See You in The Mirror
Siska
Day One
My first day in a new English class. It wasn't, but I sure missed my old pals from my previous class. We had been partners in crime for such a long time. Too bad I had to transfer. Right now we were waiting for Mr. Sukarna, the teacher, to arrive. I sat in the back row, quiet as a mouse, as befits a new girl in class. I thought I should give my new classmates sometime to get used to my presence before I showed them the reaal me.
Ah, here was Mr. Sukarna. He looked strist, but he seemed friendly and sincere. I felt right at home with him. Maybe I'd show the class my true colors sooner than I thought.
I had finished doing the exercise that we were assigned to do and was staring out the window. It was already dark outside so I ended up staring at my own reflection in the window pane.In the background I could see my classmates bent over their desks, preoccupied with their work. There was Tony, a loner who had a funny way of addressing the teacher. He would raise his hand and call out,"Yo, sir!" Mr. Sukarna didn't seem to mind, though. There was Nina, sitting in the middle row. I want to make friends with her ASAP. In one of the front seats was also a nice looking girl. Wait a minute! She wasn't there a minute ago. I hadn't seenher come in either.I turned around to look straight at her. My heart went cold. There was nobody in that chair! Yet, as I looked again at the window, there she was again, in the very same chair! Good heavens, this class was spooked!
Spooks or ghosts were nothing unusual to me. I had seen them a lot of times. My mother told me I was gifted, because I could see supernatural beings. I couldn't decide whether being able to see ghosts was a gift or a curse because I still got startled out of my wits whenever I saw one of them.
But who was that girl? I stared at her and she stared back at me. She smiled at me and I smiled back at her, in spite of the goose bumps that I could feel all over my body. She rose from her chair and headed for the door. She turned around and motioned for me to come with her. Oh, shoot! I was so scared!
She beckoned again. Oh well, maybe I should see what she wanted and get it over with. Maybe then she'd leave me alone.
I excused myself from class and went out into the corridor. I couldn't see her but I could feel her presence. She was heading for the restroom. I followed. There was nobody in the restroom. I peered into the mirror and there she was, in full color. She moved her mouth as if she speak. I didn't hear a sound but somehow knew what she was saying.
"My name is Ade," she said."I was a student in your class before I died."
"Ade, or whoever you are, you don't belong here anymore," I said."Why don't you go back to the resting place?"
"I was going to do that," she said sadly,"but there are some questions that bugged me before my death and one is still bugging me. I can't rest before I find the answer."
I wanted to ask why, but at that moment someone entered the restroom. I pretended to be cleaning my teeth. Gosh, that was close. She would have thought I was crazy, talking to my own reflection in the mirror. Ade grinned and mouthed "Later."I returned to class.
Day Two
"Yo, sir!" Tony bellowed from the back row.
"Yo, Tony!" Mr. Sukarna answered," Do you have a question?"
"Yes, sir. If a person learns a language by watching TV, is he a visual or auditory learner?"
"Of course he's visual learner, dummy! We watch TV with our eyes, don't we?" That was Nano talking, not the teacher. Mr. Sukarna never called any of us 'dummy'. I really didn't like Nano, so I cut in:" Hey Nano, I didn't know you stuff corks in your ears whe you watch TV!" Everybody laughed, except Nano. He went red as a lobster. Well, he deserved it, don't you think? Mr. Sukarna just smiled and answered Tony's question. After that he gave us a test that I finished in two minutes. Not because I was a smart student, but because I was stuck. I didn't know the answers to some of the problems and my brains refused to budged.
I was sitting at the window next to an empty seat. i checked the window to see if Ade was around. Sure enough, she was right next to me in the empty seat! Seeing her there almost made me jump out of my chair. I wasn't scared, just surprised(Liar!).
"Let me tell you my story," she said. why not? I had about ten minutes to spare so I gave a small nod.
"I was the youngest in the family. My two older brothers were married and lived away from home. Both my parents worked. They were always very busy with their work. Sometimes I wondered if they really cared about me. They wanted me to live with my aunt and uncle in the city for a while so I would be closer to my campus. But that's how I died. The bus that I took crashed on the way to their house. I think I was the only one who died.
