"IS IT you?” Sherry asked Mandy and nudged her waist repeatedly. “Mandy, is it really you?”

Mandy turned to Sherry with a knotted forehead. “What are you talking about?” she asked irritably as she kept on tugging her shoulder. “Can’t you see that I’m watching Elias’ live now.”

“Mandy, I can’t believe you’d go this far for Elias,” Jennie told her then showed her the screen on her phone. “For Elias Hwan, you sell your nude photos?”

“Wait… what?” Mandy grabbed the phone and looked at it closely. “It’s not me!” she denied. “Why would I sell my nude photos online?”

Jennie shrugged her shoulders. “Because you’re eager to earn money just to support him,” she smirked. “I shouldn’t be surprised, I should expect that you’d do this—”

“Jennie, how could you say that to me?” Mandy stood and was about to walk away, but Jennie blocked her way.

“And, where do you think you’re going?” Jennie asked, arching her brow. “This is you, right?”

Mandy held her breath when Jennie played a video on her phone. “Jennie, please don’t do this…”

All of her classmates gather around them as Jennie clicked the play button. Mandy tried to stop her, but she pushed her to the ground. She watched in shock when the screen flashed a pornographic video.

“No!” Mandy stood. “That’s not me!” she shouted and ran. She pushed away the students blocking her way, but they’re all laughing at her.

“Mandy, why don’t you just tell us the truth?” Michael, who just arrived, asked her. His phone was on his hand.

“No…” she said, shaking her head. “No…”

Even Sherry was giving her a look that tells her how shameful the thing she did. “Mandy, I didn’t expect that you could do this—”

“That’s not me!” she shouted. “That’s not me! Those were just photoshopped.”

Jennie and their other classmates laughed, including Monica. She’s giving her a scrutinizing glare as if telling that this is what she deserved for being a freak. Mandy can take all the bad words that Monica and the other people around told her, what she can’t handle is what Jennie and Sherry think about her now.

“How will you prove to us that the woman in this video is not you?” Monica asked with a smirk. “We can clearly recognize her as you, Mandy.”

“That’s not her,” a male voice from behind her classmates said loudly. “That is not Mandy.”

As if like a hero rescuing her, the sea of people around parted and Mandy saw a tall man approaching. She looked up to see who he was but a blinding light cast on her eyes. She flinched and looked down.

“The woman on the video is not her,” he said, this time Mandy was sure that he’s just inches away from her. “You’ve mistaken her for somebody else.”

Tears started to fall from her eyes. She looked at the man again to see his face. She wanted to know who was the only person that believed in her.

“Are you okay?” he asked and held her shoulders. “Mandy…”

“Pocholo?” Mandy asked in wide eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here because—”

Loud knocks on her door interrupted Pocholo. “Mandy? Mandy, are you there?”

Mandy opened her eyes slowly. When she realized that she’s in her room, she got up and looked around panting. She caught her hammering chest. “What’s the meaning of that dream?” she asked as she wiped the trickle of sweats on her temple. "Why do I keep on having nightmares?”

Mandy felt relieved that everything was just a dream. Because if it really happened in reality, she doesn’t know what she could do to her life after knowing that all of her friends are shunning her away. It’s not the first time that she had this nightmare. It started when she was in high school, when her mom is planning to leave her to work abroad. Those nightmares stop when she met Sproutoon and fell in love with Elias. But, now it’s back again. And it’s getting worse.

“Mandy?” A man called from the outside, followed by continuous knocks.

Her brows furrowed. “I thought it’s part of my dream.” She got up and put on her robe. She didn’t bother to look on the mirror before she went to the door and opened it.

“Hi, good morning,” Michael greeted her with a smile.

She gasped. “W-What are you doing here?” She covered her mouth when she remembered that she just woke up. “Is there something wrong at school?”

Michael shook his head. “Nothing,” he said. “I was on my way to school when I remembered that you lived just a couple of blocks from my house. So I thought we can go to school together.”

Mandy felt the heat risen to her cheeks. “But I haven’t prepared for school. I-I just woke up. You’ll be late if you wait for me.”

Michael nodded. “I see. Then maybe tomorrow?”

“Yes, of course,” she said and smiled at him.

“Okay then, I’ll see you later.”

Mandy followed Michael go down the stairs, he waved at her before he disappeared on the corner. Mandy couldn’t believe that Michael dropped by her house just to ask her to walk with him to school. If she didn’t have that nightmare, she must have woke up early and currently enjoying the streets with Michael.

“Who is he? Your boyfriend?”

Mandy turned to her side and saw Pocholo. His hair was a mess, an actual proof that he just got out of bed. He yawned when he walked towards her.

“He’s Michael, my schoolmate,” she said and stepped inside her room. She was about to close the door when Pocholo pushed it open again. “Is there something that I can do for you?” She asked nicely, even he acted differently now.

Pocholo stepped closer as he narrowed his eyes at her. “Did you see me somewhere?”

Mandy’s brows furrowed, then she remembered her dream and how he saved her from bullies. “Wait, now that you asked me about it…” she stared at his face. “But, why are you asking? How did you know?”

Pocholo brushed his hair. “I dreamed about you. And, in that dream, you told me to ask you if you’ve seen me somewhere.”

***