Arlo was walking to school, feeling alone this time since Evelyn left for the military yesterday. Arlo’s eyes widened; his eyes almost bulged out of his head as he saw Zero talking to the hottest girl in the school casually like he was ordering fast food.

  He ran up to Zero to talk to him but also as an excuse to talk to his crush, Scarlett De Vespera. “Zero, no way. You actually made it.” He cleared his throat, trying to sound nonchant in front of Scarlett. “I mean, yeah, I knew that.”

  Scarlett giggled. “Hi. I’m Scarlet De Vespera. Nice to meet you.” She extended her hand for a handshake.

  “H—Hi. I’m Arlo… Arlo DuPonts. Nice to m—meet you. Did I mention my name was Arlo DuPonts?” Scarlett giggled again as Arlo awkwardly shook her hand. “Yes, I think you did.”

  Zero suddenly spoke up. “Uh, not to ruin a moment or anything. But where the hell is cssroom 103B?”

  Scarlett suddenly jumps from being startled. “Oh right—” She smiles, almost embarrassed, slightly sticking her tongue out. “It should be down the B-wing corridor, to your left, and the third css you see down the hall.”

  Zero curtly. “K. Thanks. Bye.” He turned around for a second, he grabbed her hand. “Use this wisely…” Zero said before leaving the scene, too casually. Scarlett looked in her palm and saw a penny, she ughed softly to herself at the absurdly but almost charming nature of that boy. Almost. Arlo was visibly gring at Zero’s retreating form.Scarlett turned to Arlo. “So, what is your magic? I haven’t unlocked my magic yet. I’m curious to learn about all sorts of magic, I want to become the most intelligent grand mage in the world!”

  Arlo was startled from his gre as he rubbed the back of his head. “Oh, I haven’t unlocked my magic yet either…” He ughed nervously, hoping Scarlett wouldn’t think less of him because of his ck of magic.

  Her eyes lit up. “Oh, I see, we’re the same then. I wonder what type of magic we will develop, I hope it will be something meaningful.”

  Arlo was blushing, enthralled by her cute mannerisms of speech and not realizing what she was saying. “Yeahhhh… I totally agree…”

  Scarlett, not realizing his drooling adoration, checked the time. Realizing she had to cut this interaction short, she looked up at him. “Well, I have to get going to the Magic Library. I’ll get going now. Bye-bye.” She waved him off before heading toward the library. As she walked, she remembered how Zero was interesting to her, even though she’d never seen him before. Arlo on the other hand… she could learn to get used to him.Once Scarlett reached the library. She was about to grab a book about the core understanding of magic. But she was distracted by another book; for some reason, this one had an ominous aura to it. But before she grabbed that book to check it out, the first book she was checking fell out of the shelf. She picked it up, but something was different. “What happened to the title…? Why is this book an empty shell of what it used to be?”

  This was bizarre. She put the book back on the shelf. She didn’t want to be held responsible for whatever happened to that book. Her eyes fell upon the ominous book in front of her again. She reached her hand out to touch it. The moment her hand made contact with that book… her brain was ambushed with too much information… Her head promptly exploded, brain matter scattered across the table sporadically charging with electricity, her eyes hanging out of what used to be her head, barely holding on by the nerves. Her tongue hung because of her ck of jaw. Her uniform was covered in blood and brain matter, but how was she still conscious? How was she still conscious? How was she still conscious?How was she—Slowly, Scarlett’s head started healing, her brain matter and blood crawling back up her neck as if they were alive, no time was rewinding, but also moving forward. Her brain activity was completely supercharged to accommodate her newly awakened magic. Before she knew it, she was already as good as new.

  But something was different now…

  “What’s this?” Scarlett was looking at the fourth wall, confused by this new pne of existence.

  She was looking up at Enkay, the author of this book. “Who the hell is that guy…? Why is he just staring at me while typing?” She mumbled to herself. S

  he closed her eyes and then saw the image of a book called ‘Who Are You?’ It was the same ominous book from earlier. Now, she concentrated a bit harder and opened the page. She read through the first two chapters. It was like an autobiography of the people she met earlier. But then she got to chapter three… Panic set in as she realized it was retelling the same events until now.

