I woke up and felt nothing. You're supposed to feel good after sleeping for 9 hours straight, right? I don't feel that. I just wake up abruptly and go on with my day. 

There was no reason for an unusually big window to exist in front of my bed. Yet everyday an annoying amount of sunlight pierced through its thin curtain and fell directly on my face. Every day I woke up and decided that I would move the bed but that never happened. 

I stood up scratching the back of my head. It was probably a good time to get a new haircut. I looked at the mirror, my miserable face. Brown hair, blue eyes. I recalled a time when adults used to adore me because of being a somewhat cute kid but that cuteness is ebbing away. Up-down, up-down, left-right, left-right, gr-gr-gr-gr. Brush my teeth- done. Should have some cereal before I start to read that web novel I found yesterday. It is about a boy who suddenly gets teleported to a new world. My new favorite type of fiction. Throw in an overpowered MC and you will find me licking the screen instead of reading it. I don't know why I felt so excited about such stories. Do I want a new life that badly? 

I silently went downstairs to get something to eat from the kitchen, hoping that dad had already left. I didn't like to face him without any important reason. I felt like he gave off this 'I'm disappointed in you.' vibe, even though he had always been good to me.

Whenever dad wasn't in a hurry he would make breakfast for me and wait so that we could have it together. Fortunately, he was almost always in a hurry as he was a surgeon in a famous hospital. Which made me more unsure about myself as I was a complete loser of a son. In my 15 years of life, I had achieved nothing. Absolutely nothing. The fact that I barely passed through middle school didn't help my confidence. 

'Alex! You're awake. Come take a seat. Dad's special breakfast awaits you.' Dad said as he caught me trying to peek into the kitchen. What a drag... 

Pancakes, bacon, poached egg, tomatoes and a glass of orange juice. Too complicated of a breakfast for me but it would seem impolite to not eat it. 

There was some sort of elegance in the way dad handled his silverware and ate. It made the breakfast look tastier than it was. 

'I have something really important to share with you today.' He said as I sat down. 

I wondered what it was. Please let it not be about 'Birds and bees'. I'm too old for that shit. 

'You have to move to your grandmother's house in Withesthad to start your high school.' 

My grandmother lived in Withesthad. A small town up north. I never went there but she did come to visit us two or three times.

No. You just don't drop a bomb like that in real life. 

'Are we making a list of things that are never going to happen? I feel a bit worried because I don't see pen and paper in front of you.' I said as I laughed it away. I felt proud that I got him with such an awesome comeback.

'I'm not joking, buddy. I have been thinking about how to approach you with this for weeks now. So I decided to just throw it in there without beating around the bush.' 

This was not like dad. I started to feel a tingling sensation in my heart all of a sudden.

'I'm joining the Doctors Without Boundaries. It's an organization that helps less fortunate people around the world. I know this sounds really selfish. But son, I feel like I have to do this. I would've joined them a lot sooner if your mother had not left us. She would want me to help people out there.' 

I should cry. I should create a scene to stop this. My whole life is about to end and the multiplayer games where I trash talked without any reason... My mother was gone and now the only person who cared about me was trying to abandon me. I should break apart right now! But I didn't. Two lonely tears did fall on my egg but that was it. 

'You're already helping a lot of people here...' I said. An annoying pain in my throat made my words almost unintelligible. I forgot the last time I felt something like this. 

'I will be helping a lot more now. I know I'm being really selfish here but will you please consider this just once. I will not go if you really don't want me to' 

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

I'm the selfish one. Never trying to improve myself, wasting my life like an idiot. How could I say no to something like this? 

'No, dad. You should go. I will be fine.' I said with a firm voice.

He probably wasn't expecting such a response. 

'You won't understand how proud I feel right now, Alex! You are a late bloomer, I know. You will absolutely do something good with your life with such a mature attitude. I was so tensed about this!' He said as he exhaled from his mouth. 

Late bloomer. Yeah right. I hated that word. 

'There's internet connection there, right?' I asked. 

He looked more surprised than I was a moment ago. 

'This is the only thing you're worried about?! What an interesting character!' He exclaimed and started to laugh uncontrollably.

