I can't see anything, that was the first thought I had opening my eyes. My curtains hang half open, the bright orange of the sunrise leaking into my room, forcing my eyes to adjust to the light. I had dreamed something intense, I could tell as much from the cold sweat covering my body. Sticking to me as I tried to catch my breath in bed, sounds of morning ambience all around me. I usually don't remember my dreams, and this time was no different, the details had left me before I had even become fully conscious. I push myself up with both hands, my eyes adjusting to the brightness of the morning light, and stretch my arm, yawning loudly. My bed is always a mess after I wake up, it must be something to do with the way I sleep, my bed sheets are wrinkled up, and my blanket lay half off the bed onto the velvet carpet covering my room. Reaching for my phone, a sudden shiver passes over my body. Glancing over at my window, I see that it's still closed, obviously, no one could have opened it. 6:32, that was the time flashed on the screen, meaning I had almost an hour before the bus would be here for school. Getting out of bed is never easy for me, I love the feeling of my bed, sometimes I can just lay there for hours, even when I'm not tired; Today that will not do, it's the first day of a new year of school, and my parents will give me hell if I'm not ready for the bus. My body aches as I stand up, for some reason it's really cold today, but I try my best to ignore it as I leave my room, getting ready to shower.

The shower is my second favorite place in my house, something about hot water puts me at ease. Turning the knob all the way to the left, I let the water pour over my entire body. The sensation of hot water covering my body is my favorite feeling in the world. Today, it washes away whatever feelings of anxiety I had for the day, and now I'm suddenly hopeful. I've never been very good at school, talking to people was hard for me. An exact opposite to my sister, who always seemed to be the brightest person in any room. It wasn't just her personality, she was also beautiful, her long black hair cascaded down her back. Her eyes were a shining blue, and she was kind to everyone. We're supposed to be sisters, but almost everyone would agree that she looks way better than me. Mom always said it was the way that I carried myself, always telling me that if I tried harder people would notice me more. Mom loved Hikari more than anything in the world, and much more than me. Dad felt the same way, I could tell, even though he would never say it like mom. The only person who ever told me I was special too was Hikari, and I loved her for that. I don't really mind everyone else talking about how I always brought down the mood, or how I was holding myself back, or about how I should talk to people more, knowing that my sister loves me is good enough for me. That's what I wish I could feel, at the very least. I still love Hikari, and I know it's not fair, but I've always felt like it was easy for her to say things like that to me. There's not a single person that hates her, and my parents don't pressure her nearly as much as they do to me. I haven't talked to her as much this summer as I did in other ones. Even though a small part of my heart feels jealous, I know she's the only person who kind of understands how I feel, and that's why I'm ok with all these feelings. I also use the shower to sort my thoughts out a lot of the time, it helps me clear my mind.

"Nezu, are you okay in there?" I can hear Hikari calling from the hall outside of the bathroom. "You've been in there for a while now".

"I'll be out in a few minutes" I answer back, no doubt she was waiting to shower for quite some time, and we don't have a lot of that before our first day back to school.

"Okay, love you Nezu" That was another thing about Hiakru, she always ended every conversation we had with "love you", no matter what. Even when we'd argue, she would always make sure to say it. I smile to myself, she only did it with me, that's what always reassured me, knowing that she cares about me. Turning the nozzle off and stepping out of the shower, I grab my phone to check the time; I was in the shower for nearly 30 minutes. I grab a towel and tie it around me before heading back to the room, making sure to let Hikari know that the shower was free for her now.

Entering our kitchen, now dry and in fresh clothes, a blue shirt and tattered jeans, I see mom leaning on the kitchen counter. Our dad must have left for work already, he must have already wished Hikari good luck on the first day of school. Our parents were both in their mid 30s, and they were both remarkably average people. Mom was average height for her age, around 5'7". She had a nice and clean appearance, she was a normal weight, she had black hair and pale green eyes. She often wore a simple dress, and in the winter she always wore a purple round neck sweater. Today, she just wore a simple pink t-shirt and beige pants.

Smiling, I asked "Good morning mom, what's for breakfast?" I was going to be positive today, I wasn't going to let myself ruin the first day back at school.

She pointed at an arrangement of cereal boxes on the kitchen counter, and my eyes fell on the box of frosted flakes, my favorite. Mom usually didn't talk much, and when she talked to me it usually wasn't good. Putting back the box, I get up to get milk from the fridge.

"Nezu, are you nervous about your first day back?" I'm a little taken aback, the words don't sound venomous, or condescending, or angry, like they almost always do. For a second I almost tell her how I'm really feeling, but I catch myself. "I'm sure it'll be fine mom, I'm nervous just like any day of school." She nods slowly, and after an awkward pause, she says: "Honey, listen, I know I haven't been fair to you. I just want you to know that I love you, and if you feel like you ever need to talk you can-"

She's cut off by Hikari entering the room, and she purses her lips. I know what she was going to say though, and it came as a shock to me. My mom, in the past 4 years, had never said anything like that to me. I didn't know how to feel, Hikari stood there for a second, looking slightly confused, before saying: " You look good Nezu" smiling and hugging me from behind.

"Hikari, your hair is still wet" I say trying to escape her. "Oh is it, I didn't even notice." I know she's being coy, she says this as she's rubbing her hair down my arm. The cold from the hair made me shiver again, but this time I didn't feel uneasy. A kind of warmth always followed Hikari around, a warmth that made it seem like I would never be cold again.

