Chim stood staring at the engraving on the statue labelled "Richard Crowtny". Had whoever carved the statue misspelled the last name? Chim was pretty certain that there was a missing 'e, after 'n' and before 'y'. She shook her head. There was no way someone could make such a grand spelling mistake.

Chim wondered if she had been misspelling the name of her hometown her entire life.

"Nazo!" Chim heard a familiar voice yell.

She turned her head quickly. There it was, that name again. In the distance, Nicole was approaching her with a look of astonishment on her face.

"When did you get your hair done?" Nicole asked, motioning to Chim's long braids. "I saw you just a few hours ago, and you definitely did not have braids in."

"What did you call me?" Chim asked, completely ignoring Nicole's previous question, which had barely registered in her head, "what was that name you just called me?"

"Um... Nazo?" Nicole replied, still admiring Chim's hair.

"And why did you call me that? How did you even know about that name?" Chim shoved Nicole's hand that had reached up to touch her hair away, causing her best friend to stare at her in utter confusion.

"You mean why did I call you by your name?" Nicole asked incredulously.

Chim blinked at her in bewilderment. That was most definitely not her name, and she wondered how Nicole learned the history behind it.

Chim thought of how her father had told her he had struggled in naming her, he didn't know which of his sisters, Nazo or Chim, he wanted to name her after and had ended up placing ripped up sheets filled with both names in a bag and taking a random draw. The name 'Chim' had come up.

"Are you playing a prank on me?" Chim asked, narrowing her eyes, "also, why didn't you and Adya show up at the cafeteria earlier on? You know we always have lunch together on Thursdays."

"First, we have lunch together on Mondays not Thursdays, secondly... why do you want to have lunch with Adya?" Nicole stared at her friend, wondering why she was acting so weird suddenly.

"Why wouldn't I want to have lunch with Adya? She's our friend too." Chim replied defensively.

Nicole eyed her. "I mean, I've never even spoken to her outside of our Design class, but I didn't know the two of you were so close."

By now, Chim had noted that everybody seemed to be losing their marbles. Either that, or she was the one losing her marbles. Chim knew she was pretty sleep deprived, but surely not to that extent.

"Nazo!" a voice suddenly yelled out. Once again, Chim turned around and saw a tall, lean boy waving at her.

She instantly recognized him. He was pretty well known around school to be a stoner. He hung out with the likes of Max. Chim narrowed her eyes at him as he drew closer before turning her attention back to Nicole.

"How many people did you tell about that name? I think it's pretty weird that everybody wants to refer to me as that all of a sudden," Chim said as she thought back to the boy in the Cafeteria.

She was irritated at Nicole for spreading the name around the school, but bewildered, as she still had no idea how Nicole had learnt of the name.

"You're being really weird today, Nazo. Are you okay?" Nicole asked, a look of concern was spread across her face.

Chim glared at her friend in reply. She just couldn't understand why she insisted on calling her by that name.

"Um, okay..." Nicole said, noticing the expression on her friend's face, "your boyfriend is approaching. Hopefully, he'll cheer you up from whatever it is you've decided to take out on me."

Chim was still glued to the word 'boyfriend'.

Nicole walked away looking rather nonplussed and Chim turned, coming face to face with the boy that had yelled out to her just a few seconds ago.

"Hey." Chim said before he could even open his mouth, "Jared, right?"

She noticed he had cut his usual curly hair short and was dressed as if he was on his way to attend a business meeting.

Jared laughed in reply, "do you always pretend to not know your boyfriend's name?"

Chim looked at him in confusion. Who and what was this so-called boyfriend that he and Nicole kept referencing?

Chim wondered why Nicole would even think she had a boyfriend. Nicole, of all people, knew perfectly well that Chim was gay. All they had talked about out for the past couple of weeks was Chim coming out to her parents.

"Umm..." Chim said in reply as she looked at the boy in front of her.

She wondered why he was even talking to her. They had never even spoken before now.

"Your braids are beautiful." Jared said, "the color really suits you babe."

Chim did a double-take, wondering if she had misheard him. Did he just refer to her as babe?

Jared remained oblivious to the mental struggle that was going on in Chim's mind as he bent down and pressed his lips against hers. For a few seconds, Chim stood frozen in shock. She just couldn't process what was happening fast enough. Her fight or flight suddenly kicked in and she pulled away sharply, bringing up her left hand and backhanding Jared sharply across the face.

"Are you completely out of your fucking mind!" Chim yelled, looking at him in disgust.

Some bystanders walked past, scoffing and giggling amongst themselves. A couple of images were snapped and one or two people completely stopped in their tracks and recorded the event before them.

Jared stood silently in shock, his eyes bulging as he grabbed the side of his face that was now turning a deep red color.

Chim couldn't believe what had just occurred. This practical stranger had the guts to kiss her in broad daylight, in front of all these people. She stood there in shock, wondering where exactly it was that men got the audacity to do the things that they did.

"Stay the fuck away from me." Chim said angrily as she walked away from him.

"Nazo, I-" Jared began, but Chim had turned around quickly, eyes flaring as she glared at him.

Immense anger was seeping through her. "Do not fucking call me that!"

Chim turned back around and walked away rapidly from where Jared stood. Students parted a way for her as she stomped off angrily.

Chim kept walking, not looking behind her. She couldn't believe the day she had just had. By the time she had walked out of the college campus, Chim felt a little calmer. She didn't have any other classes for the rest of the day, and she was thankful for that. She was exhausted- both mentally and physically, she just needed to be back at home, away from all the craziness that seemed to be going round.

Chim took her time basking in the sunlight as she thought about the day she had just experienced. It seemed like some big prank was being played on her. Whatever it was, Chim did not find it funny. She was going to have a talk with Nicole later on. There was absolutely nothing about this situation that was slightly amusing.

About twenty minutes later, Chim arrived on her street. She heaved out a sigh of relief as her house came into view.

At least everything seemed normal here. It was as if Chim had spoken too soon as she made out her parents' car parked in the driveway. That was weird. Her parents should still be at work- it was barely even evening yet. Chim felt herself start to panic. Had something happened? Did someone get hurt? Was she in trouble?

Chim quickened her pace, trying to reach her house, but stopped suddenly. Up ahead, she watched as a girl walked up the front porch steps of her house. Chim looked after her, wondering who the hell she was. She looked like she was about her age, but Chim couldn't really make out her features.

Chim walked a little closer, not taking her eyes off the girl up ahead. The girl had her hair packed in a fluffy afro bun at the top of her head and had a backpack which was an exact replica of the one Chim had slung over her shoulders. Chim continued to watch in confusion as the girl pushed a key into the lock and turned the door handle. The door opened swiftly.

What the hell? Who was she, and why did she have a key to her house?

Chim walked faster, meaning to confront the girl. She didn't think she was dangerous or posed a threat of any kind. She was just curious as to who exactly the girl was and what her business was at her house. Chim wondered if this had anything to do with the fact that her parents were back home early from work.

The girl suddenly glanced over her shoulder and Chim froze in her spot. She felt a shiver run through her as she stared at the girl. The girl walked into the house, shutting the door behind her, oblivious to Chim concealed behind a bush just a few meters away.

Unlike her, Chim was very aware of the girl she had just seen. Her heart was beating fast as she stood fixated. Chim was paralyzed and didn't feel like she would ever move from that spot.

When the girl had looked back, Chim was completely petrified by what she had seen.

It was her... Chim had been looking straight at herself.