Morning came the same way it always did.
I went to school like usual, talking with Kana in the back seat while my private driver kept his eyes on the road.
The city passed by the window in familiar colors, familiar routes, familiar silence.
Everything felt normal, almost too normal, like the world was insisting nothing had changed.
At school, I talked with my classmates like usual.
I laughed when I was supposed to.
I answered when my name was called.
I even talked with Narina like usual.
And yet… something was off.
Even though Narina was right there, even though we were best friends, she felt far away today.
Her replies were short.
Her eyes drifted elsewhere.
She smiled, but it didn’t quite reach me.
I told myself I was imagining things.
Today was the first day of the school festival, after all.
Our class was hosting a haunted house.
The classroom had been transformed completely black sheets over the windows, fake cracks along the walls, dim red lights pulsing like a heartbeat.
The idea had come from me during the class vote, but the terrifying concept itself belonged to Narina.
She had planned everything with care, down to the smallest detail.
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I should have been excited.
Sometimes, as we prepared, I caught myself glancing toward Narina.
She was standing close to Rickely, talking more openly than she had with anyone else today.
They laughed.
Instead of jealousy, what I felt was relief.
At least she wasn’t closed off to everyone.
Still, ever since the Exvertia process ended, Narina had been different.
Like she was standing on the other side of a thin, invisible wall.
I wanted to ask her about it, but I didn’t.
We had promised each other.
A pinky promise didn’t need words.
To help promote the haunted house, I walked around the school with Songwill, our class president, handing out flyers.
She moved with confidence, shouting announcements without hesitation, directing people with sharp gestures and loud laughs.
Songwill was a tomboy, through and through and in my eyes, a true leader.
“Don’t look so stiff, Ria,” she said, nudging me with her elbow. “Smile. You’re scaring people before they even enter.”
“I am smiling.”
“That’s not convincing.”
We finished distributing the flyers faster than I expected.
When we returned to the classroom, it was temporarily closed for a short break.
The lights were off, the door shut, and the hallway quieter than before.
Later, when we came back again, the others were already there, including Rickely.
Songwill clapped her hands together.
“Alright,” she said. “Who hasn’t tried the haunted house yet?”
Before I could step back, hands pointed toward me.
“Ria too.”
“You should go in.”
“With Narina.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but the pressure came fast and loud.
“It’s fine,” someone said, turning to Narina. “Ria will protect you.”
“Yeah,” another added. “She’s an Exvertia like us now. And she’s your best friend.”
“She’ll keep you safe.”
I froze.
Exvertia.
That word again.
After being pushed forward one too many times, I gave up.
I nodded quietly.
Narina looked at me, her expression unreadable, then gave a small nod in return.
So, we went in.
The door closed behind us.
Darkness swallowed the classroom, broken only by flickering lights and the sound of slow, artificial breathing from hidden speakers.
Shadows moved where they shouldn’t.
The air felt colder than it had outside.
As we walked deeper inside the haunted house, we had built ourselves, my thoughts wouldn’t stay quiet.
They said I had changed... was different.
They said I was an Exvertia now.
But as my heart raced—
not from fear, but from uncertainty I couldn’t feel it.
I didn’t feel brighter nor feel changed.
I felt the same before I become Evertia.
And as a fake scream echoed through the dark, one question refused to leave my mind—
If I really had become an Exvertia…
Why did I still feel like I was standing on the wrong side of the door?