  She read about herself while reading the book. ‘She read about herself reading the book.’ She saw the words forming, letting by letter. ‘She saw the words forming, letting by letter.'

  She flipped through a couple of pages ahead, only to find herself in empty whiteness, like she was in some sort of void. She looked behind her as the letters were catching up to her. She started running to not get crushed by the words; she was afraid, but before she could be struck, she deactivated her power and tried to grapple with the situation. She sat on the ground of the library, cradling herself with her arms wrapped around her knees. She saw the man typing still from the fourth wall. She saw that he took a moment to pause his typing every few seconds, changing the browser to look up to ask his friends to read his writing to see what they thought of it. She saw the text on his screen, and it was exactly what was written in the book that she imagined in her head.

  She tried to call out to him. “Hey… can you see me? Why are you staring at me…? What are you writing…?” No wait. He was the one writing her life. She saw his eyes narrow at her questions as if he scrutinized them for a bit, but he ignored them. What the fuck? She saw him reacting, but he ignored her. Was this some sort of game to him? She got what she wanted, she was by default the most intelligent now. She should be happy, grateful even—“SHUT UP. SHUT UP! SHUT UP!! SHUT THE HELL UP!!!” Scarlett interjected.

  "Stop… Stop talking for me. Yes, I wanted knowledge, but not this way. It hurts even to think. This is not the knowledge I wanted. There’s a limit… and you crossed that boundary…” Scarlett was tearing up; she recognized the man in front of the fourth wall, but then she saw the other people... they weren’t writing… no, they weren’t… They were reading her misery. “DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW FUCKING PAINFUL THAT WAS?! AND YOU’RE TELLING ME IT WAS JUST AN ENTERTAINMENT FOR YOU ALL? THAT MY LIFE IS WORTH LESS THAN YOURS BECAUSE I DON’T ‘EXIST?!’”

  Scarlett wiped her tears away. She began to ponder the implications of her existence, how she was just a circus animal for entertainment. It fueled her resentment… “I’ll show you… I’ll show you all what I think of your shitty little game.” Scarlett went back to pick up the core understanding of magic, book— Scarlett went back to pick up the core understanding of magic, book— Scarlett went back to pick up the core understanding of magic, book— Scarlett went back to pick up the core understanding of magic, book— No, she did not. In fact, Scarlett fled the scene. I walked home to what I used to call my home, I couldn’t help but feel how two-dimensional it was. I went past my parents, I couldn’t even recognize their faces anymore. It was scary; their expressions were synthetic, and it was uncanny. They don’t even know what they’re feeling, yet they’re feeling it.

  She- No. I went up to what I used to call my bedroom and beelined to my bed.

  I read through the metadata of the ‘Who Are You?’ So Evelyn went through something simir, huh? Gd to know I’m not the only one. It says here I was supposed to fall in love with Arlo… that typical protagonist shit where the female lead falls hopelessly in love with the male lead.

  Fuck that.

  No, fuck all of that.

  I detest the sheep, the hidden information about his future power in Enkay’s miscelneous notes… yet he’s still a sheep to the narrative, just like everyone else.

  But this Zero guy, I can’t access his miscelneous data. Even with the power to defy Enkay… I’m still bound to the story… This is not like Evelyn if I let her copy my ability. I can technically make genuine connections to her too…

  I find myself curious about Zero. What makes Zero so different? He is still bound to the narrative. I don’t get it, it’s almost like he’s free… There are no strings, he’s borderline meta…

  Wait…

  that means I can build a true, genuine connection with this anomaly. I don’t understand you… Zero, but… but you are my soce in this mess.

  Just wait for me. I’ll make you mine. Wait for me… I’ll love you until this book ends, and you’ll learn to love me too. We'll be together until the end of the narrative do us part.

  Oh, who the fuck am I kidding? I know I’m just doing this out of a coping mechanism, I just want something real. If Zero can be my real one, I’ll be damned before I let someone else take away my anchor. And I’ll do anything to show him that he needs me.