Yet another week has passed.
I'm the only thing that's changed.
Again.
Factory 24 is running great.
This past week, we've mostly been working on the garden.
It's doubled in size.
Pretty much the entire left yard is covered in plants now.
We have a lot of fruits that should be grown by the time school starts.
One girl, Hailey, practically runs the garden.
She knows every plant, fruit, and vegetable—how big they'll grow, whether they're healthy or not, everything.
But that's not what I'm here to write about.
I couldn't care less about some garden right now.
It's me.
I'm going to write a whole lot more about me.
I went crazy.
Berserk.
Pretty much everyone hates me now.
The only reason I haven't been banned from Factory 24 is because I'm a founder.
It's the thought of something happening that's making me act this way.
My anxiety has only gotten worse.
My sleep has only gotten worse.
I have bags under my eyes all day, every day.
Now, how did I go berserk?
I'll tell you.
Let's rewind two days.
Two days ago, the founders were in the office discussing rearranging the furniture in Factory 24.
Over time, it's become really cluttered.
If we clean it up, there'll be a lot more space to do things.
I mostly just listened, since I had no ideas about how to rearrange it.
George really wanted a full basketball court inside the building.
Right now, we only had half.
"We should move everything to the left half!"
Leo cut in.
"No, we have too much stuff for that. It'll be hard to move around."
"But if we open a full court, we could play some real games!"
George really wanted it.
They kept going back and forth until George finally gave in.
"Just yesterday, Henry came in with a projector, saying his family bought a new one. He said we could use it at the factory to watch movies and stuff. If we have a full court, we won't have anywhere to watch them."
"Fine. We can keep the furniture in this half of the court."
Everyone kept talking about the new layout until Melanie spoke up.
"■■■■■, do you have any ideas?"
"Does it look like I have any?"
"What does it matter? Everyone's happy with what we currently have."
I said that way too harshly.
I'm irritated. What do you expect from me?
Leo stepped in.
"If he doesn't want to help out, he doesn't want to help out..."
"But, ■■■■■, you know you've only gotten worse."
He didn't say anything else after that and went back to planning.
I hated it.
They stopped asking if I was okay.
I hate it when they don't ask.
I hate it when they do ask.
But I think I'd rather they do.
Later that day, we started moving the furniture around.
Everyone at Factory 24 helped out.
Except me.
I stood in the office doorway and watched.
I never help out anymore.
I just watch.
The projector was placed in the back left side of Factory 24, right next to the office.
The basketball court was on the back right side.
The front right side held all the bookshelves and board games.
The front left side became the main hangout area, with most of the tables and chairs.
There were twenty-six members helping out, not counting me.
In total, there are a hundred and thirty-three members of Factory 24.
After counting three times, I realized just how much we've grown.
I know pretty much everything about everyone.
Who comes in at what times.
Who talks to who the most.
Who talks to who the least.
Who likes who.
Who dislikes who.
How long people stay at Factory 24.
Whether they help, or try to avoid helping.
Whether they try to stay in good standing with the founders or not.
Whether they know I'm watching or not.
Whether my presence makes them uncomfortable or not.
I know what grade every single one of them is in.
I know everything.
About everyone.
I've been watching for weeks.
No one is suspicious.
They all do their own things.
They have their own habits.
They're just ordinary kids being themselves.
I know there is nothing wrong with any of them.
But the slightest difference in someone's behavior is enough to make me tense.
"Is it them?"
"Is that why?"
"Is that what I was trying to stop?"
At that point, I stopped asking why I did it.
And started asking what I stopped.
Who changes it?
Who ruins it?
———————————————————————
While everything was being moved around, Liam walked in.
He didn't look happy.
He immediately started walking toward me.
I don't remember doing anything to him.
I glared at him.
He wasn't fazed.
He stopped right in front of me.
And the more he looked at me, the angrier he seemed to get.
Then he punched me.
I'm not particularly strong, so I hit the floor pretty hard.
I'm stubborn.
Especially now.
I tried throwing punches back, but none of them landed well.
He kept beating me without saying a word.
No one else seemed to know what was going on, and they immediately started rushing over to break us up.
George and Leo finally pulled him back and dragged him away from me.
I didn't know why he hit me, but I knew he probably had a reason to.
"Fuck you, ■■■■■■!"
"You know what you did, and you still show up here!?"
Wait.
Seriously, what did I do?
Everyone froze after hearing that.
Now they knew Liam had a reason.
They just didn't know what it was.
George and Leo forced him into the office and shut the door.
The two Melanies helped me into a chair and brought out the first-aid kit for my cuts and bruises.
Melanie was worried about what to tell Mom, but I didn't care about that.
Liam knew something I didn't.
After everyone calmed down, the two Melanies and I went into the office.
My stubborn ass...
The second I saw Liam, I lunged at him.
He wasn't ready for it, just like I wasn't ready the first time.
I landed a good right hook before George shoved me back.
After that, we were forced to opposite ends of the table, with everyone else sitting between us.
Liam was the first to speak.
"Not even trying to defend yourself? You're attacking me back?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Leo cut in before things got messy again.
"Guys, let's try to go one step at a time."
"Liam, why did you start fighting ■■■■■ the second you saw him?"
"That son of a bitch is against us."
What?
"What?" everyone said at once.
What is this guy talking about?
I've been wearing my brain out trying to make sure Factory 24 stays safe.
"Why do you think he's been watching everyone so intensely?"
"He's trying to take over Factory 24!"
I'm doing the exact fucking opposite, Liam.
"What proof do you have?"
"For the past month, ever since the stroke, you've been keeping an eye on all of us!"
"At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if you knew every little thing about us!"
"You're angry all the time, like you hate us!"
"You never help out anymore!"
"You want to destroy the factory!"
Holy shit.
He couldn't be more wrong.
"You couldn't be more wrong."
"Aren't you supposed to be really good at reading people? How did you come to a conclusion that baseless?"
He answered so quickly it was like he already knew what I was going to say.
"Then why are you acting this way?"
"...My stroke."
I can't tell them.
"Quit the bullshit, ■■■■■. No... ■■■■■■!"
Wow.
He actually used my full first name.
"We all know you're fine after the stroke! You're doing this on purpose!"
"If you won't tell me why I'm wrong, then you're just a liar!"
"And it's not baseless! Everyone's seen you! The bags under your eyes, how irritated you are all the time—you almost never leave this place anymore!"
At this point, everyone was convinced by Liam's story.
They still didn't understand one thing, though.
Melanie spoke up first.
"Liam, why did you punch ■■■■■ the moment you saw him?"
"Even if what you're saying is believable, you still don't have actual proof."
Leo added on.
"And ■■■■■, why would you instantly fight back? It would've been better to stay calm and be rational."
Rational?
There's nothing rational about this!
"Because he's insane! He's going to use us to take control of the factory!"
"When have I ever fucking said that, Liam?"
"Sure, I'm watching everyone."
"Sure, I'm angry all the time."
"Sure, I've been acting weird."
"Sure, I haven't been helping."
"But I never said I wanted control! I'm okay with being equal to everyone!"
After that, I stormed off.
———————————————————————
Now, it's been two days.
I haven't been back to the factory since.
I don't care what happens anymore.
If some high schooler joins and ruins everything, sucks to be them, I guess.
While I've been home, Melanie did tell me I'm not banned.
Neither is Liam.
But we're both on thin ice.
And now, the memory can't be the same.
This never happened in the memory.
I became the leader.
A king.
Here, I'm pretty much nothing.
Why worry about a memory that's no longer accurate?
Maybe it really was a coincidence.