Evan couldn't tell what he was standing in. It was warm and also simultaneously cool, but more than anything it was just pleasant. Wherever he was, he was enjoying it.
Better still was the sight before him. He was standing in the middle of his high school's courtyard, his closest friends by his side. All he could hear was the sound of kids laughing as their parents played and danced with them, the euphoric vibrations of vocals and instruments crashing away at the stage just ahead of him, and the excited sizzling of an array of foods being prepared fresh and hot, ready to eat. It was his school's Spring Fair, and everyone was enjoying themselves.
But on the corner of the building they stood in front of, just an arm's reach away, was his heart. It beat slowly, but steadily, a soft 'whoosh' escaping its taut musculature with every cycle. Mesmerized, Evan bent down to pick it up. It was pale -- almost pink, rather than the deep crimson it was depicted as in his textbooks. Veins and arteries adorned the struggling organ, grey and inanimate. His heart smelled like candy.
Curious, Evan took a deeper breath. Mmm. Like licorice. Throwing caution to the wind, he licked the heart as he turned back to his friends, eager to share his discovery.
"Guys, this is incredible, my heart tastes and smells just like licorice!"
Nothing but stunned faces stared eerily back at him. "What?" he offered, taken aback by their hostility. "Seriously, it's good, try it!"
Evan reached out, wanting nothing but for his friends to share the delicious snack he'd procured. He didn't need a heart, after all. He'd never needed one. And besides, he didn't have any blood to pump through his body. No one did.
The deep, viscous sea of red he stood in sloshed as he motioned closer to each of his friends, their faces expressionless, their eyes void of the light of life. It'd been years since he'd come to visit their corpses, but the stink still didn't bother him. Just like licorice, he thought happily, licking at his heart.
A soft squeal escaped from the lips he'd just licked. Lips? The heart in his hand was no longer a heart, but the exquisite portrait of Lee, his girlfriend. An expression of fear and disgust was plastered on her porcelain features.
"Evan!"
"Mmwhamhaa?" Evan's neck was terribly stiff. As he blinked away his lacking sleep, reality seeped into his bones. In front of him floated Nessa's amused face.
"Long night? Professor Cho asked me to come get you -- most everyone's already eating." Before Evan could answer, she ripped the tent's Velcro door away and climbed inside the spacious tent. "Wow," she enthuses mockingly, looking around. "Remind me again why you get the family sized tent all to yourself?"
Evan sat up slowly, shrugging off the weight of sleep. His entire body ached with fatigue. Then the events of the night before returned like a sledgehammer, almost knocking the wind out of him. "Lee -- is Lee back?" he stammered.
Nessa furrowed her brows. "Lee?" she repeated before falling lazily onto the tent's padded floor. "What Lee? Someone you made up to not feel so lonely in here? You realize there're plenty of real people around?"
Evan was getting fed up with the whole flirty routine. Yes, it was great that a girl as cute as her was still trying to get close to him despite him and Lee having been a thing for over a year, but even baseless flirting had boundaries.
"Lee, Lee Suzumura?" Evan's voice caught in his throat as again, his thoughts turned to last night. "Or Lee Suzy, as she calls herself."
Turning to look at him, Nessa raised an eyebrow. "Wow, she even has a last name. Seriously Evan, how're you up and fooling around like this so soon after just waking up?"
"What? No, Lee -- Lee, my girlfriend since freshman year? Lee, half Chinese, half Japanese? Lee, practices badminton with the guy's team because the girl's team is terrified of her?"
It looked like Nessa was the one getting fed up. Pulling herself up to a sitting position, she eyed Evan with a coy, overly concerned look. "It's great you've got this whole backstory going for the imaginary girlfriend you think you're sharing this tent with, but if you just needed to stall for time, there was no need to be so stiff Evan."
"What the hell are you on about?" His hands shot up to his temples, rubbing furiously. "S-,"
Before he could say another word, Nessa coughed and motioned downward.
Of course. Good morning to you too, Captain Evan.
"You know, if you need a little help with that, I know someone," Nessa continued, her flushed cheeks breaking their usually pale complexion. Though her body language maintained the shy innocence she'd always exhibited, there was a twinkle in her eyes. "Or you could keep pretending this 'Lee' will...tend to you."
