Chapter 4

The loud screech of curtains being tossed open wakes me. Light floods into my room, over my bleary eyes. My body is heavier than lead as I sit up holding my head, already aware of the drill. 

“Ugh…” I smack my fist against my temple, wishing for the ache to go away. As my vision slowly clears, I see my mother, crossed arms and cocky smirk as she stands by my bed.

“Good morning Sleepyhead!” She exclaims, “you weren’t answering to any of my calls,” she adds. She moves to the door of my bedroom, possibly to return to the kitchen for me and my little sister’s breakfast. 

“I already told you that I can’t hear you from the kitchen!” I sigh exasperatedly. Recalling the chilly weather of yesterday, I slip on a hoodie and ripped jeans. 

Before stepping into the hallway, Mom stops by the door once again. It was almost eerie how similar her expression was from yesterday’s. I roll my eyes at her solemn expression. What is it this time?! Hopefully not the same thing as yesterday.

“Clo…” she says, hesitant as she was yesterday. 

“What is it?!” I growl nastily. I heave my school bag over my shoulder, which aches from yesterday’s walk home. My mother’s voice softens and she sighs placatingly to me, as if I were a toddler throwing a tantrum. 

“…Don’t stay up so late…it’s not good for you…”

“You said that yesterday.” I walk into the hallway, nudging her out of my doorway and heading to the stairs. “Quit nagging.”

“Oh, Clo. If something’s pressuring you, just tell me, please…”

“Nothing’s pressuring me, I’m fine.”

“I know, I know, I’m just…worried about you sometimes. Clove, you know I care…”

“I knooow.” 

I’m sluggish with sleep as I stagger towards the stairs. Recalling my fall from yesterday, I grip the railings hard as I slowly let myself down the steps, one by one.

“Finally holding the railings?” My mom is smug from this new development. 

“Yeah, I don’t wanna fall down the stairs again.” 

“Again….?” My mother trails off in confusion, waiting for me to elaborate. I don’t. 

“I’m going to school now.” I announce, swinging the front door open.

“Wait!” My mother calls, “Eat something first!” She gestures towards the dining table, where Mina is stuffing her face with chocolate pancakes. I’m hungry. All I had yesterday was a plate of chicken nuggets from school lunch. But I’m used to it. 

“I’m gonna be late!” I shout, slamming the door behind me. 

I almost feel bad for a moment, for wasting the food she had painstakingly made and worked for. Alas, I’m far too preoccupied with my thoughts on school to turn back and apologize. Myo was absent yesterday. Hopefully she won’t be absent today as well. She could be sick, I guess. If she is, I should pay her a visit after school. Maybe she’d like if I brought her some flowers. We’ve got some wild buttercups growing near the school yard.

The bare branches telling of the coming winter prick at the blank sky. The sky is overcast again, with no signs of changing anytime soon. Is it just me, or are the clouds a shade darker than they were yesterday…? Still, they seem indifferent to the dry air. 

I continue on with my routine, the sounds of annoying high schoolers and middle schoolers daring each other to do dumb things becoming background noise as I let myself into the school yard. I wish they would just shut up. It’s so annoying to have to come to school every day to hear them babbling about the next big thing. I wish Myo was here, so that she could tell me to fill the space with our own babbles about interesting topics.

I search for her once again, but to no avail. My chance of speaking to Myo today seems about as hopeless as our possibility of rain today. The loudspeakers begin screaming.

“Attention students! Today it is January 4th, 2030. Today is a Friday. The sky is overcast, and—“

I zone out the call, as usual. Figuring that Myo would probably be in homeroom if not in the school yard, I push through the heavy front doors. Dread bites and claws at my stomach as I wonder what to do about Laure, Dahlia, and Chrys today without Myo. Just one day without her and I’m already getting thoughts about hiding in the bathroom and cutting class, among other things…