Comatose

Chapter 1

On an average night at the Ataman residence, Ingrid sat against her and her parent's shabby apartment couch with her best friend Adil, their eyes mainly focused on the tablet screen in front of them. It was long ago that they'd stopped paying attention to it, but since they weren't very tired, it was the only entertaining thing they could do.

Ingrid sighed, stretching her arms out before wrapping her blanket closer over her shoulders. "It's weird how insanely possible it is to be tired but not tired at the same time." She observed, yawning.

"Oddly, I actually get what you mean." Adil added, placing his hands on the knees of his crossed legs. "Do you still want to watch this?" He asked, standing to stretch, yawning like she had earlier.

They had been watching Fruits Basket, some anime that had been recommended to them on some movie site Ingrid had recently discovered, WatchFlix.

"I can honestly say that after two episodes of that show, I absolutely loathe it." Ingrid noted. "And it's hard to get me to admit that I hate something."

"Agreed." Adil replied, nodding as he rubbed his forehead, shifting in his place for comfort.

Closing up the tablet and setting it on the end table next to the couch, she sighed. "It was just… like, too perfect I guess. Only two episodes in and this lead heroine is living in the house with her idol, free of charge, and yet another handsome boy comes along, crashing from the sky to become part of this already twisted love triangle."

"You're very cynical, though. I mean, it is a kid's show."

"But isn't realism something that society should teach the newer generation these days?" Ingrid whined, jumping to a sit on the couch, since the floor was slightly uncomfortable after sitting for so long.

"Companies nowadays are aiming more towards quantity of viewers than quality of content. This show has handsome boys, and a strong yet sweet heroine, caught in a love triangle. Isn't that something that every preteen wants to see? Better yet, experience?" Adil asked.

"I guess so… But whatever." She shrugged, turning off the tablet. She was used to getting into these kinds of debates with Adil, and it was sort of cool to get the different opinion, whether she believed it to be wrong or not.

"You got a text." Adil informed, grabbing Ingrid's phone and handing it to her. "But I suggest you don't answer it." He said. "It's KJ."

Kj was quite a character. Or, lack of one actually, what with his saggy pants and his lame baseball cap and his douchey attitude. Rape jokes don't make you funny. Let alone a good person.

"I'd feel bad not to answer it." It was sort of an odd mix of friends, those three. They had met years before at some reading camp their parent's forced them to go to. "I'll just give him the one word text to let him know that we don't care about him.

Hey, just got some DANK weed earlier and I need some buddies to join in! You guys in? -J

"He wants us to go smoke with him." Ingrid paraphrased in a less lame manner, crossing her legs.

"Um…" Adil shrugged. "I mean, I'm not a big smoker."

"Yeah, last time I tried it, I puked in my mom's traditional African vase." She sighed. "I'll decline the offer.

Y'know, not really feelin' it. Maybe another time. Enjoy your 'dank' weed. -Ingrid

"Oh my god he's such an asshole." Ingrid sighed. "How was he the smartest kid in reading camp?"

"I don't know. I think once you start smoking, you lose all of your brain cells. Remember when he used to be able to read at an eighth grade level while we were all at a sixth grade one?"

"Yeah, sadly I can. and I think that's him again." She said, looking at her phone.

K whatever. Be behind the corner store in an hour if you wanna' come. Peace. -J

"He is probably the most ignorant person ever to live." Adil sighed, standing. "But you know, I'm really feeling a carbonated drink." He said. "Maybe we could stop by and see how he looks sitting alone behind a store at midnight, passing a joint to himself."

"Sure." She replied, standing to grab Adil's keys from him. "When we get back, I really wanna' see what else happens in that show, just to have something else to hate besides KJ."

As Adil snatched the keys, he joined her out the door, slipping on his tennis shoes as he walked.

"Why aren't you wearing shoes?" He asked.

