harts-- wrote this intriguing short story which explores topics such as self harm as well as the power of the human brain and what it can conjure up. I highly recommend reading till the end, because the last line is extremely poignant.

The first thing I heard when I woke up was the voices.

They told me to cut. They told me to kill myself.

I told my mom. She didn't believe me.

"DO IT NOW!" they seemed to shout.

"No," I said calmly, getting out of bed.

I got ready for school and went downstairs to eat breakfast.

After I finished eating I left.

There was a girl that walked past my house. She had blue streaks in her blonde hair.

"Hi, I'm Kiya," I said smiling.

"Hey. I'm Mariah," she said sticking her hand out.

I shook her hand and asked, "So what school do you go to?"

"East Tech."

"That's my school," I said.

As we walked and talked, I received weird glances from a lot of people.

What was their problem?

~~~~~

"I have to go get my schedule," Mariah said.

"I'll show you where the office is at."

As we were walking, more people kept on giving me weird glances.

We walked in the office and walked up to the desk.

"She needs a schedule," I said, pointing to Mariah.

"Who?" the secretary asked.

"Her," I said, motioning to Mariah.

"There's no one there child."

"Wait. I have my schedule," Mariah said.

"I don't know why she acted like she didn't see you."

*Trigger Warning: Self Harm*

"Go in the bathroom and cut yourself," the voices said.

"Wait right here. I have to go to the bathroom," I told Mariah.

I went into the bathroom stall and pulled out my blades.

I pulled my sleeve up and started make slices down my arms.

"Don't. Stop," a voice said.

"Keep going," another voice said.

I listened to the second voice and kept slicing.

"You're insane," the first voice said.

I put the blades away and went to a sink and washed away the droplets of blood.

"I'm not insane," I said laughing.

~~~~

I walked out of the bathroom and saw that Mariah was gone. I went to class and saw her sitting in the back.

"You're late," Mrs. Mitchell, the English teacher, said.

I walked to the back, where Mariah was sitting, and sat next to her.

"I left because the bell rang," she said.

"Oh, it's okay," I said.

"Kiya! Stop talking to yourself," Mrs. Mitchell said.

"I'm talking to Mariah."

Everyone started laughing uncontrollably.

"What's funny?"

"They think you aren't talking to anyone. I'm not real. I'm a figment of your imagination," Mariah said.

"You're real," I got up and walked out of class.

"She's real. She's real. My friend is real," I said waking down the halls.

I left out of the building and went home.

As soon as I walked through the door, my mom said that I was going to the doctor.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because your teacher called me and told me that you were talking to yourself."

"I was talking to Mariah."

"Who's that?"

"MY FRIEND."

《 2 months later》

Everyone thinks that I'm crazy.

Everyday, for the past two months, I've been going to therapy.

Everyday, for the past two months, Mariah has gone with me.