“Marie? Marie Jones?” I asked as I transported into her bedroom.
It was very small, maybe the size of two small closets.
The six year old looked up at me and smiled. She was missing her two front teeth and she had a dimple on each cheek. Her blonde curls reached to the middle of her back and her blue eyes shined as she looked at me.
“Hello,” she said to me in a cute, high-pitched voice. “Who are you?”
“My name is Vera. I’m your imaginary friend,” I told her.
“Hi, Vera. My name is Marie, but I guess you knew that.” She giggled, stood up and walked over to me. “Are you gonna go everywhere with me? Like, to school and stuff?”
I nodded and smiled.
“Yes, ma’am. And I’ll get to learn about everything in your life,” I told her.
She squealed happily and hugged me.
“This is gonna be so much fun!” she exclaimed. “Maybe you can meet my substitute teacher, Mr. Andy. His real name is Mr. Anderson, but we call him Mr. Andy ‘cause it’s more fun.”
“Are you about to go to school right now?” I asked.
She nodded and grabbed her backpack, which was being held together by grey duck tape.
“Yep. Momma is waiting for us in the car. Come on.”
Marie’s elementary school was small, but very familiar to me.
“Okay, honey. Be good in school. Daddy will pick you up later,” Mrs. Jones said to her daughter.
Marie nodded and waved goodbye. Her mother didn’t notice.
She took my hand and we headed inside the school. She led me to a door with the words “Mrs. Larson’s Ladybug Class” and we walked into the room.
Marie walked to the back of the class and sat at an empty table. Then, she leaned towards me and whispered, “You can sit down Vera.”
I smiled and sat next to her. She pulled out everything form her backpack and laid it out on the table.
“What’s the first thing you do when you come into class?” I asked her.
“We have to write something interesting that happened to us yesterday. Then, Mr. Andy will come in and we’ll start class,” she answered. “Mr. Andy is here ‘cause Mrs. Larson had a baby, so she’s taking some time to take care of it.”
I nodded and leaned back on the chair.
Marie took out a journal and flipped to a blank page. Then, she wrote the date at the very top, like all of the other children in the classroom. I looked over a couple seconds later and all she wrote was, “Nothing interesting happened to me yesterday…as always.”
She sighed and closed her journal.
“Marie? Can you show me what else you wrote? On the other days?” I asked.
She nodded and showed me. Every page was either blank, the same as the one she just wrote, or it had a big sad face on it.
“Marie, honey, there has to have been something good that happened to you,” I said.
She shook her head.
“Nothing. Not until you came. And I’m not gonna write about that in my journal.”
Just then, the door opened and all of the kids yelled, “Mr. Andy!!!”
I looked up and nearly fainted.
Mr. Andy had bright blue eyes and blonde hair. But that wasn’t what fazed me. It was that he looked exactly like Jacob Anderson, the kid who had imagined me, except older. I saw that his cute, laid back smile had turned into a sexy, confident grin. His eyes were framed by the perfect eyelashes that I used to stare at all day. I saw the child that he once was and I immediately felt at home.
Marie smiled wide and jumped around in her seat.
“Vera, that’s Mr. Andy!” she exclaimed.
I nodded slowly, not taking my eyes off of him.
When the class had settled down, Jacob smiled at everyone and said, “It’s learning time kids! So, get your math books out and your thinking caps on.”
As everyone did that, Jacob walked to the back where Marie and I were sitting and held his hand out.
“Marie, may I please see your journal?” he asked with a smile playing on his lips.
She blushed and looked down as she handed it over.
He read her entry and shook his head.
“Are you positive that nothing interesting happened, Marie? I mean, you didn’t even have fun at school?” he asked in a mock bewildered voice.
She giggled.
“Well, there is something that happened, but it was today and I don’t wanna write it down.” She motioned for him to come closer and he did. She whispered, “I have an imaginary friend named Vera. She’s sitting right next to me.”
The look on Jacob’s face made me smile. He had a deer-in-headlights look. And when he slowly turned his head towards where I sat, his eyes grew wider and he put his hand over mine.
“It’s you,” he breathed. “I can’t believe it.”
Marie looked confused.
“Mr. Andy, do you know her? Can you actually see her?” she asked.
Jacob nodded. He mouthed, “We need to talk.”
“Marie, congratulations on your new imaginary friend,” he whispered to her. “Is it okay if I talk to her for a minute? Alone?”
Marie crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.
“I’m not her keeper, Mr. Andy,” she said.
I laughed softly and Jacob blushed.
“Of course,” he said. Then he turned to me. “May I have a word?”
I smiled and stood up.
“I’ll be back,” I told Marie as I walked towards the door.
Jacob told the class that he was going to step out for a second and put a little brunette girl with pigtails in charge.
He took my hand and stepped out of the room. Once outside, he hugged me and I almost cried. It was such a familiar hug. I felt as if I was finally where I was supposed to be.
“Vera, where have you been?” Jacob asked when we pulled away from each other.
“I’ve been lots of places, Jake,” I answered. “I’m an official imaginary friend so I get to be around lots of different kids. They’re usually unhappy like you were.”
He smiled and took my hands in his.
“I’ve missed you so much. You look incredible.”
I blushed as he intertwined our fingers and kissed the back of my hand.
“I’ve missed you too, Jake. And I almost fainted when I saw you. You’re gorgeous,” I told him as a blush grew on my cheeks.
He chuckled and shrugged when he said, “I’ve taken care of myself.”
“I can see that.” I smiled. “So, how’s life been?”
“Actually, it’s been great. My dad finally started to pay attention to me after he found out about you. Mostly because he didn’t want people to think his only son was a nutjob.”
We laughed.
“So, is this your full time job?” I asked, gesturing to the closed door of the classroom.
“Nah, just a part time. I’m an artist. Some of my paintings are even hanging in the museum,” he answered.
“Really? That’s impressive, Jake,” I said with a smile.
He chuckled and said, “Yeah, I guess. What about you, though? How’s your life been?”
“Well, I live in this place called Imagine. It’s basically a huge carnival with four buildings for us to sleep in. It’s really beautiful and I love it. I’ve mad friends and…”
I didn’t want to tell him about Michael.
“And what?” Jake asked.
I shook my head and smiled.
“I forgot what I was going to say,” I laughed.
He laughed along with me.
“Well you can think about it during class. And maybe later we can catch up a bit.”
I thought about it for a second and said, “Won’t people think you’re crazy if you’re talking to air?”
He chuckled.
“I meant that maybe you can come over to my house when Marie is sleeping. I’d really like to talk to you and catch up.”
I blushed and agreed.
This was going to be very interesting.