It was officially all too much for Evan. Red creeping into his ears, he hastily covered himself with more blanket, and looked as if he was about to make conversation with his tent's canvas top. "Okay I'll be right out. Give me a bit to wake up."
Nessa responded only half a beat late. "Of course," she murmured, leaving as quickly as she'd entered. "Be quick, the professor's really starting to get annoyed!"
And like that, Evan was once again alone, still flustered, but at least alone. Some semblance of assuredness settled onto him, and it was with growing concern that he thought back on the events of the previous night.
After Lee disappeared, Evan had stayed up until the sun's waking hours, searching for any trace of her that may have been left. Though they'd been walking next to each other only a moment before, even her footprints -- which should've been easily visible in the mud they traversed through -- were gone. Following his own path all the way back to the camp and each of the tents they'd visited, Evan still found absolutely nothing. In a moment as dreamlike and disorienting as that of deja vu, Evan thought he'd got a whiff of her perfume as he was looking around in the forest near where she'd first disappeared, but he couldn't be sure. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him...or maybe she'd really been there. Nothing made sense.
But she was there, Evan thought. I was talking to her, and then I wasn't.
Just before leaving the excavation site for his class's encampment, he had grabbed a box of research papers from the large tent in desperation as a bit of tangible proof that the last night's events actually occurred. Now, it sat contentedly in the corner, its existence berating him for losing Lee.
Nothing made sense. Nothing at all.
Yawning the tiredness from his eyes, Evan finally got up, grabbing a towel, change of clothes, and toothbrush before heading to the communal bathroom down the hill. If he was going to do right by Lee, he would have to find her without smelling of sweat and grime.
Though the path down was short, it was on muddy and loose dirt with only sparse bits of grass to keep his footing secure. Most everyone set their tents on a plain at the base of the hill, but Evan figured he'd make the sacrifice of being further away to make up for his access to a larger tent. It wasn't much, but it made him feel better.
As he approached the rest of the camp, his eyes darted quickly around his classmates in search of any glimpse of Lee. No luck. To make matters worse, where her tent was just the night before was now an empty patch of unoccupied space. She was sharing a tent with Pat though, wasn't she?
"Hey, hey Pat!" Evan jogged over to one of the fold-able, rickety camp tables where Pat and a number of her friends were eating breakfast. "Pat, you haven't seen Lee have you? Pat?"
Though of very different cliques, Pat was one of the nicer high-society girls. Many people from Evan's university came from rich, high-profile political families, often either because of their incredible industrial successes or through connections to literal royalty. I mean, how many universities take their students on a trip abroad just "for the experience?"
But stereotypes aren't always true, and in Pat's case, they were utterly wrong. She was sweet, friendly, and in all frankness, a hoot to be around. Evan quite enjoyed her company.
"Morning Ev!" Pat half-turned toward him, putting down her spoon of congee. "Looks like you woke up a little late. Quick, get a meal in before we've got to head out."
Evan nodded in acknowledgement, smiling a greeting at the other girls around the table. Pat's friends mumbled their hellos before shyly burying their faces in their phones. They really stuck to their own, didn't they?
Noticing Evan's pause, Pat continued, "What's up, Evan?"
"Oh, well, you haven't seen Lee then?" Evan asked again. But he hadn't really expected to in the first place. Lee didn't usually hang out with the high-society girls, even if they got along fine. She was always more involved with the athletic crowd. Even so, Evan couldn't help but feel disappointed by her absence.
"I can't find her," Evan continued in answer to the blank look on Pat's face. "I won't lie, we were out a bit late last night -- past curfew -- and somehow I lost her as we made our way back to camp. You didn't happen to se-,"
"You were out past curfew? Someone got lost?" There she goes again, Evan thought, straight into RA mode. "Evan this isn't a joke, have you told a teacher?" Pat gave Evan her full attention now, wrinkles of concern settling onto her small, pale face.
Hope stirred in Evan's chest. Pat didn't question who Lee was! "I know," Evan started, "I know it sounds worse than it is, and no I haven't told anyo-,"
"Evan! How could you? We need to tell someone no-,"
"Yeah I will, but if you've see-,"
"Come with me, we'll go see Professor Loyle right now," Pat started to get up, her small frame moving quickly with purpose.
