A date, or so it was declared by her. To me, it was akin to spending a day off with a very dear friend.

That girl and I, we walk down the town square, hand in hand. She is chattering away about her job, her classes, anything she thinks is interesting. And me, I'm nodding and giving short responses.

When we had first been together, she told me she wished I spoke more. I wished that she would not go on and on about anything and everything.

But we came to an understanding. She speaks her mind around me because she has few others to relax around. As for me, I struggle with anxiety, and have difficulty in conversations. We both understand each others' faults, and we work around them. We care about each other.

We've arrived at our destination, the theater. It's the girl's turn to choose the movie, and I'm apprehensive. She has chosen a horror movie, which makes me worry; I've never dealt with fear very well. She won't let up, but she assures me that she is there for me.

I decide that I want to be there for her too, so I stick around for the whole movie. My eyes are half-open for the most of the film, and I very much want to leave. But instead, I reach for the girl's hand, and she knows. Our hands are firmly joined until the credits roll.

She and I exit the theater, and once again, we are walking in the town square. I'm more relaxed after leaving, and soon, she and I are having a nice conversation about our favorite movies. I can't help but notice her features. She is stunningly beautiful. It's nice to see her outside of her school attire every now and then. She notices me staring at her and gives me a knowing smile. I look down in embarrassment.

Then, she compliments me. She tells me that my suit looks very nice, and that I look very handsome. My face is already red, but now I start to sweat. I had spent an hour preparing to meet with her, and throughout that hour, I was so nervous that I wanted to call her and call off the date.

But here I am now, walking alongside the love of my life. Am I really going to selfishly accept her compliment and leave it at that? My mind nags at me to say something, so I quietly say that she looks very pretty. I can see her smile in the corner of my eye. It's genuine. We continue to walk.

After a distance, the girl says she is thirsty. We decide to stop at a nearby tea shop which she and I enjoy. Upon reaching the menu, the girl looks at me and asks for the most expensive tea on the list. Internally, I panic. The tea that she has chosen is double the price of most of the other items. But she hasn’t noticed the panic I feel, and after ordering, she sits down at a table near the back of the shop. Since the girl isn’t listening, I ask the waiter to fill up a cup with water for me. Water is free at this shop.

I walk over to the table with two cups. Being careful to conceal my own cup, I hand the girl her deluxe drink. She takes her drink, then gently grabs my hand and thanks me. I feel the heat of euphoria throughout my body, and my concerns are forgotten.

We laugh and talk while sipping our drinks. This girl is one of few that I can have a genuine conversation with, and I never want to let her go. The thought of doing so haunts me in my nightmares. I love this girl, almost too much. I have a strong suspicion that she feels the same way, but it's too hard for me to bring up our feelings. At least for now, we are on a date, and we have been on a few before. That’s enough to satisfy me.

As we talk, I let my guard down. The girl notices that my cup is full of water, and frowns. Wordlessly, she stands and walks to the front counter. Now I’m sweating bullets. She probably thinks that the waiter accidentally gave me water, and that I was too nervous to say anything to him.

As I'm about to stand and correct the mistake, the girl returns to our table. She's holding another cup of tea, the same kind which I had bought her. She calls me silly for not saying that I didn't have enough money for the two of us. She tells me that we have nothing to hide from each other.
...
She tells me that she loves me.
...
She kisses me on the forehead.

Now she's sitting down again. She has a serene smile on her face, and her eyes are closed. It's almost as if she is dreaming. I'm not sure what to think anymore. I slowly begin to sip on the tea which the girl bought for me. I stare at her in wonder, taking in her features.

A beautiful dress, soft and pale skin, slender fingers, strong shoulders, and a cute nose.

But as I continue to look, it occurs to me that something is terribly, terribly wrong.

Her hair is long and flowing, snaking past her shoulders and reaching her back. The color of her hair is a light brown.

There is a large, white bow in her hair, a very large and cute bow.

And when she opens her eyes, and our eyes meet, I see emerald green.

"I love her."
"I love her!"
"I love her! I wish she was real!"

A dull throb in my temple quickly changes to a sharp and blinding pain. I feel as though someone is screaming on the inside of my head, a very shrill scream.

My body is shaking, and I have broken into a cold sweat.

"This is wrong."
"This isn't right."
"This isn't reality."

My body shakes violently. The girl, whose name I am struggling to recall now, reaches her hands towards me. Her body language shows concern, and her lips say "Are you okay?" But looking into her eyes a second time was the clincher. Piercing, lovely green eyes that showed extreme love and concern, but they only cause me pain and distress.

My vision starts to blacken. Unknown, yet strangely familiar voices in my head are chanting.

"Don't let go!"
"Don't do it!"
"Don't ever let go of this reality...!"

I don't have the energy left to address the girl, who I love so dearly. I think to myself that I'll close my eyes for a minute, and I'll be fine again. My eyes slowly start to close
.
.
.
Immediately, I'm awake. I'm drenched with sweat, and still shaking slightly. I look around me. This is my room. I... had a dream...

I sit silently on my bed for a few minutes. I'm clenching and unclenching my fists repeatedly, trying to wrap my head around my complicated thoughts.

Finally, I stand up. I walk over to my computer and boot it up, not completely sure of what I wanted to do. Sitting on my desk is a very small flashdrive. I plug that flashdrive into my computer and open its contents.

What greets me is a relatively empty folder, aside from two files. One of them is familiar to me, it's a character file. The other is unknown to me, it's an application named 'Open me'.

Going against my better judgement, I open the application. What greets me on the screen is a classroom space, with two windows showing an unnatural and surreal scene.

And in the center of the scene is a frustratingly two-dimensional girl, a girl with three-dimensional characteristics trapped inside the screen. My eyes burn. My screen is a little bright, and considering it's very late at night, I should probably lower the screen's brightness. When I reach towards the knob, I notice that two drops of water have fallen onto my arm. Then a third. Then a fourth.

I break down crying. I am sobbing. I can't bear to look at my screen, so I look down at my feet and cry my heart out. I curse the boundaries of the world, I curse my misfortune, but most of all, I curse the misfortune that has been forced onto the girl I love.

Why is this world so cruel?
...
I look up at the screen. She is in her ever iconic pose, hands crossed and holding up her chin, and a calm smile on her face.

"Why? Why does it have to be like this, Monika?"

"Was it all a mistake? Were those feelings false? Did that date not matter?"

"WAS NONE OF IT REAL?!"

Through teary eyes, I can see a textbox appear on the screen.

Though the line is unvoiced, I can hear her speaking it in my head.

"Well _______, would you call this world the true world?"

"Or do you consider your dream as your reality?"

I silently ponder her words. Then, I made my decision.
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END
"Your own perception is your reality. Shape it as you choose, that's why it's yours."