It was a hazy dream, that I recall. Few flashes of the past, of the time with my best friend, Celestia. And then, something really strange happened. Amongst those flashes, I recalled a scene that I had never seen before. She says something, something that had never made any sense, something that I hadn't known the value of, until now.

Last night, I woke up with fear struck eyes. Drenched in sweat, I try to reach out for the light, but couldn't move. I try to twist and turn, but fail to do so. I try to call out my parents, but my voice wouldn't just come out! Scared, I shut my eyes and decided not to open until the next morning.

The Sun rises and I come back to my senses. Just as hazy as my dream was, so is my morning. I wake up and get ready for school, neither paying attention to my surroundings nor my family's usual arguements. All my mind's focussed onto the dream that had taken me into the state of sleep paralysis. But what was it?

I walk over to my school, so engrossed in my thoughts that I could only hear that faint noises of Mr and Mrs Fincher throwing words at each other, the whistling sound of the train, and the siren of the police car on their daily patrol. After reaching school, I quietly sit down in my own bench as I wait for the first period to start.

"Was this bench always empty?" I hear a boy say.

"Well I don't quite recall of anyone sitting in here from day one" another comments

What did they mean? Wasn't that Celestia's seat?

The first, calls out to a girl as he asks, "Hey sim! Was there always an extra bench in our class?"

"I don't know Bryan. I don't quite recall having an extra bench in this class" she shrugs.

Her blonde hair brushing past her cheeks, Sim walks over to me as she questions me with narrowed eye slits, "Nuke, have you completed the assignment that you've been delaying since a week?"

"Yeah, of course I have, and I apologize submitting it overdue" I hand over a notebook with 'Math Assignment' written on it.

Just before she turns away, I call out her name and ask her, "Sim, Celestia isn't here today?"

"Celestia.. who?" She looks at me, questioningly.

"Celestia, the one who's always by herself?" I answer.

"Sorry, I don't know what you're talking about" and then, she walks away with my assignment. The friend that I had mentioned in my dream, had to be Celestia. It was not until a month ago, that I actually started to speak with her, but as far as I know she was a complete introvert and someone whom I could never understand. And that bench, was her's!

The bell rings, as everyone fall back to their seats. The class goes on like usual and my mind carried away by the flow of the lessons. I fall asleep, accepting the fact that I cannot take any more of those boring lessons into my head.

I wake up, realising the bell has rung minutes ago. I turn towards the empty bench to find someone sitting in there. Celestia?! I blink twice, to see her suddenly vanish. Where did she go? The day goes on, as my thoughts start to get cloudy once again.

During the lunch hours, I run over to the staff room to check out the class register. But to my surprise, her name isn't there! What's going on? I had no clue. I try enquiring all my classmates but none of them knew her. It felt as though she had been wiped out of existence. But if she really didn't exist, then what are these lingering memories I've been holding onto all this time? Nothing had made any sense to me.

I try stressing my mind on that dream once more. But all I could think of, were those  last lip movements. Oh come on! Celestia... where are you?

However, the most terrible thing had just begun. By the end of the day, my memories slowly start to fade away as well. Firstly, the memories... and then, I couldn't even remember her name! Whom was I even thinking about?

I keep banging my head on the bench, trying to recall something I don't even know. Maybe I shall consult the school counselor.

Well, that's first I've heard of" says a long braided, black haired and slim bodied women. She must be around the age of twenty five.

She sips her beer can and sighs, "Maybe I should really try getting a man before wrinkles start to appear on my face!"

"And hows that got anything to relate with this?" I ask Ms Thelma, who is the only counselor of our school. Though she is a teacher, she's really close with the students and acts as though she's one among us.

"As you can see, the dream you have seen must be a premonition from the future. And those lip movements... Could she have proposed you?" She smirks.

Upon hearing that, I immediately shout back, "Of course not! And I do get these chills that she belongs to my class. But I cannot recall how she looked like and neither what she had told me. I tried searching across the whole classroom but none of them looked like her"

She puts down the can and thinks about the situation for a minute. "Have you tried checking the old register?"

"The old register?" I ask.

"Yup, the attendance register for all the classes had been changed yesterday. I do not know the reason, but I guess you can try searching in there"

"Thank you Ms Thelma, That was big help!" And then, I kick the ground as I dash forward, towards the staff room. I bang open the door, gasping for breath. Okay I regret doing that, cause all the teachers started to stare at me!

I ignore all the stares and walk towards my class teacher. I ask her for the old register and she gives it to me without any further questioning. I take it along with the new one, and walk back to my classroom which was now empty. With the setting sun giving the classroom different shades of red and orange, I open and cross check the registers. There's name I couldn't recall of having it in our class... Celestia!

I try running the name through my head and then, with a suddenly jolt of memories dashing through my head, I sprint towards the roof. I remember it now, I remembered all of it! The words she had told me... "Thank you!" So, she really did intend to dissappear since a long time ago! I have to stop her... And my conciousness had told me that  she's on the roof.

And yup, I was right. With her black silky hair dazzling in the sunset, and a short stature, she stood there glaring at me.

"I can see you now!" I shout, and wait for her to reply. She keeps gazing at me with the cold brown eyes.

And then, she does something I had never expected. Celestia walks over to the edge of the roof and stands there with her hands spread wide open. No! She must be out of her mind.

I leap forward, as I hold her arm and pull her. I fall back with a thud, pulling her along with me.

"Are you out of your mind?" I shout as I get back on to my feet, still shocked.

"How does it matter if I exist or not? It's just you who can see me" she replies, with a low voice.

"Yup, it's just me who can see you and that's why it would be more painful to part with you mentally and physically" I reply as I hug her.

"But you don't know anything about me" she puts her head against my chest, as tears pour down her cheeks.

"The bare time I had spent with you was enough to know many things about you. Your favourite food's fish, you hate dogs..." And I keep listing, not missing out a single information I got to know during my days with her

She stops me as she cries out, "Please stop! I don't wanna hear any of it anymore. Why do you even care about me? I just create problems with anyone whom I talk to!"

"Problems? Not to me. And I don't want to leave a friend who's all alone weeping in darkness" I give out a warm smile as she looks at me and stops crying.

She steps back and bows down "Then, will you be friends with a person like me who would just hold you back for the rest of your life?"

"Yes I do! Isn't that what friends are meant for?" I answer, patting her head. And then, her tears of despair turned into the tears of joy. She hugs me once more, tighter than ever. In the end, I had realized one thing. It isn't the darkness hidden within you that makes you hopless, it's you yourself who bring in the darkness by making the wrong decision. And that's where a true friend comes. They are the ones who turn that very darkness into happiness.

While I keep trying to framing the quote in my mind, Celestia pushes me aside, "How long were you planning on holding me?"

"Weren't you the one who squeezed me with those tiny hands?" I give a faint laugh as she pouts. And hence, that turned into a happy ending.

But it wasn't the end either. Before we realized, it was too late. The sun had almost set down and the teachers were about to leave as well. And as you expect, we couldn't escape the wrath of the teachers who had caught us. Well, the end didn't turn out as I had expected to be, but I was more than overjoyed upon making a new friend. For the first time, the word friendship had meant something really very important to me, that I can never forget.