little kid, I would stand and just cover my face. But whenever I did so, my parents couldn't find me for a very long time until I finally uncovered my face. I thought that they were just joking with me because I was just a kid. But whenever they found me, concern and worry were written all over their faces. As if I disappeared.

One time I got so annoyed by them always playing around and never finding me, that I didn't want to play anymore. Unaware of the power I hold.

Today is my first day of high school, my Mom is cooking breakfast downstairs, calling for me as she continues to make some toast. "MILO!! COME DOWN!! YOU'RE GONNA BE LATE FOR SCHOOL!!" She yelled, unaware of my presence.

I've been downstairs since the beginning, covering my face with my hands as I sat on the dining table, watching my Mom cook as I peek in between my fingers.

"oh that troublesome kid" she grumbled in annoyance, making me chuckle as she called for me again.

My powers are so useful, sometimes. For example today, by disappearing I could avoid doing chores while we wait for Dad to come for breakfast. It's very useful, and because of this, I could learn lots of secrets that my parents wouldn't tell me. Like my birthday gift this year, or where are we going for vacation? But as I matured and realized my responsibilities, I stopped doing so and helped my Mom instead. But sometimes my naughty attitude finds its way back to me, just like today.

After a few minutes, I decided to reveal myself. Uncovering my face and appear at the dining table, surprising my Mom who turns around to see me already there.

"Oh! Milo! Don't surprise me like that! It's as if you just appeared out of nowhere!" She huffed, holding her left chest with her right hand as if she just had a heart attack.

"You're the one who's always so careless of your surroundings, honey. Just like usual" my Dad said as he stepped into the dining room, before kissing Mom on the forehead, I rolled my eyes, cringing at the cliche gesture.

Ever since I was 5, my parents assumed every weird thing that happened in this house was just them being careless, like me disappearing now and then. I never told them I could disappear.

"Now let's have breakfast, both of you are gonna be late," my Mom said, flustered from the kiss that Dad gave her as she made us sit on our chairs before serving our breakfast. Breakfast time is always fun, its the only time where Dad explains the drama that's happening in his office which is sometimes very interesting.

"Yesterday, the boss put me in charge of the upcoming project, it's a chance for me to be promoted and get a bonus!" Dad said excitedly. The news about Dad's chance to be promoted becomes today's "hot topic". As usual, Dad went on a whole rant about his job. Dad loves his job so much, unlike most grown-ups who go to work upset, Dad goes to work happy, which is funny.

"What are you planning for high school, dear? Any specific goals?" My mom then asked. Now the subject switches to me. "I don't have anything yet, Mom" I simply answer as I take a sip of the juice Mom made for me, finishing my meal.

"It's fine, no need to rush" she answered, Mom had always respected my decisions and supported them, I love Mom. "Oh! Look at the time, both of you need to get ready if you don't want to be late" she quickly said as she cleaned up the table. Dad went to their room to grab his coat, suitcase, and tie, while I went upstairs to my room to grab my bag. Mom cleans up the table and places the dirty dishes in the sink, she's going to wash them later.

Dad comes back before me with his suitcase in his hand, his coat over his shoulder, and his tie tied in a messy knot around his neck.

"Oh, where is that boy? His father is all ready and he hasn't even gone downstairs yet." Mom huffed as she fixed her husband's tie.

"He'll be here soon, darling," Dad said as he kissed her on her cheek. Mom just blushes at the gesture before kissing her husband on the cheek as well.

"I'm here!" I said as I uncovered my face and appeared on the last few steps of the stairs. My Mom was startled by my sudden appearance, and I just chuckled. As a matter of fact, I've been there the whole time, just a few minutes after Dad's appearance, covering my face as I went downstairs, disappearing entirely as I watched the lovey-dovey scene that happened in front of me through the gap of my fingers.

"You're so careless, honey. You didn't even notice that Milo was already there" Dad teased my Mom.

"Oh c'mon, you didn't notice him too, did you?" I hear her huff, annoyed at my Dad's teasing. As I said, everything weird and unusual in this house is just them being careless. They never thought that I could disappear, and it's not even a metaphor.

I said goodbye to my mom before hopping into the passenger seat of the car, the one that was next to the steering wheel, before Dad started the car and left the front yard of our house. We leave the house quite early to avoid the early morning rush hour. As we left the neighborhood the sun was just rising at the foot of the sky, indicating the start of the day. Today's morning was a peaceful one, sometimes I saw a few cars passing by ours, driving toward their own destination. Dad blasted out some 90s metal rock music on the speakers of the car as we drove, filling in the empty silence between us. I love my dad, but without Mom, it's just hard to find any topics to talk about.