'Dad you'll fall from your chair... You didn't answer my question!' I said with more seriousness.

'Of course, there is! At least I think so.'  He said with a confused expression. 

Now that scared me. 

'By the way, there is something else we should talk about now. I know that you masturbate from time to time and watch porn. Don't get me wrong. That is completely normal for a boy of your age but ...' 

Someone, please kill me.

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So this is why I'm a chronic procrastinator. I surely inherited it from my father. His flight was tonight and he also bought a ticket for me to take the night bus to Withesthad. He couldn't go with me. Yet he decided to wait until today to reveal his big conspiracy. I only brought a backpack full of essential clothes and stuff. The only 'gadget' I had on me was my phone. Headphone plugged into my ear, a really good song played on it.

"How do you think I'm gonna get along

Without you when you're gone?

You took me for everything that I had

And kicked me out on my own."

Seemed so appropriate for my situation right now. The bus was here. 

'It will leave soon. You better get going, buddy.' Dad said as he patted on my back. 'Be respectful to your grandma and uncle. Don't delete the picture of your uncle on your phone. He will be waiting to pick you up there. Do you want anything else? I'm sure the snacks I bought will be enough for tonight. You should arrive there by 8 A.M.' He said. 

'I'll be fine, Dad! I'm not a kid anymore.' I was indeed lying. This was my first long journey alone and I was about to shit my pants. Yeah, I'm an SSS-Rank coward too. 

'Of course dear! Come give me a hug.' He said as he lifted me up to give a hug.

***************************************************************************************************************

Finding my seat wasn't hard. I was scared, yes. But I was a bit excited too. I felt like a hero of one of those novels that I liked so much. The thought of starting a new life felt thrilling, I felt sad about my computer and consoles back at home but it didn't really bother me that much for some reason.

There weren't many people on the bus. Moments before it took off, a girl jumped in. She probably had to run for some time to catch it and was breathing heavily, but that didn't stop her from starting a quest to find her seat. Her brain probably wasn't working properly as she went back and forth a couple of times trying to find it. Then suddenly she sat down beside me. There were too many empty seats out there but she decided to follow the rules and take the seat she was assigned to. 

'Hey there.' She said. 

'Hi.' I replied awkwardly. I wasn't used to having conversations with girls.

She looked good and smelled nice, which seemed like an interesting development to me. She seemed to be at least 4-5 years older than me, a college student?

Half an hour later I realized something profound about human beings. If you get to know people a bit you will find things that you will not like about them. She fell asleep and her head slowly fell on my shoulder. She was snoring like a child and her mouth was wide open. How disgusting! She was wearing a v-neck t shirt, I could see her cleavage and her violet bra. There was a bit of sweat...NO! Sanity prevailed as I decided not to become a pervert. The tag of loser was already too much for me to handle. So like an ideal good kid, I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep myself. 

***************************************************************************************************************

I woke up because of a highly inappropriate dream. I was about to blow but luck was on my side as I woke up just before the accident.

The girl was awake and she looked at me with suspicion 

'Are you okay? You were mumbling for some time.' She said. 

'I am!' I kind of shouted at her.

Suddenly she noticed my erection and swiftly looked away. 

'Uh-huh.' She said. No! Don't say anything! As if this wasn't awkward enough to haunt me for ages. I hope that she didn't realize I was dreaming about her. 

I was exempted from my seven labors an hour later as the driver announced that we had reached Withesthad. After I got down I wasn't worried about my awkward encounter anymore. For a minute I tried to find Uncle Henrik. The enigmatic brother of my dear dad who I never met before. I didn't know anything about this guy. Now that I thought about it, my dad was indeed quite antisocial. Suddenly I heard a screech.

'Dad!' The girl screamed as she ran toward a middle aged man. He had a weird beard. 

'Erika!' He exclaimed and hugged her tightly.

This was too much for me to handle. 

So I decided to jog my memory a bit by taking a look at uncle Henrik's picture. Then suddenly I felt an overwhelming urge to puke everything out of me as I found out that this man was my uncle. The girl was my ... cousin? 

*********************************************************************************************

The song Alex was listening to - 

Another one bites the dust by Queen