TRAVIS: Slave To My Thoughts

["I Am Haunted, Can Anyone Hear Me?"]

"Shh! Everything is going to be fine. Just...breathe!" A shuddering Travis spoke in a quivering whisper. His dry lips were trembling as words stuffed themselves under his tongue while some scattered throughout his head.  

His tear-filled eyes were watching the sun through the window as it bathed the school buildings with its warmth. He silently watched a group of learners as they were leisurely walking with gleaming smiles pasted on their faces. 

A piece of his heart that was wildly throbbing against his chest, broke as soon as his ears caught the soft giggles exhaled by the learners. He was not aware of a waterfall of tears that was flooding the floor of his reddened cheeks. The urge to swallow a pill that he has been clasping in his shuddering hand only grew strong.  

"Will I ever…?" Travis spoke in a breaking murmur. He was breathing heavily with regret immediately after he had thrown the pill in his dry mouth. He closed his eyes tight and began taking in deep breaths by means of pacifying his wild heart. 

"I shouldn't have thought of it! Why did I?" In a breathy, quivering voice, Travis spat a question that floated in the air, infusing gloom to overwhelm his system in an instant. His whole body was shaking— his trembling veiny hands clutched at his face which was wet with tears. 

Without warning, Travis roughly grabbed his bag pack and off, he stormed out of the classroom. 

"Where to? I don't know, long as I am away from here!" Mentally, Travis said. Immediately when he took a step out of the doorway of the classroom, he unconsciously crashed into David who abruptly fell to the ground with a frown on his forehead. 

"I'm sorry!" Travis apologized instantly and off, he ran away without looking behind— leaving David who momentarily had his head caged by questions that lacked answers. 

Shoes throbbed as they vehemently beat against the tiled floor. "Travis! Travis!" A familiar voice that was deep as hell whispered in the depths of Travis's ears, encouraging shivers to embrace his figure and awaken aghast. 

A thin layer of sweat abruptly covered the nape of his neck. His mind was frantic with thoughts that were openly eating into his heart. Small, strangled screams were escaping from his lips as he galloped to an unknown location. 

Loud and demanding, his palpitating heart raced towards the centre of his throat. 

"TRAVIS!" 

Another call and this time he knew whose voice was calling his name. He recalled the hard, unwelcoming face of the owner and this terrified him more.

"Mitsumi Fujiriki!" A petrified Travis spat, continuing his marathon. He wanted to turn around and face the one who was calling him— he wanted to face the owner of the voice but failed to.  

He was shivering as if a bullet had struck him. His own feet were starting to betray his trust— second by second, they began to become numb, decreasing his galloping rate. 

When he thought of taking a step, cold air bit into his chest, influencing his vision to blacken. 

•••

"Travis? Travis? Can you hear me?" An unfamiliar voice of a female questioned. Her voice sounded like it was coming from underwater, convincing Travis who was locked in a deep sleep, that he was dreaming. As the voice began to pierce into his ears and an unknown, cold object touched his forehead, he unhurriedly opened his bloodshot eyes. 

Blurry at first sight, Travis blinked multiple times to moisturise his eyes and get better vision. His eyes slowly darted around the unknown room— his forehead wrinkled immediately after his nostrils had delivered a horrible medicinal scent into his respiratory system. 

From one place to another, his eyes darted around with confusion as he tried to recall how he ended up in the place he was in, currently. 

"Where…!?" 

He aired in a breaking voice. An unusual pain punctured through the right side of his head, urging him to clutch his head, loudly and shamelessly releasing a groan that echoed around the room. 

"Careful!" The same female voice warned, startling Travis who thought he was alone. When he turned his features towards the direction of the voice, his eyes fell upon a squat, willowy woman in round, big spectacles. 

"Take it easy! What you're experiencing now is a headache!" Miss Won, the senior infirmary nurse informed a confused Travis whose eyes were still touring the room.