Sometimes, I ask about the music that's playing on the speakers of the car, making Dad give a whole explanation about the song, starting from what band sang it, when it was released, and what made it popular before going on and on about it until it changes to the next song. I paid attention to everything he said, listening intently as he talked about what he liked. He also took the chance to give me some "life-changing lectures" which I definitely listened to.

But the fun car ride soon ended as we arrived at my high school. I was already rethinking it last night and managed to convince myself that High school won't be that bad, it's just another level of education I need to go through. But knowing that I am here now, kind of scares me.

"You nervous, kid?" My Dad asks, seeing me who's hesitating. "I'll tell you something, kid. High school might look scary at first, but once you get a hang of it, it's not as scary as you thought it may be. You'll meet new friends there! Plenty of them! The key is just. Be. Nice" My dad said, trying to convince me.

I chuckled and nodded, he's just trying to be a nice dad, I understand, "thanks, dad" I said with a smile before stepping out of the car to start my year as a high schooler.

***

I ventured through the halls, looking at every sign at the doors, searching for my class. I've asked the administration and they gave me the key to my locker and the name of my class, my class is on the second floor and thankfully it didn't take me that long to find it, at least not as long as when I try to find my locker.

As I opened the door to the class I found myself in a room filled with tables and chairs, lined up to three lanes with each lane being paired up with another table. In front of me, is the teacher's table with a huge whiteboard and projector on the wall behind it. At this moment, I was just getting more nervous, I took a deep breath and tried to convince myself everything was going to be alright as I searched for a place to sit. There are already some students sitting in their assigned chair, chatting and trying to get to know their chairmate. I found my seat, I could tell it was mine from my name written on a piece of paper that was plastered onto the table.

I saw that my chairmate was already there in the chair beside mine, doom-scrolling on his phone. He looks very intimidating with his cold green eyes, he had a fluffy blonde hair and freckles around his face. He's wearing a nice brown sweater with a pair of sand-colored baggy pants and a pair of sneakers.

"H-Hello," I greeted him, trying to look confident which failed miserably. I thought he would coldly shrug me off and continue to doom-scroll on his phone, but instead, his eyes lit up as he ask cheerfully "Are you my chairmate?" He asks and I just nod, I didn't think he'd be this nice, maybe the term "don't judge the book by its cover" is true after all. "c'mon! Sit down!" He says as I sit down beside him.

"My name's Evan. Nice meeting you, Milo!" Evan said cheerfully, he's like a golden retriever.

"Nice to meet you too, Evan" I answered with a smile, this is not as bad as I thought.

We talked and shared many things, trying to get to know each other a lot better. It's nice talking to Evan he's cheerful and is not exactly scary, he's actually very nice.

"I've made a few other new friends, but you're the one I liked the most so far. I'm pretty sure we could be best friends" Evan said cheerfully and I just answered with a smile, having a best friend doesn't sound so bad.

As I continue to chat with Evan, more people start to enter the class. Time passed as more students arrived, and soon, class started, my first class on my first day of high school. But as every chair is filled, a pair of chairs at the back is empty, which is weird.

"Those chairs were supposed to be empty," Evan said in a whisper, he must've seen the confusion written on my face.

"Empty?" I ask in confusion, why would it be empty?

"Well, at least one of them is supposed to be empty. Our class is a person-short" he explains, "but there's supposed to be another student in the other chair, they're probably late" he added.

"How did you know about this?" I ask as I raise an eyebrow.

"I heard the teachers mention it as I passed the teacher's office." He answered it as he chuckled innocently.

"That's called eavesdropping, Evan" I sigh.

"But it's useful! Well, sometimes" he answered again. I can't judge him though, I also like to eavesdrop on my parent's conversations while I cover my face with my hands to disappear.

"But being late on the first day of school? What kind of level of laziness is this?" I huffed. That's the most irresponsible thing I've heard.

