"Can you just wait a sec, Darwin?"

"Huh?" His head whips back to look at me, "Where are you going?"

"Bathroom," I say. A little too quickly.

He narrows his eyes. Does he suspect anything? He smiles. Nope, no suspicions. "If you want, I can go with you," He says.

Sure, Darwin's a nice guy and all, but right now I don't want him seeing-or hearing-me hurl my breakfast down the toilet. It'd be a pretty horrific sight.

"Umm..." I think for an excuse. None I can think of right now. "Not right now..."

He frowns, "Okay then," and shrugs. Shrugs. Shrugs are good. Shrugs mean he doesn't suspect anything. He turns around and continues to walk towards Miss Simian's classroom.

I wait 'till he's at least a mile away. Then I finally lean against the lockers. I wince, this headache is killing me. Plus, for some reason, every little thing is ticking me off. The way everyone else can walk so casually while I'm barely staying alive. Or awake. It really angers me for some reason.

I stumble to the bathroom. I wash my face in front of the sink. Then I stare at my reflection. Ugh. I hate the way my fur gets all messy when it's wet. See, I'm usually a happy kid, not a grumpy on. I study the bags under my eyes. I look-and feel-so tired. I look sick. Sick as in ill, not cool. It makes me mad because I hate it.

"Don't talk," a voice says. I flinch. Is someone watching me?

I crouch down and check under the stalls. No one. I study the ceiling. No vents open. No vents at all, actually. Huh, weird. I'm alone.

"Who's there?" I ask.

"Don't talk or I'll make you go past your limit"

My limit?

"Yes," The voice says, "Remember the time at the mall when your mom went past hers? Or is your memory just plain crap?"

Yeah, I do, but that was my mom, not me. "But-" I start.

"I know," Can this thing read my mind? "That wasn't her first time though, but it's about time you went over yours"

What do you-

"Mom equals blue cat, Gumball equals blue cat, Mom is angry, therefore Gumball is angry"

Makes sense, I guess. "Prove it!" I shout. I'm tired of this-this-this disembodied voice reading and invading my thoughts. And telling me what to do.

"I said don't talk"

Prove it.

Suddenly my head bursts open with pain. Anger is the only thing I feel. I see red, my ears might as well be bleeding. I stand up and look myself straight in the eyes. My reflection stares back at me. My eyes are the same blood-orange shade Mom's were when she went past her limit, back at the mall.

I emit a small growl.

My vision starts to darken as I go on all fours. I don't have any control.

Stop it, I plead, Stop it, stop it, please! he lets me go, I collapse.

"Don't talk," The voice orders.

Ok, One small groan for me, on giant exhaust for my whole being, I can't anyways, I might as well not do it.

"Good"


I walk into Miss Simian's class. I'm also the last one to do so. The second my full body is inside, the bell rings.

"I guess no detention for you today, Watterson," She says. I hold my laughter, looking at her forehead, which looks like the top of Mount Everest. So instead of making some remark, like I usually do, I just walk over to my desk. Silently. Don't talk, the voice repeats in my head.

Great, Now I'm hallucinating.

She explains stuff about climate change and whatnot. Anyways, I don't listen.

I stare. I stare at a black shapeless blob thing next to Miss Simian. She calls my name but I continue staring at the blob thing. There's something about it that gives me the creeps. I shiver when I try to look it in the eyes. I can't, it's just too-I dunno. Tobias, from behind me, stabs me with a pencil and whispers, "Dude, what are you staring at?" Darwin gives me nervous glances and whispers to me to snap me out of it once in a while. Kids stare at me worringly and whisper, Miss Simian tries to get my attention, but I can't stop staring at the blob. It scares me. It scares me because I can't look away. The blob terrifies me, but I can't look at anything else but it. "Watterson, do I have to repeat myself?" Miss Simian demands. I can't look at her face, but I know she wasn't asking, she was demanding an answer from me. A straightforward answer out of me. I don't think she'll be getting one of those if I do manage to say anything.

Her voice is terrifyingly close, "WATTERSON WHAT ARE YOU STARING AT?"

I break from my trance and shrink back as I see she towers over me. Man, she's angry. A small whimper manages to escape from me. I look back at the blob.

It's not there anymore.

Miss Simian grabs my head and turns it towards her. "LOOK ME IN THE EYE WHEN I TALK TO YOU, WATTERSON!"

I nod.

"What are you staring at?"

The others begin to whisper. Still, I say nothing.

"Watterson, do you want to go to the principal's office?"

I quickly shake my head no.

No way I'm going to the principal's office. No way I'm ending first period like that. No doubt about that.

"Then answer my question"

I gulp. I look at the other kids pleadingly, for them to help me out here. Gumball, Penny mouths to me across the room, You're shaking. I think that's what she said?

I'm shaking? Oh shoot-

I open my mouth. Then I close it, quickly remembering the voice hallucination thing that spoke to me in the bathroom. Miss Simian's getting REALLY mad.

I point to where the blob thing was.

Everyone in the room whips their head to look at where I'm pointing. "There's nothing there," Someone mutters. I look at where my finger's pointing. The blob thing's back.

I pant and hyperventilate and wheeze and whimper with each breath I take, it's entirely clear I see something no one else is seeing.