It all started in my room.

I was sitting on my bed, staring at the ceiling and pondering what I'd done that made my life go so wrong. Everything that had happened…

Then he appeared as a knock on my door.

My mom is out cleaning and her shift doesn't end for a few hours, Todd's out with his boyfriend, and Chug doesn't usually visit me...

"Yeah?"

"Hey, Larry."

"Who are you?"

"Sal Fisher. Your mom said I should come say hi."

"Oh, ok, hey. The door's open, come on in."

The door cracked open and he shuffled into the room.

He was short, like… REALLY short. And he wore a weird mask, which was the first thing I noticed, then his blue hair that had been tied up into pigtails.

"Woah, that's a cool mask!"

He stared up at me and I flinched when I met his eye. Singular. Oooh my god, he only has one eye, what if I…?

"It's a prosthetic, Larry."

Yep, I did. Great job, Larry, one second into conversing with the new kid and he already hates me.

"Oh shit, sorry dude."

He tilted his head a bit. Oh boy.

"It's fine, Larry. I'm used to worse. 'Glad you like it."

He has an accent, which is cool. It means he's from some other place. I wonder if it's a different country or something. He's saying my name a lot, maybe he spoke another language. Like British.

...that's not a language.

"So you're moving in, huh? What room are you in?"

"I live in room 402."

Ha, that sure is weird.

"402."

He lefts out a sigh, and stares at me. His eye is blue. Like his hair. That's pretty cool.

"That's what I said, Larry. 402."

I clear my throat and let out a string of quick, awkward laughs.

"Dude, that's hilarious. Because, y'know, there IS no room 402. It's a door. With brick behind it."

He smiles. Uh, I think he smiles. His eye scrunches up so he's either smiling or glaring at me.

"Larry, there is a room 402. I live there, remember?"

"No, there isn't. I know. I live here. I've lived here my entire life."

Oh, he's laughing. This is creepy, he's creepy. I want out, OUT-

"Larry. Larry, you are quite the comedian! But you are not to blame. I do remember humans to be quite forgetful."

Let me leave! There are bugs crawling under my skin and my pupils are darting around the room, looking at everything but the thing in front of me.

His eye pierces my soul, he's, oh, he knows me and everything! He's, he's…

"It's not your fault, Larry. It never is."

Stop, STO-

I wake up, my body lurching forward and I feel wet tears streaking down my face.

I choke back a sob and tilt my head back.

Just a dream… Just a dream.

There are no kids in masks, with blue pigtails, and eyes that see my darkest fears. I am in my room, I am awake. Okay.

Sal Fisher does not exist.