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Perry The Parrot

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EVERY WALL, every surface, and every desk was pristine white. A sight that always made me nauseous hence making me seem worse than I actually was. If I didn't have any reason to be here, trust me, I wouldn't even come close.

I never liked to come to the nurse's office, even if a friend was sick. And I loathed being the sick person. I could count the visits I made to the nurse's office throughout my four years in Glory Bells Prep. They were so few that I remembered every reason I went.

Mrs. Morris' choking incident was not one of them.

I'd been quiet since and later realized that the person who had come in was Mr. Ben, the Physics teacher. Everything else felt like a blur.

"You seem to be in good condition," the nurse started. "You might just be in shock. Do you mind talking to me about it?"

My eyes moved from the sealed pack of gloves I saw in one of the open cabinets to her cool blue eyes. They weren't as cold as Mrs. Morris', but they reminded me of our World History teacher, regardless.

I shook my head no.

"That's fine. All I can do is send you to the counselor. She'll be in her office and you can always talk to her," she said. "Oh, and here's a dorm pass, in case you don't feel in the right mind and want to take a break for the rest of the day," she said.

"Thanks," I said, taking the blue rectangular paper that had my name over a long dash and the nurse's signature beneath it.

Was the paper always blue?

The weight of other questions I had shoved this question down as soon as it formed. I got outside to see Kai waiting. He was having a free period now, so he came once he had heard.

"How are you feeling?" he asked at once.

"Not good," I said in all honesty. I still couldn't decide if that was because of Mrs. Morris' haunting eyes, the white space I'd just emerged from, or both.

"But you just came from the nurse's office?" he asked, worry lacing his tone.

"No, I'm fine, health-wise. I just can't shake the thought of what happened to Mrs. Morris being my fault," I said.

"Hey," his hands moved to hold mine. "That's not your fault. I'm sure Mrs. Morris will be in good health soon."

"You don't understand Kai. I saw her eyes. The moment she fell and stopped coughing, it was like she was... dead," I said, whispering my last word.

Could this have been my fault?

She said she wasn't supposed to tell me anything and when she did; she started coughing. And then she mentioned something about one week just before... It seemed too wrong to be a coincidence.

"Clara," Kai called, using his free hand to cup my cheek and prompting me to look at him like I had done when he found me in the art room. "It wasn't your fault, and Mrs. Morris will be fine," he said with so much conviction I almost believed.

"Want to sit for a while?" he asked, and I looked around to see that we were near the bleachers by the field.

I nodded before we both went towards it, our shoes making a light imprint on the wet grass beneath us. The rain had seized along with Mrs. Morris' coughing.

Another occurrence I found strange.

Silence reigned between us as the distant chatter of voices came from the school building, but I could only focus on his hold on mine and use it to keep me grounded.

"Clara," he started once we sat down, "What did Mrs. Morris talk to you about?"

Could I tell him about it?

What if it somehow affected him? What if the same thing happens to him? How can I tell anyone what I'm going through without putting them at some sort of risk? And would they even believe me? What would I even say?

'Oh, I'm stuck in the past and Mrs. Morris was telling me I have a week to be here just before she started coughing. Which, by the way, is totally unrelated to the fact that she wasn't supposed to tell me. A normal coincidence, don't you think?'

"Hey," he said as he held my chin and my eyes met his. "It's fine if you don't want to talk about it. It's just that Naomi told me not long after she came out that you forgot about your presentation and Mrs. Morris said you should wait behind. I thought it would be about the presentation," he said.

"Umm. Yeah... it was uh, about the presentation," I lied and it didn't feel good too. I need to find something out about this whole situation. Anything.

"Do you want to go back to the dorm to rest? I'm sure the teachers would understand, and I'll explain to Mariana and Naomi," he said.

I thought for a while before agreeing. "Yeah, I think I need to rest."

"I'll walk you then."

He took my hand, and we left, walking in comfortable silence until we reached my dorm. I paused and turned to look at him.

Back in my real life, the last time I saw him was when we had graduated and I was sure I would never see him again.

He'd gone back to Japan and although he never told me his plan, I knew it would have to do with his family's business, given he was the first child.

Our relationship had ended with this unspoken agreement. We both knew we couldn't handle long distance, so there wasn't much of a talk, just some mutual understanding.

Now, two months since I'd seen him directly in front of me, having him here and seeing him again was a minor reason to make me want to stay here.

He wanted to say something, but I leaned in to kiss him instead. He responded soon enough, holding on to me as I did to him.

For the second time, someone interrupted us and we turned to see a security man. I never kept a record of their names or knew anything other than that they guarded the dorms and some at the school entrance.

"Aren't you both meant to be in school?" came his hoarse voice.

"Yeah, um, she isn't feeling well," Kai said.

"Really now." His raised brow and hand on his waist implied he didn't believe Kai.

So it did not surprise me when he asked, "And does she have a dorm pass?"

Kai looked at me, but I was already digging in my bag for the rectangular paper the nurse gave me. I handed it to the security officer, and he nodded before he tore a part off to show that I already used it and couldn't use it again.

