“M-my imaginary friend i-is u-unspeakably cruel.”

  “That doesn’t mean much coming from you. You will take any opportunity not to speak.”

  Can’t really argue with that, but the word cruel by itself isn’t enough to properly describe this hellish punishment she had come up with.

  “T-this… it’s torture.”

  “I know it will come as a surprise to you Mai, given how humble I usually am, but I’m quite confident in my looks. Bathing together hardly counts as torture.”

  I’m more worried about me being naked in front of her than her being naked in front of me. Though I’m not happy about the imaginary naked woman either.

  I don’t have any other friends, but I’m still sure they don’t usually take baths together, and her being imaginary makes the whole thing just worse.

  “P-please forgive me.”

  “I forgave you already. Two days ago when you let me get all excited about us finally getting our internet back despite knowing it won’t be fixed. You said sorry and I forgave you, remember? You also promised to talk to your mom about it in the morning. Did you talk to her in the end?“

  “N-no.”

  “And I forgave you yesterday when you promised you will make sure we have a fun evening regardless, and that you will definitely talk to her tomorrow. Remember what happened then? You just went to bed straight after getting home.”

  “I-i wasn’t feeling well.”

  “Yes, because you haven’t eaten anything for two days. So you promised me we will buy food tomorrow and you didn’t keep that promise either.”

  This is totally unfair, I braved the busy area of school today to buy a cupcake from a vending machine and she is giving me no credit for that.

  I did intend to buy a sandwich and ended up messing up because there were too many people, but I still deserve some credit for eating something.

  “I-i bought a-a cupcake.”

  “A small cupcake isn’t enough. You haven’t talked to your mom, there is still nothing to eat here and you are still starving. How many more times should I just forgive you when you break your promises?”

  Preferably an infinite amount of times, but I’ll settle for just five if it means I can get dressed right now.

  “F-five?”

  “The bath is full, Let’s get in Mai.”

  At least try to bring the number down instead of just ignoring me. It's like she doesn’t even want to negotiate.

  This is totally unfair, I can’t help it that I get too anxious to do those things. I just end up freezing and can’t do it no matter how hard I try.

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  “I-i can’t h-help it.”

  “And I can’t help what you imagine me doing. Now in you go.”

  I should go in. I know I should. It’s not like I can just not shower from now on, especially since I’m being forced to go to school now. I’m already self conscious enough to begin with, I don’t need to add another complex about how I smell. And who knows what she’ll do next if I run away. Everyone imagines a naked person in the bath from time to time right? There is nothing weird about it.

  I should just go in. I should, I should, I should.

  Why can’t I move? Why can’t I do anything right? Why why why why WHY?

  My heart is beating so hard I can feel my blood pulsing all throughout my body. Is that even something that I should be able to feel?

  “Mai…”

  She places her hand on my eyes and I can’t see anything anymore.

  “This isn’t a punishment. Yeah, I’m a bit mad at you, but this isn’t about that. I just want to show you that you can do even the things that feel impossible for you. It’s just to motivate you to try a little harder, so take a deep breath and one step forward.”

  One deep breath, followed by another. It took me twenty three deep breaths to take one impossible step forward.

  It’s been awhile since I did this. I don’t remember how it started, but counting my breaths has been one of my ways of calming down in the past. It wasn’t very helpful since most situations don’t really allow the time to slowly count to a hundred.

  “Good job, now one more.”

  The second step took nineteen breaths, and the third went back up to twenty.

  “Alright, all that’s left is just getting in the bath. Should I take my hand of your eyes?”

  “N-no.”

  Not being able to see anything is surprisingly calming, especially considering the situation.

  “Ok . just be careful.”

  One more deep breath, and then another. I already feel light headed, but if I just focus on breathing then maybe, I can do this?

  “Great job Mai, you made it.”

  Taking her hand off my eyes, she claps enthusiastically.

  I resent the sudden disappearance of my blindfold, but I guess she has been patient enough with me, especially considering this is all some weird punishment.

  “I-i’m sorry.”

  “You should be. But I’ll forgive you since I’m so kind.”

  She called herself humble earlier, and now she is saying she is kind after she forced me into this whole thing. I think the word delusional fits her better.

  “I really wanted you to see that even if it’s hard, you can do it in the end.”

  It took me a few minutes and over a hundred deep breaths to take four steps.

  I don’t think it counts as a huge success story like she is making it out to be.

  “I don’t mind waiting, so it’s fine if it takes you a while.”

  I hate it when she guesses what I’m thinking.

  “N-no one else will.”

  “Then I’ll just have to push you forward until it gets easier.”

  “P-please don’t.”

  “Ok ok, I’ll think about it.”

  I’m doomed.

  “Anyway Mai, there's something I really need to tell you.”

  “What?”

  “My eyes are up here.”

  “I-i-i wasn;t looking.”

  “Well I was looking at yours too, so we are even.”

  WHY???

  “I-i really wasn’t l-looking.”

  “You lie too much Mai. Now wash my back.”

  “I-impossible.”

  “I don’t think we should let that word stop us anymore.”

  She says it with a brilliant smile and turns her back to me.

  It seems I’m going to find out what really is impossible for me, and I’m not quite sure how I feel about that. And here I thought I’ve already given up, She really is amazing.