Hana Ikeda

October 18, 2004

Classroom 3-A smelled like cleaning stuff, but mostly old dust. Every day, the hallway felt longer, the lights too bright, and the last chair at the back, even harder and colder. It wasn't just my seat; it felt like I belonged there.

Alone. Away from everyone.

I picked up on that pretty fast.

"Alright, groups," the teacher would say, like it was nothing.

They formed their groups. I stayed where I was. Just empty chairs around me. Like even the room was telling me I didn't belong.

A slow kind of torture.

My aunt, the one who took care of me, kept saying I should make friends. So I tried. I smiled at people. I tried to stand out. But no one ever noticed me.

Was I doing something wrong? Or was there something wrong with me?

"Move. That's my seat, Hana."

I knew that voice. I knew that tone. Mocking. Like it was a joke at my expense. No one ever wanted to sit near me, but somehow, I was always the one in the way

Would it kill them to just leave me alone?

Kill... Why did they kill her?

Their laughter followed me wherever I went, echoing off the walls. The same cruel laughs. The same faces.

I didn't say a word when that person snatched my notebook. Mark. He was taller than everyone. I reached for it, but before I could, someone shoved my shoulder.

"Why don't you just stay home, Hana? You're hopeless. You ruin everything. A total waste of space."

The same words as always. But that day, they felt different.

Was it because of the rain?

It came down even harder., louder than their voices, drowning out everything they did.

Or it could be… I just wasn't afraid anymore.

They had already broken me, little by little.

Drained me of everything I once loved.

Left me empty.

But this emptiness… it made me want to push back. One thought took hold:

I won't take it anymore. No one will ever laugh at me again.

I was at my limit.

They just laughed even more, way louder this time, and shoved me again.

MAKE IT STOP!

MAKE IT STOP!

MAKE IT STOP!

Then, a sharp scream cut through the room. The teacher.

That's when I felt it.

Something wet beneath me. A puddle of water?

My foot slipped.

And then, the world vanished.

I reached out for something, anything. But everything spun too fast.

It was just a joke, right? A stupid prank.

But humans… humans break easily.

My head hit the floor.

Laughter. For a second. Then… silence. Then… screaming.

"Hana…?" Someone called my name. But I couldn't answer.

I was already gone.

Time passed. I don't know how long.

And when I opened my eyes, I was still there… but not really.

The classroom was dark, like no one had stepped inside for years. Outside, it was just fine, people just living their lives.

I could see everything now.

The dark stain where the puddle had been. The chairs, knocked over. The silence.

They closed the room to investigate my death. Locked the door. Stacked the chairs. Got rid of the desks.

Then they just… erased me.

My name from the school lists.

My picture from the yearbooks.

My place in the world.

But they missed one thing.

I was still here.

The last chair in the back row, the one I always sat in, was never touched again.

I was meant to be forgotten, abandoned….

Until now.

When someone finally finds me.

I won't ever let them go.