Dad closed the book and placed it on the study table beside my bed. He looked at my satisfied face as I closed my eyelids, summoning sleep.
"What the fuck is this?! These cheap magazines are bullshit!"
I opened my eyes and groaned.
"It's a storybook… well, to be precise, more like a documentary book, but still, it's not a magazine."
"Awh man! I was hoping to find some sexy pictures of some ladies in here," he said, flipping through the pages with disdain, then winked at me.
I whacked him in the groin with my pillow.
"You sick pervert!" I yelled.
He fell off his chair and feigned pain. He stood up seconds later and gave me a weird, angry look.
"Watch yourself, young lady."
I rolled my eyes and picked up the book, which had fallen from the table in Dad's dramatic episode, and tucked it under my pillow.
"I'll finish it myself, thank you very much," I said.
"After I put down my booze to read you this? So ungrateful girls are these days."
He got up from the chair dramatically and stormed off. I decided to apologise later when he was sober.
I picked up the book from where I had stashed it and stared at the cover.
"Legends: The Defeat of Jentaro," I read aloud.
I believed the ideology of beasts roaming the earth was kind of whack, but I enjoyed its myths nevertheless. I hoped to question the author, Jack Dream, about it someday.
I placed the book back behind my pillow and picked up my phone. I had to call Sanchi.
The phone rang for about half a minute before I heard a click.
"Sanchi? You there?"
"Amary! Amary! It's here. It's here!" His voice shook over the line.
"You mean the monster?"
"Yes. My parents aren't around, Amary. It's outside my window and it's staring right at me."
"Just lock your doors and go somewhere with no windows," I advised calmly.
"O-okay. Thanks, Amary."
The line went dead.
Poor Sanchi. He'd started losing it weeks ago, and I hoped he wasn't going to do anything stupid. His parents were never home, and he usually came to school looking all rugged.
I remembered the first day I met him vividly.
It was mid-August and I roamed the hallway bored out of my mind, thinking of ways to skip math class. Mr. Anthony was such a dull and boring teacher.
I stopped once I saw him.
He wore a black T-shirt and ripped jeans. He had scruffy black hair and his slightly built body showed through his shirt. But what caught my attention was his black eye and puffed-up cheek.
"You look like the squid my dad cooked up yesterday," I said as I approached him.
He stared at me blankly.
"Who did this to you?"
He blinked at my words.
"It's nothing. I was just trying to cook up something," he said.
I wondered what infinite possibilities of cooking could have made him look this beat up, but I decided not to pry further.
"Want me to accompany you to the nurse?" I asked.
He nodded.
We walked in total silence to the nurse's office.
He opened the door.
"Thanks," he said.
"No problem," I smiled back.
"I'm Sanchi. Sanchi Teru."
"Ochika Amaryllis. Call me Amary."
"Okay."
He entered the office.
I started noticing him more after that first encounter, and damn, was he a sight for sore eyes after he healed up.
Unfortunately, he kept to himself and didn't speak much when I sat with him at lunch. That was until he asked me for my phone number.
I stared at him, dumbfounded, but my heart was racing inside.
I rarely gave my number to boys, but I happily snatched his phone and saved my contact on it. Heck, I even added my home line.
I mean, who doesn't want her number on a hot guy's phone?
That night I learned Sanchi was actually a huge chatterbox.
He barely spoke when we were face to face, but once I answered his call he started throwing words at me through the phone.
"Amaryllis, is that you? How're you doing? You home?"
"Yo bro, chill," I laughed. "I'm doing just fine."
I found out more about Sanchi's life over those calls.
He was a year older than me, and his parents owned a small restaurant downtown that they spent most of their time managing. Apparently, he also had a twin brother who was studying abroad.
I tried to keep him company in the evenings when his parents weren't home.
About a month after we started calling regularly, he told me something strange.
"Amary… every night… some kind of monster watches me through my bedroom window. And I'm starting to feel creeped out."
"Are you sure you're not imagining it?" I laughed.
"Hey, it's real! I heard it tap on my window yesterday."
I sighed.
Great. I finally found a boy I liked and now he was going crazy.
"Want me to come over?" I suggested.
"No! It'll hurt you," he said loudly. "I can't let something bad happen to you, Amary."
I smiled awkwardly, my heart fluttering.
This was my middle-school love story. Just ignore the crazy best friend and his pet monster and—BAM—I could hear the wedding bells already.
First year and second year went by in a blur, and soon we were in our final year.
Sanchi and I had become inseparable. There were even rumors that we were dating, which I didn't really care about.
Sanchi became less shy and started engaging in conversations more. He stopped talking about monsters and even began talking to more people in our classes.
I was thrilled that his social life had started to take flame.
He never forgot about me though, and we continued chatting the nights away.
At some point Dad got curious.
"Who's that boy you've been talking to over the phone every night after dinner?" he asked during one of our dinners.
"Uh…"
"Young lady, you think every night I get drunk and pass out? Believe it or not, sometimes I'm sober after work," he said proudly.
I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah sure. I don't know how you even know it's a guy I've been talking to."
Dad, you sicko. I was positive he'd been listening through my door."
"He's just a friend," I added flatly.
Dad smirked suspiciously.
"I'm going back to my room," I declared and ran upstairs, locking the door behind me.
I fell onto my bed and picked up my storybook.
Just before I opened the first page, there was a knock.
"Sweetie, I'm going out. Text me if you want something for your birthday tomorrow," Dad said through the door.
"Sure!" I shouted.
I heard him go down the stairs.
I had almost forgotten that the next day was August 27th—my birthday.
I sent him a quick message.
More books by Jack Dream.
After thinking for a moment, I added another text.
And no booze for tomorrow :)
I sighed and laid back on my bed.
"I wonder what Sanchi's going to get me… if he remembers this time."
"So his name is Sanchi," a voice said behind my door. "I'm still here, honey."
"Dad!"
I ran to the door with my ultimate weapon—my pillow.
When I opened it, Dad was already running down the stairs sticking his tongue out at me.
"You will pay!" I yelled.
My phone dinged.
A message from Dad.
I'm on it, sweetie.
I shook my head and smiled.
Leave it to Mr. Carter Ochika to ruin the first few moments of anything.
Sanchi still hadn't picked up his phone that night.
I panicked a little and called his home number.
The call connected.
"Hello, Teru residence, Macy speaking."
Macy… wasn't that Sanchi's mom's name?
"Hello, I want to speak with Sanchi please."
"Oh, Sanchi?" There was a pause. "I'm sorry, but he's busy at the moment."
"Oh… okay. I understand. Thank you."
I dropped my phone onto my bed.
I did not understand.
Number one: since when was Sanchi Tenu busy? The dude only studied and watched TV when he wasn't talking to me. His life was sad — I knew it.
And number two: since when was Mrs. Teru home at this hour?
Something fishy was going on.
I decided I'd ask Sanchi about it the next day.