How...did...I get here?" Travis asked abruptly after he had closed his eyes shut as soon as the pain pierced through his head once again. 

"You were found laying next to the abandoned art classroom by the watchman. You had fallen face first, and that left a scar right on your forehead." Nurse Won replied while she wrote something on the small book she has been holding. 

"Here…painkillers! Take one, and if the pain keeps growing, I suggest you go to the hospital." In a honeyed voice, Nurse Won informed as she handed Travis a bottle of pills. 

"Oh… someone is waiting for you!" Lastly, Nurse Won spoke with a smile as she walked out of the infirmary, leaving behind Travis who facepalm in confusion. 

"His voice still haunts me!" He whispered through his gnashed teeth as he helped himself up from the bed. He immediately threw the painkiller in his mouth and gulped the mineral water he found next to the bed. 

"12:30. It's lunch…!"

"I am going to visit Travis!"

Travis hardly finished his sentence when he heard Jiyeon's voice from outside. His lips twisted into an unwelcoming grin— Not now, he did not want anyone to see him, he wanted to be alone. 

"Not embarrassed, I just don't want no one's eyes on me!" Travis hissed as he looked around him for a place to hide. A wide smile pasted itself on his features as soon as he pointed at the locker— Swiftly, he stuffed himself inside. 

"Tra…where is he?" Upon making a shaming discovery, Jiyeon's smile fell face first to the floor. The room was as quiet as a grave, there was no sense of a being. Jiyeon halted in the centre of the room with a face that was decorated by a frown. 

As she was about to tour the room, her phone rang, intruding on her. 

"Alright, I'm coming!" She informed the person over the phone and hurriedly left the room. Stealthily, Travis birthed out of the locker with a smile of satisfaction. 

"Can't stay in here!" Travis said to himself as he took his bag pack and off he stormed away. Luck seemed to be on Travis's side, the classroom was empty, and no single soul was there to disturb his peace. 

With a deep sigh, he threw himself on his seat and slaved his ears by loud, metal songs that helped ease his heart and mind. 

He spent fifty minutes asleep on the table— nothing on his mind— nothing in his heart, he just couldn't wait until he was in his room with nothing but his bed so he can sleep his thoughts away. 

Soon, lunchtime ended. One by one, learners began entering the classroom with loud giggles and guffaws that woke Travis up. 

"Will he be…!" 

David spoke silently as he was entering the classroom and halted immediately when he spotted Travis. His heart, once beating quietly and slowly, was now fast in tempo, ringing loudly in his ears. 

"TRAVIS!" He mentally shouted, locking his eyes on Travis's face which had no description of emotions. David slowly walked to his desk, there, where Travis was stretching his arms as he looked outside of the window. 

"Hey…!" David said through his teeth, avoiding eye contact with Travis and in response, he gave out a restricted smile that disappeared almost immediately. The teacher came and lessons for the rest of the day began. 

"What's wrong with you? You can't even look at me!" Quietly, David said to himself. Instead of paying attention to the words spoken by the teacher, he asked himself questions that he was discouraged to reply to. 

A second would not pass without him having his eyes pasted on Travis. He did not understand why Travis was so tiny today— why he spoke less and why he did not attend the morning classes. David's heart had broken since morning and with this treatment, it broke a little more. 

The lessons carried on and on, and nothing changed. 

—"The same treatment!"—

Soon, the school was out. Everyone was readying themselves to leave and Travis was one of them. Giving up on his thoughts, David did the same— ignoring everything as it took place. 

"DAVID!" 

Travis suddenly called when David had already gotten up from his chair. Butterflies instantly took the initiative to stuff themselves in David's stomach as soon as he heard Travis calling his name. 

He turned around slowly, his lips parted as he took slow, deep breaths. His eyes twinkled with abrupt delight as they glided on Travis's face. 

The world seemed to have stopped moving— his background blurred just for him to focus on Travis. 

"He smiles!"