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Cindy's P.O.V
I came home directly from school. Everyone had their plans. So I thought why not have some me time at home. I was happy that Mark asked me out finally and we all are going to the club tomorrow.

I was sitting near the swimming pool for 2 hours when suddenly I became sad. I went inside my house. I feel lonely. I need someone to accompany me in this house that is too big for me. I want a bestfriend with whom I can share my feelings. I wanna tell someone how excited I am to go on a date with Mark, someone to tell me what I should wear for the date.

Only if I have my mom. My mind started drifting off to the painful memories. My breathing became shallowed and I had to remind myself to keep calm and not panic. I started thinking about the good memories and I had them with her . My mom. I remembered the time I spent with her, the things she taught me, the dishes she made me. Everything.

Flashback 1
"Mwom see catty. Meow" I said showing her my costume. My nose painted in black and my cheeks had black lines like a cat's whiskers.

"Oh my! Honey see here's a cat!" Mom said dramatically to dad. Dad had his car keys in his hand. He was going to drop mom and I to the fancy dress birthday party. I moved towards him making my hands like a comb.

"Rawrrr. Meow. Meow" I made different heavy sounds trying to intimidate dad. Dad acted to be afraid

"Oh no. Oh no. A cat. A cat." I giggled at dad being afraid not knowing he's just acting.

"Dad. It's me Ciindyyyy" I squealed when he lifted me up and kissed my cheeks.

Snap.

We looked towards my mom who just clicked a picture. She loved clicking pictures. I and dad groaned because we know she's not letting us go without atleast 10 photos even if we are getting late for the cake cutting.

"One more" mom said. Then we posed. We all clicked so many pictures that day before going to the party. Even in the party, mom didn't stop clicking my pictures.

Flashback 2
"Mom! I am home." the younger me said tiredly.

"Welcome home honey" my mom said with a tray of freshly baked cupcakes in her hand.

"Woah chocolate and strawberry cupcakes?" I asked while drooling and running towards her. She teased by keeping the tray away from my hands.

"Are they your favourites?" I nodded and rubbed my hands in excitement. She chuckled and helped me freshen up. Then we ate the delicious cupcakes.

"Sweetie how was your day at school" she asked.

"Umm...Num it was....good...Hmm" I said while chewing my precious cupcakes.

"Eat then tell me and eat slowly , ok?" She said worry lacing her tone but all that worry fade away when I showed her a thumbs up. I completed eating my cupcakes.

"We were having lots of fun but then the bell ringed and we had to leave the game to come home" I told her with a scrunched up nose

"Aww. You can always continue the game later" she said.

"But I'm home now and it's Sunday tomorrow. I'll have to wait for such a long time." I continued further, "Mom can't I have a friend who can live with me, eat with me, play with me at any time and all the time?" I asked.

I remembered something else and then without missing a beat I started talking again.

"And some of my friends went to play with the other group leaving us. I want a friend who will never do such things. I want a royal friend" I pouted.

You mean loyal ?" Mom corrected me.

"Yep! That one." I nodded.

"Ohh sweetie. I can't guarantee .. but when I was younger , well even smaller than you ,I had imaginary friends. They were always by my side and never let me feel lonely." She said thinking into distance.

"What friend mom? Have I met them?" I asked with interest. She looked at me and smiled.

"No baby. You can't see them and even I can't. I don't talk with them anymore. I'm all grown now." She chuckled gesturing to herself.

"Why don't you talk anymore mom?" i asked confused.

"Cindy, my mother told me about imaginary friends because your grandpa had to move from place to place due to his work and I wasn't able to have friends for a long period of time. So I imagined a lot of friends . I had a special one when I was small then I came to know they are just our imaginations. That's why we don't talk anymore. I could only sense them. Her face wasn't clear but I imagined her as one of my favourite characters from the story book. But I remember I imagined her as a girl of my age with fairy powers" She chuckled at her childishness.

"Oh! So can I have one too?" I asked her excitedly. Her face lit up

"You can if you want. Just imagine them. But here's this advice honey. I want you to imagine them like a positive friend. I don't want you to have ones that are negative and may harm you mentally. The way mommy always support and protects you against all bad, they will do the same for you, just not physically .They will always give you good advice. Think of them like the positve part of your brain." She lectured.

"I got it mom . I'm a little confused but I get it what you are trying to say" I said and went to my room.

I couldn't draw a girl with beautiful eyes n dress so I opt for a boy whom I named Kyle. I draw and wrote down his features and everything on the paper. I gave him looks like a vampire, strength like a werewolf and magic like an angel. I imagined him as the most beautiful boy. And the little me was so possessive of her friends that I imagined him to only befriend me. I didn't want him to give attention to other kids ( or particularly other girls )

And after that day he became my loyal best friend who kept all my secrets. I could feel him and whatever he wanted to say , I could sense it. I got scared, he comforted me. I wanted to eat more cookies sneakily, he gave me a disapproving look.

Then time went by way quickly. I talked to him only when necessary and because he was not real I literally talked with him about anything. Just imagine if he came real, it will be so embarrassing.

