She isn't real?

“Would you like to come?” nobody ever asks jack that question, and jack had too much self-respect to ask if he could come. But he wanted to be there so badly. Everything went great for jack, except for his social life. He spent most of his days alone, longing to someday be part of a friend group. He was distracted and all he wanted at the time was a few friends. One thing he could never work hard for or win in a competition. The one thing that he did not have. The one thing that left him feeling empty inside. Each time he would try he would fail.

You see, Jack was not the Usual Teenage boy you would come across. He might seem as if he was, with the same story of disliking school and just wanting to fit into some friend groups. Be happier with yourself. Jack was unique though; he had some sort of a spark in his head that could not be explained so simply. His presence had energy around it. Almost as if he radiated. You cannot understand what it is, but you can still feel it.

Jack was not the best at interacting in group settings, he had a stutter, his words would be mixed up and people would often mock him for it. But he didn’t realise, he thought they were laughing with him while they were laughing at him. That was something Jack would see often; people were always laughing around him. What he did not realise was that he was taken as a joke. He was being used by everyone around him. For mere entertainment.

He realised what was happening to him, it bothered him but not as much, to him it felt as if he brought joy to people. Not the smartest thought but I guess it was the only positive he could think of for himself. He would have liked it to change but did not know-how. He thought to himself as to what attracted the most people, what did people crowd around. Fights. Just as much the people around him liked to see someone made fun of, they loved to see someone fight, fall, feel pain.

So, he decided he would do just that. He decided to pick fights with everyone he saw. Cut in front of jack in line? He would push you out. Take the last piece of lunch before him? He would grab it out of your hand. He became used to the violence. The conflict. He wanted it to be there more than those that watched. He made it happen for himself, instead of others. The others grew out of it. They began to hate him, find him annoying.

Jack was disappointed by this as at the end of the day he just wanted friends and people around him. In the process of trying to do so, he lost himself. His grades went down, and his school recommended he find education elsewhere due to the social and academic issues in this school. His parents thought it was what was right and took him to a new school. Jack was excited he thought of it as a new start, a way to redeem himself for himself.

He hoped nobody in his new school knew about him or anything of his past. Luckily they didn’t. The people were nice to him, they greeted him welcomed him into the school nicely. A breath of calm relaxation finally went down his spine. He felt secure. Finally, one of his classmates. A girl named Katlin asked, “Would you like to come? I am having a party at my place this Friday.”. Jack’s nostrils cleared, his eyes opened, his hair stood up and slowly he said “sure.”. Inside he could not believe himself, but it was real.

He put on his best clothes. Ones he had never worn before in his life. He got ready for the party better than he had gotten ready for anything in his life. It was his first time, and his excitement was a testament to it. He walked with a stride longer than usual, his voice was higher than usual, his eyes open wider than usual. He turned his phones ringer on. He kept his chin up, he looked everyone around him right in the eyes.

He rang the doorbell. Everyone at the party welcomed him, waved at him, and spoke to him but after a few minutes moved on and he was alone. Just in the corner of the party. Suddenly a girl came around to him. He had not seen her at school before, but how could he not interact with her friendly face. The brown eyes, the dyed red hair, the massive smile. He felt as If he had finally found someone he could connect with. Despite not having heard anything she said.

Her name was Madeleine, she seemed familiar, as if he had met her before but did not know from where. She spoke to him, complimented him, laughed at his jokes. She poured him a soda. She even took him to dance, jack would never dance, but he did with Madelaine. He felt something electric between them. Almost as if she was not even real. As she left she gave Jack her number.

The next day he called that number, it didn’t work, the number never existed. Jack was puzzled. He called Katlin, asking if he could have Madeleine’s number. Katlin said, “Who is Madelaine?” Jack tried explaining to her how she was at her party, the one with red hair. Katlin said again “I don’t know anyone like that, also why were you just sitting in the corner at the party? you didn’t speak to anyone.”

Jack’s heart stopped, was there never a Madeleine? Did he just create her in his head to fill his loneliness at the party? jack ran away from his house that afternoon. Who was Madeleine? She isn’t real? Why did I see her? Questions jack could never find the answer to.