"Maybe they're sick-" as Evan was about to comment on it. The door to the class was slammed open, it was a girl. She's short, with dark brown messy hair whose length is so short that it barely reaches her shoulder, her eye color is colored black, like obsidian. She's a strange one, I thought girls were very tidy, they cared so much about their appearance and tried to look pretty. I even met some who wore makeup to school despite the rules saying "no makeup allowed". But this one is strange, her clothes are just casual chocolate-colored baggy pants, an oversized green shirt that doesn't shape her body, and a pair of white Converse. Sure, seems like she's wearing a tinted lip balm, but else than that, she's not wearing any makeup, no fake lashes, no plastic, no blush, or sparkly eyeshadow.

"S-sorry, I'm late," she apologized as she scratched the back of her head that's not itchy.

"Because this is your first day, I'll forgive you. But next time, you're not escaping the hook so easily" the teacher sighs, and the girl just nods before going to her seat at the back of the class.

The class then went on normally, everyone was paying attention else than the messy girl who came late. She's already late to class and now she's not even paying attention to the teacher?! I have no time to think about it. I need to pay attention to the class. But still, she's such a weirdo.

Time passes by and after a very torturing time in Math, the bell rings, indicating it's recess time. I sighed in relief as I closed my Math textbook.

"Hey, want to go to the cafeteria? Math makes me hungry" Evan offered after tapping my shoulder to get my attention.

"Sure, I'm also dying of hunger" I answered with a chuckle as we both stepped out of the classroom and made our way to the cafeteria.

The cafeteria is so noisy and is filled with many students, they're all chuckling and joking with each other, chatting and enjoying the peace. We bought ourselves some lunch and were very lucky to find ourselves an empty table. As I sat down in front of Evan and opened the package of my sandwich, Evan suddenly pointed out that weird girl in our class before, asking about my opinion of her.

"She's weird, that's for sure. And very messy" I answered as I took a bite of my sandwich, "who is she anyway?" I ask.

"You think I'll know that?" Evan huffed as he took a sip of the orange juice box that he just bought from the vending machine.

"Well, do you?" I ask.

"you're right, I do" he answered with a chuckle as he looked at me with a mischievous look on his face.

"Of course, you do" I sighed and took another bite of my sandwich as I listened to his explanation.

"Her name is Taegan, normally called Tae. We went to the same middle school but I only know her by name, I've never really talked to her in person." Evan starts to explain, "She's such a troublemaker, she always comes late, barely pays attention to class, and always sleeps during class. One time, she even almost got expelled, after getting a warning, she stopped getting herself into trouble but it only lasted for a month. She's not scared of anyone, not the teachers, or the seniors, causing her to always get herself into fights." He added, pausing to drink his orange juice again. "But there was a rumor that says she's a genius. She joined an international college-level physics olympiad when she was in grade 8th but for some reason, she got disqualified, the government needed to beg the admins of the olympiad to not disqualify her because she was the smartest of the team that represents our country. No one knows what happened after that, we were just informed that the team won two gold medals and there is no more information other than that" Evan explained.

"Oh c'mon, Evan. That's just a rumor" I huffed, I'm not here to listen to some random rumor about a girl.

"Hey, that could be true. But if you just look closely, don't you think she's cute?" Evan suddenly asked in a whisper.

"HER?! CUTE?!" I raise an eyebrow, that messy girl who's rumored to have the ability to beat up a grown man is CUTE?!

"C'mon, just look closely. If only she took care of her hair and tried to dress up once, don't you think she'll look like one of those K-pop idols and actors?" Evan asked, nudging my shoulder.

"What? You have some kind of secret crush on her?" I ask as I raise my eyebrow in suspicion.

"Of course not, why would I fall for her? But like, 'what if', you know?" Evan answered before throwing his empty juice box into the trashcan nearby.

"No, not at all. And I don't think she'll even put that much effort into her appearance if she barely gives any effort to come to school on time" I scoffed. That girl? A genius? No way, those are just some rumors from this dumbass. I'm not believing any of it, well, it's just rumors.

***

"I'm home," I yelled as I stepped into the house, my first day of high school didn't turn out as I thought it would. I've made myself a friend and managed to pay attention to everything the teacher explained It's fun.

"Oh, is that you, dear?" I could hear my mother ask from the kitchen. "Go and clean yourself up, then we'll eat dinner together. You must've been very hungry after such a long day at school" she said from the kitchen.

I didn't protest or give any comment and just went upstairs to my room. It's such a nice day at school, I think I'll start to get used to it. I thought so, unaware that soon, my life was going to change to turn upside down in just a few days.

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Word count: 2991