"I am." She retorted. "But they're slippers. I doubt I'll be judged for wearing moccasin slippers in public, Dill." She was used to calling him by his nickname.

"Okie doke." He responded, jumping into his clunker for a car, Letting Ingrid in on the other side after joking around by locking it right before she opened it, repeating the action a few times.

"You suck." She laughed, leaning back her seat.

"I do. Now why aren't you wearing your seatbelt?" Adil asked, clicking his into place.

"It's a five minute drive, and I doubt that I really need to when it's midnight and we're basically on a residential road."

"I watched a lot of driver safety videos that scared me, so excuse me for wanting to be safe." He sighed, laughing as he spent a minute or so trying to turn the key in the ignition, the car finally revving up after a time or two.

As the two set down the hill, they turned a corner that lead them to the corner store, sighing as they saw a small flicker of light coming from behind it. And there was KJ, and his friends too.

"At least he's not alone." Adil remarked, pulling into a parking space, jumping out after shutting down the car, running in and out of the corner store, soda in hand. "I'm surprised this place stays open so late…" He noted to himself, looking at Ingrid.

"Y'know…" She pondered aloud.

"No, Ingrid." He sighed. "We're not smoking with them."

"But, even though we puked afterwards, we still had fun when we were doing it. And what do we have to lose?"

"Our lunch?" He asked disbelievingly. She turned to him, giving him a semi-pout. "Fine." He sighed. "But if I puke, it'll be in your hands. Literally."

"Hey KJ." Ingrid was already on her way to greet them, sitting in the boys' small circle. Adil joined hesitantly.

"I knew you'd come around!" KJ said excitedly, already passing them the joint.

"Yeah…" Adil murmured, taking it. "I didn't."

"Well, that was… Interesting." Adil was walking abck to his car with Ingrid, both stumbling a little bit, surprised at how out of it they were.

"Are you… Are you sure you should be driving?" The two were definitely high. "I mean, what if you puke?"

"I'll be-I'll be fine." He yawned. "Let's just get back, I'm fuckin' tired." He shook his head at an attempt to wake up, but came to no avail.

The drive was slow, but Ingrid noticed something, no matter how tired she was. "I- Which way are you going?"

"Home, right? I think…" He murmured. The white lights were brighter than their eyes had been used to.

"I… I don't think this is the way." By now, they were on the freeway. And they definitely didn't need the freeway to get where they were supposed to go.

And when the bright light flashed in their eyes, blinding them before turning their world dark, the sound of a crash and a rip was heard.

All that was heard after that was an intense ringing sound.

And then the smacking of wood on a harder surface.

"Ataman! Ataman!" Ingrid jumped quickly, getting whiplash from the quick movement.

"Y-Ah, yes, yes. What is it?" Her mouth was dry like she'd just woken up. "Er…" She looked around and saw desks, and kids her age. Lots of foreign kids.

"Ataman, do you think it's beneficial to your learning if you sleep in class?" This strange and yelly woman slammed a paper on her desk. After walking away back to the front of the room, Ingrid looked at the paper. It was a test of some sort.

Fifty seven percent.

Wow, even in dreams I can't get good test scores.

But after realizing how real this all felt, she looked around, and she spotted Adil across the room, sleeping. This wasn't a dream.

"I didn't get much sleep either. That study guide was brutal." She heard next to her, looking over to the student that was talking to her.

"Er, yeah… sure." She nodded.

This definitely wasn't a dream. Her an Adil had suddenly appeared in a uniform Japanese school.

Adil woke himself up with a jolt upward, looking around like she had, and then at his test, before spotting her. He mouthed 'where are we' before looking back to the front, then pointing to the student in front of him.

Was that a mop of orange hair?

Ingrid gasped quietly.

No way…

AN: So, thank you for tuning into the first chapter! This is cowritten by PrismCreator, and me, Chibigurl23! Pris will be writing the next chapter, so stay tuned and expect a wonderful story.

thanks! :)