He handed it back to me before he spoke. "You should head back to class then, boy."

"I'll see you later," he said to me. Because we were under the scrutinizing gaze of the man, he had to leave just like that.

"And won't you go up then?" he said sharply to me.

Perks of being in a boarding school.

I had forgotten about all this when I graduated, glad that it was finally behind me and now here I am.

The sign on the archway that led to my dorm greeted me.

Taral House, it read.

The system of dormitories in Glory Bells Prep was simple. Freshmen and Sophomore girls stayed in Altar House and their male counterparts in Carillon House. While Junior and Senior girls in Chime House with their male counterparts in Parsifal House.

Strange names, I know. I never figured out the reason behind them throughout the four years.

So that begot the question, where did Taral House come from? Tenth grade meant I should be in Altar House, but it didn't end there. Even the other houses had changed.

What was Carillon House was now Rillonca House. Chime became Imech and Parsifal was Falsipar. It made no sense. Not like the former names did either.

It was only after a while of repeating the names of the houses with my eyes fixed on the sign did I realize that the unfamiliar names were the old ones rearranged.

But why?

With a sigh, I went in, pushing the double doors to see our hostel supervisor, Mrs. Trina. She sat at the reception at an enormous mahogany desk that covered most of her body. It was only because of the equally high chair we could see her. Yet, even at that, we could only see her head and some of her shoulders. As usual, she was reading a magazine with her blonde hair in a low bun behind her head.

At least that hadn't changed.

A nod from her was enough before I headed up. She was an apathetic person who almost never moved from her seat and magazine.

The only time she appeared to be alive was when the parents of the students were around. She would even manage a smile, which I had once thought she was incapable of.

There wasn't a sound upstairs except the tap of my shoes on the tiled floor as I moved. That was normal since no one was around, but it just rubbed me off the wrong way. I reached my room and checked my bag for my key, but stopped in the act with a groan.

Whenever we left the dorms, we always signed out and dropped our keys with Mrs. Trina. Then whoever came first would sign in and take it back. I hadn't done that and she didn't even bother to tell me. She never did.

I let out an exaggerated exhale, knowing I had to head back down and ask Mrs. Trina for the key when—

"Clarissa will see! Clarissa will see!" I heard from down the hall. I veered around sharply. That was Perry, my grandma's parrot. I would recognize its chirpy voice anywhere.

What was it doing here, in my past?

"Perry!" I called out as I walked toward where I heard it. I checked the bathrooms to find them empty. I found the rooms on this floor locked, so where could it be?

There were two more floors up, so I took the stairs.

"Perry! Are you there?" I called again once I had reached the next floor.

No response.

What am I doing? I should go to Mrs. Trina, not looking for a parrot which was most likely not here at all. I was about to head back down when I saw a blend of blue and green swoop toward the stairs.

"Clarissa should come!" it called out.

Seems like it's here after all.

I followed it until I saw it perched on a few stairs higher. It stared at me for a while before it took to the air again. With me towing closely behind, it flew right out to the roof as the door that led to the roof was wide open.

That's strange. We always met the door locked to prevent girls from going to the roof.

Despite the thought, I walked out the door and saw no one. I looked ahead and caught it perched on a beam.

"Suh wons tryna ham yah! Clarissas net sef!!"

At first, I didn't get what it said, but it kept repeating it until I could make out what it was saying.

Someone is trying to harm me. I'm not safe?

"Perry, what do you mean by that?" I asked, hoping it would give a normal answer, but it kept on repeating those two sentences.

Then my eyes widened as I formed an idea. Perry had come here by some means, so it would eventually go back to Grandma. If I tell him something, maybe he could relay the message.

"Perry, tell grandma I'm lost in the woods," I said, but it just kept repeating the same two lines. I also kept saying it until I realized it was going anywhere and probably wasn't hearing me.

I sighed and walked away. But who would try to harm me? I looked around, suddenly conscious. Was the person here? Had the person been following me all this while? Was it this person who did something to Mrs. Morris?

I took a deep breath to calm myself. There was no one here for now, and this place was serene enough. I sat down on the bare floor cross-legged.

Although I could have gone down to Mrs. Trina, I remained on the roof to ponder upon my situation.

I was at my grandma's; I left after the argument, ran into the wood, and then I woke up in my high school bed.

No. Something was missing.

Something happened before I got here. I'm sure of it, but what? I tried remembering but ended up with a blank mental wall every time.

After I got here, Mrs. Morris said I have one week to find out why I'm here. Hold up! She also said something about someone making me forget. Maybe that's why I feel something is missing. But how do I know why I came here?

I could make out the basketball court from here and it reminded me of the Art class days ago when Miss Loveleen gave us an assignment.

Lesson!

The word barged into my head without warning. I don't know how I made the connection but I'm supposed to learn a lesson.

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This is interesting! I wonder how Perry got in there? Wherever 'there' is. Do you have any theories on that? Do share them in the comment section.

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The Sparkling Authoress
Mis. A

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