Anyway, my first question was, did my parents really care about me? I found out the answer to that when I saw their pain when I died. My dad's hair turned white overnight and my mom became seriously ill.
Now, my second question was, why was I set up in my last written test? You see, somebody wrote a complete answer key on the back of my payment receipt. When the proctor checked my receipt, he immediatelyreported me to the supervisor." Ade's face was grim and bitter."You don't know how I felt. I was an outstanding student; I never cheated on the test , I never had to. When I saw the disappointment on my teacher's face, my throat felt so tight I thought I was going to choke."
"Stop working, class! Your time is up!" Gosh! Mr. Sukarna cut in just as the story was beginning to get interesting. When the bell rang, I hung aroung in the halluntil the bell for the next session rang. Then I headedfor the restroom. There was nobody there. I peered into the mirror."Ade!" I whispered."Hellooo! Ade! Can you hear me?" I whispered louder. A face appeared in the mirror. It was brown and wrinkled, smiling toothlessly at me.
"What's the matter , honey?" she croaked. I managed to swallow a scream.
" Sorry, granny, I'm looking for Ade," I said as calmly as I could.
"Well, here she is," the face said. It disappeared to be replaced by Ade. Phew! How many spirits were roaming this place?
"Don't worry about Mbah Ompong," Ade said,"She's harmless. Now listen, let me finish my story. My parents are okay now, and I'm glad. And as for my second question, I know who did it. But I can't communicate with him because he's not psychic. Only you can help me, Sis. You can be our bridge."
"Just tell me who did it, and what you want me to do," I said."If I could talk to him, I'm sure I can make him tell me..."
"Okay, I'll be your go-between. Tell me what to say to him. And now will you please tell me who he is before I die of curiosity!"
Ade took a deep breath with her spiritual lungs."It was Nano. I know because he borrowed my wallet the day before the test. My receipt was in the wallet."Hah! That double-crossing, stuck-up jerk!
"If you talk to him on my behalf," Ade continued,"I don't think he'd believe I've been talking to you. I'm a ghost, remember? But if you really want to help me, lend me your body for a while and I'll talk to him. Nano knew me well enough to know it's me talking through you."
"Did you say lend my body? Isn't that dangerous? What if I can't return, what's going to happen to me then?"
"Nothing! I'll make sure you come back safe and sound. It will only take a few minutes. Then I'll be able to rest in peace. Please, Siska, you're my only hope." She looked so sad and forlorn; I just didn't have the heart to say no.
"All right. But only for a few minutes. Promise?"
Day Three
We were going to carry out our plan today, after class. I was still feeling a bit uneasy, but still, deep inside, I wanted to know this out-of-body experience was going to be like. There, that's the bell. I hurried towards Nano and walked beside him. He looked at me suspiciously."What's up?" he asked.
"Chill out, Nano. I just want to talk to you. Don't look at me as if I were some kind of monster."
"Sometimes you are like a monster to me."
"Not this time. I want to ask you something." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath."ADE," I said. That was the cue. I could feel myself being pushed out of my body.
"What about Ade?" Nano asked.
"Wasn't she your classmate?" It wasn't me talking anymore. It was Ade talking through my mouth."I heard she died some time ago."
"Yes, it was so sad. We were really close." He seemed quite sincere.
"Yeah, I know how you must have felt. It is painful when you lose a friend."
"Hey, this is weird! You sound like you really care. I thought you didn't like me." Nano was right. This was a surprise!
"It's true. I disliked you at first, but I've seen your good side. maybe we can be friends. Would you like that?"....
ADE
Boy! It's so good to have a body again! I still can't believe it! So lucky to have found this perfect girl: a nice home, nice and caring parents, cool friends, and so trusting. She believed every word I said, even the part about the returning her body! Silly girl! Who wants to be a ghost when you can have all this! I wonder what she is doing right now? Maybe she's playing chess with Mbah Ompong in the restroom. Or maybe she's pummeling me in my face right now, screaming at the top of her lungs. It doesn't matter because I'm not psychic. I can't see her, hearher, or communicate with her in any way. It's just her luck. Maybe someday she'll also meet a psychic and then she can use my technique , my story to get back a body. I don't mind. Who knows. It might even work!...NR