Flashback 3
When my mom died , I sobbed every night either saying. "Mom..n-no please c-come back" or "Help m-me Kyle please s-save m-me" . I didn't want to cry because I had no more tears left in my eyes but my grief wasn't settling. I would cry, curling into a ball without eating or sleeping. Sometimes I would even vomit due to not eating, sleeping & forcing myself to cry and at that time it was Kyle , who kept urging me to get up and clean myself .

He helped me. He didn't go away. I stopped crying over her death because the pain was too much. I dodged conversations that reminded me of her. Dad started coming home late then coming once a week. I think he too drowned himself in work. He stopped coming to this house completely. Maybe because there are mom's memories everywhere. I stopped talking to Kyle, simply because I was vulnerable when I was with him and always ended up crying or remembering mom. He reminded me of her sometimes. I didn't wanted to cry anymore.

I changed my school. I had no friends. I ate alone, studied alone and when I came home, I was alone. Before mom's death , I was a social butterfly, talking to everyone but then I became cold, started insulting people who tried to mess with me. Then Mark n gang found me. They said they liked my attitude. Only I knew it was a facade. They were into 'bad habits' as I liked to call it before but I too started smoking cigarettes. It does release stress but I smoked mainly to not look out of place . I am not a big fan of smoking at all , but only I know it . The last thing I needed was for them to kick me out of their group. If Mom had been here she wouldn't have been pleased to see this. But she left me. Didn't tell me she had cancer and that shattered me the most. I didn't get time to spend with her .

Soon enough everyone in school thought I'm cool. Well that was all my bottled up anger that people found cool . They called it savage. Others don't know but I was always afraid that if I stopped being cool ; my friends would leave me alone and I was tired of being lonely. They didn't know about my problems and they will never know - I'm not really that 'Cool n Hot girl' everyone made me . I was always that lost and broken girl who just wanted someone to love her, comfort her and heal her.

End of flashback

By the time I recalled those memories I was already crying. I wiped my tears furiously.

"Kyle? Are you still there?" I asked. I am so stupid. He was with me at my worst and I just shut him out.

Mom introduced imaginary friends to me but I disrespected them. I disrespected my mom. I know he's just a imaginary friend but for me ? He's my only true friend. The only one who knew the real me.

'Kyle please forgive me. Came back to me now.' I said in my mind and closed my eyes letting the tears fall.

A very light and faded feeling tugged me. I opened my eyes. He's here. But I can't imagine his face anymore. I can connect to him and know what he's saying.

'I am always there for you' I felt him looking sadly at me. We talked just in mind after that. Some might find a 17 year old girl talking to an imaginary friend crazy but he's much more than that to me. He's that precious to me. He would never judge me. I didn't made him to. I'll never let him . Because he's what I have left .

I told him what is happening in my life. About Dad, Mark, my other friends, the things Alex did today and my date with Mark. I blushed and smiled while talking about my date but I got jealous vibes from Kyle.

Oh he is being possessive of me; his friend now? I smirked

'Kyle you know me more than my friends and Mark' I think .

'So what?' He snorted.

'Aww. Kyle being jealous and overprotective? Don't be. You see, when I gave you those powers- I mean when I imagined you having the powers and looks ; I made you the most beautiful and loyal boy - well you're a man now. I even developed a crush on you' I completed.

He moved his head towards me

'Really?' Kyle asked excitedly.

'Yeah. But that was my childhood crush. Then I came to my senses that I'm going crazy. I mean you are my imagination. There's no way someone as perfect as you can come into reality.' I thought or better say linked him.

His face fell. 'Don't be sad. I swear if you were real I would have already crushed you by jumping onto you' I tried to make him happy. He smiled shyly.

I wanted him to come to real life. By how I imagined him, I know he would never cheat me, upset me or break my heart. An idea popped in my head.

'Let's add more functions to you. Be my ideal boyfriend!' I linked him. His mouth was open. But he nodded.

'So here's our list - possessive, flirty , 3 × romantic and .........'

I talked with Kyle almost till it was midnight. I felt him lay behind me on my bed. And I wished him goodnight. He kissed my forehead just like in the childhood.

I got a strange feeling in my chest. It's been so long since I felt my imaginary friend kiss me.

The next day I woke up late. I finished the chores. I have to go clubbing today. I felt connected to Kyle and my insides warmed. He's here and he's not going to leave. He's the best.

'Stop acting like a hopeless romantic I can hear you . I am connected to you too' Kyle linked me. I blushed. That's the result of adding humor function to him. I am really going crazy.

'That's because I am a hopeless romantic. And a psychopath too. I know you are an imagination. A way for me to escape from my realities. You are my escapism. Yet here I am talking and smiling with you like a maniac' I linked him and although I can't see his face clearly, I know he is smirking 'Welcome to the world then' he linked me.

World ?

Things are cleared and now the story begins.....

Author's Note
Wtf! My book was like...had my another book's cover and name automatically. There were other automatic changes too. And due to this technical issue I had to unpublish some chapters and then publish them again 😭 my views and votes 😢 Bloody hell it's still occurring and I had already unpublished and then published two times 😡
Edit : It's all sorted out now. Thank God ! Everything is same like before. I might have died from the trauma. I was so worried that it might be hacked & I would have to put this book down. Sorry for disturbing you all with my little tantrum. Here eat some cookies 🍪
-Love, Savi