DEAR DIARY

The city is dark. Damien and Anakin are roaming around the streets. Anakin is having the time of his life, but Damien? Bro is traumatized. This mf Anakin entered his room at 1 AM, woke him up, apologized for a mistake he did years ago, got his ass beaten, somehow convinced him to come outside!

Damien speaks. "Do we have a goal, or are we going to roam the city like this?"

Anakin clearly doesn't care about the goal; he just wants to spend time with Damien.

"Well, I don't have a goal, but we could find one."

Damien furrows his brows. "And how do you plan to do that?"

Anakin thinks for a second. "Maybe, steal our exam papers and burn them?"

Poor Damien is traumatized again. Is this bastard serious? "Are you fucking serious?"

"100%," Anakin replies instantly.

"I hate you."

"That's not a no."

Damien rolls his eyes.

30 minutes later

Damien and Anakin are being chased by the guards.

"I fucking hate you, Anakin!"

Anakin? Bro's crazy. He looks like he's having the time of his life, grinning like a maniac. His eyes are wild, his breath erratic, but his energy? Off the charts.

"You are enjoying this, aren't you?" Damien can't help but ask while dodging a trash can in his path.

Both of them are still running.

"Yes, so are you," Anakin grins again.

"NO!"

"YES!"

"NO!"

The guards close in, their footsteps pounding against the pavement. One of them shouts into his radio. "They're heading toward the south exit! Block them off!"

Anakin doesn't slow down. Instead, he does something utterly stupid—he grabs a loose trash bin and hurls it behind them. The bin crashes against the ground, sending garbage flying. One of the guards trips over it and faceplants into the pavement.

"Oh my god, you psycho!" Damien yells, but even he can't stop the laughter bubbling up. The adrenaline is taking over.

"Correction: genius," Anakin says, making a sharp left into a narrow alleyway.

The problem? The alley is blocked at the end.

Damien turns back. "We're trapped, you dumbass!"

Anakin doesn't even hesitate. "Have some faith!"

He spots a rusted metal fire escape ladder. Without thinking, he jumps, grabs the bottom rung, and hoists himself up. The metal creaks under his weight, but he scrambles higher, climbing onto the fire escape landing like some wannabe action hero.

"Move, dumbass!" Anakin yells down at Damien.

Damien groans. "I swear to god, if I die because of you—"

"Move your ass first, threaten me later."

Damien sighs, jumps, and barely catches the ladder. He dangles for a second, his arms burning. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you," he chants as he climbs up after Anakin.

Just as the guards rush into the alley, the two of them pull themselves onto the rooftop. The guards are left looking up, breathless and pissed off.

"WE KNOW YOUR FACES!" one of them yells.

Anakin salutes. "Good! Remember them well"

Damien slaps him on the back of the head. "Shut the fuck up, you idiot."

They take off across the rooftop, jumping to the next building and landing with a thud. Damien barely sticks the landing and nearly faceplants.

They find another fire escape and slide down to the streets, finally stopping in another alleyway, far away from their pursuers. Damien can barely stand, clutching his stomach, panting heavily.

Anakin? Still grinning.

That crazy bastard.

Damien speaks while panting. "Something tells me you have another crazy thing planned."

Anakin turns to him. "Oh, you read me so well."

A pause.

"Let's go," Anakin grabs Damien.

Damien groans. "This night is going to kill me."

8:00 AM

Anakin is back in his room. He just woke up. How much did he sleep? Not even three hours. Who would sleep when they are dying in a day? Sleeping is a waste of time. It's useless. But what can he do? He was tired. Tired of everything. He had gone through a lot these past two days.

He gets up, gets dressed, and is ready to begin his final day on planet Earth. He opens his phone and notices a lot of missed calls from his mom. He doesn't care. He absolutely doesn't.

His gaze lands on the sheets—the pack of sheets that Lillian gave him. What were they? He picks them up, sits on his bed, and unwraps them. As he unfolds the papers, realization strikes. They are diary pages. Eva's diary pages. The girl who rejected him. The girl who humiliated him.

"What?"

Why would Lillian give him these? Isn't this a violation of privacy? His mind races. Should he read them? Did Eva write about him? If she did, what did she say? What did these pages contain that made Lillian hand them over? His mind spirals. Morality fights against curiosity, but in the end, curiosity wins. His fingers grip the first page. He takes a deep breath and begins to read.

Dear Diary,

I did something terrible today. I rejected the guy who confessed to me. The guy I wanted. I should be happy because it's for my own good. I don't need him. I don't want him in my life. But then, why does it feel so horrible? I want to die. I feel like shit. I hate myself for not choosing him. I keep telling myself it was the right thing to do, but the way he looked at me… It hurt more than I thought it would.

Anakin runs a hand through his hair. What the absolute fuck?

He flips to the next page.

Dear Diary,

I saw him today. He was laughing with his friend, Melisa. He looked so beautiful. Not handsome—beautiful. The way he threw his head back when he laughed, the way his eyes lit up. It made my chest ache.

I hate her.

I know it's wrong, but I do. I hate her because she gets to be close to him. Because he looks at her the way I wanted him to look at me. Because she exists in his world while I am the one who pushed myself out of it.

Anakin exhales slowly. His fingers tighten around the pages. He turns to the next one.

Dear Diary,

He talked to me today. It was so casual, so simple. But my heart was racing. He looked flustered. Maybe he likes me. Maybe? Dreaming is free, right? If I could live in my dreams, The world where he's mine. The world where I don't have to keep pretending I don't care.

His breath hitches. His mind is racing. He was flustered? She noticed? He forces himself to move to the next page.

Dear Diary,

I heard he broke up with her. My dormmate. My friend.

I shouldn't feel like this. I shouldn't feel happy. But I do. I fucking do.

I don't deserve him. I don't deserve happiness. But for a split second, when I heard the news, I felt hope. And that's even worse. Because hope is a cruel thing. It makes you believe in things that will never happen.

His chest tightens. He flips to the next one.

Dear Diary,

He started dating her. My dormmate. 

I hate this life.

Fuck him and her. Just why? Why does it hurt so much? Why do I keep doing this to myself? Why can't I stop thinking about him?

I told myself I didn't need him. I told myself I didn't want him. But my body betrays me. My heart betrays me. Every time I see him with her, I want to scream. I want to disappear. I want to shake him and ask him, 'Why her? Why not me?'

I will never tell him. Never.

Anakin's hands are shaking. His mind is blank. His pulse is pounding. Why? Why did she reject him if she felt like this? Why did she push him away only to suffer like this? What the fuck was wrong with her?

She was careful—very careful. She never once mentioned his name.

But he knows. He knows.

A bitter laugh escapes his lips. He rubs a hand over his face. This changes everything. No, it doesn't. He's still dying tomorrow. But today?

Since he's dying tomorrow, he might as well find out what the fuck is wrong with Eva today.