"Cereal for breakfast! Do we have frosted flakes?" She finally let go of me and together we sat down at the table to eat breakfast. Mom and Hikari talked on and on about the first day of school. Hikari talked about how she was nervous about her junior year. Mom always said that junior year is the most stressful of any of the years. That was extra true for Hikari, who worked so hard to maintain good grades.

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"I'm sure Nezu is more nervous than me though." Hikari said with a sideway glance. "It's your first year of high-school, it's been forever since we've gone to the same school together." It was true, I was extremely nervous, as I thought more and more while eating breakfast, I realized none of the people I knew from middle school would be at the same high-school. The middle school we went to was 30 minutes away, and now my new school is apparently a 40 minute bus ride. They were in opposite directions too, so they were around an hour apart. It was a pain for our parents when I was still in middle school, I got sick a lot and one of them would have to come pick me up from middle school, and then because Hikari stayed after for school activities so much, they would have to drive another half hour there and back to the high school. It was one of the major downsides of living so far away from the cities.

"Did you make new friends at high-school?" I felt silly asking, but I was scared I wouldn't have anyone to talk to. I already knew the answer anyway, it was easy for Hikari to make new friends.

She paused for a few seconds before answering: "Eventually I did, but almost everyone will feel alone at first. I'm sure you'll end up making new friends too, and even if you don't at first I'll hang out with you until you do." I smiled, knowing that even Hikari struggled to make friends made me feel better.

I opened my mouth to tell her thank you, but was interrupted by our mom. "Ok you two, it's about that time, Hikari will take you to the bus stop, Nezu, good luck on your first day."

I nodded and slung my sky-blue backpack over my back. Hikari and I walked to the door together,

"Oh! I almost forgot, don't forget your lunches" Mom said from behind us.

After the brief walk from our house to where the bus would stop to pick us up, I was shivering. The wind was light, but for some reason it made it feel so much colder than it was. The sun was fully in the air now, light shined through the pine trees that surrounded us and the road. I loved the color of the sun, the rays peeking through the trees reminded me of a painting. I loved to paint, and art in general, but mom said it was a useless hobby. Hikari didn't seem to notice the sight, she was sitting on the old and rusted bench now, staring into her phone. No doubt she was texting one of her friends, excited about seeing them again after such a long time. I blow into my hands to warm them up before taking out my phone to check the time; But as I'm reaching into my pockets, I see the bright yellow of the school bus start making its way over the hill into our view.

"The bus is almost here" I said out loud, almost to myself more than to Hikari. She glances down the road before standing up. She stretches, one arm behind her head, the other pointing directly into the sky, and lets out a long sigh.

"There's really not that many people that ride our bus, you could probably sit by yourself if you want." Hikari says, yawning the words out. Then she looks at me and smiles "Or you could sit with me if you want, it's a long ride." I take another look around the small clearing we're in. There are sounds of animals all around us, I see fluffy squirrels climbing trees. Dad once told me that this is the time of year that squirrels give birth to their babies. I never fact checked it, but suddenly I wondered if it was true. It would make more sense to me for them to be born in the summer, where it's warm and comfortable. The fall is when the leaves start to leave the trees, dying and being swept away by young kids making piles of them jump into, or by older people whose kids have long since moved away, leaving them to do all their housework themselves.

"Can I sit with you then?" I look down at my feet, feeling dumb for asking.

I feel Hikari ruffling my hair: "Of course you can, I already said so silly." Hikari really was the perfect sister, I feel ashamed for ever feeling jealous of her.

The bus finally finishes its way down the road and pulls up to our stop. Hikari springs up, grabbing her backpack and walks towards the bus, I follow her closely. Now that it's up close, the bus looks so much bigger than the ones I rode to middle school. I don't know if they actually are, but I guess that makes sense.

As we enter the bus, the man at the wheel turns to look at us. His hair, or what's left of it, is gray. His face is a bit rounded and a bit putty, and he has a long beard that's tied to a point at the end. It reminds me of some of the beards that I've seen dwarves have in the movies I've watched. He flashes us a wide smile, which shows me his teeth, which are slightly yellow, but only slightly.

"Hikari, good to see ye again girl." He even kind of talks like a dwarf, but he's one of the tallest people I've ever seen. "And this little one behind ye, that must be yer sister ye told me so much about."

"Yessir, she sure is, this is Nozomi, my baby sister." Hikari turns around and pulls at my cheeks.

Swatting away her hands so I can talk, I manage to get out "You can call me Nezu if you want."

Hikari looks surprised, before breaking into another smile. "That's a big deal sir, she usually only likes it when I call her that." Hikari sits down in the seat closest to the front while saying this, and I take my seat right next to her.

"Well I consider myself honored then! Glad to meet ye Nezu, hope you'll help keep me entertained this year, it's quite a long ride everyday. You can call me Ralph, although yer sister is too polite to use my name." He reaches over the empty aisle to shake my hand, and I nervously reach out mine. Looking around the bus, I see that there are only 4 other students besides me and Hikari that ride this bus. 2 girls and 2 boys, and they are both sitting in groups of two. Taking a closer look at the bus seats, I see that many of them are worn, the pigmented leather torn in many places, letting the foam spill out ever so slightly.

"Well, ye two are the last kids on the route, get real comfortable Nezu, it's nearly an hour long drive."

"I thought my mom said that it only took 40 minutes from our house to get to school." I was confused why Ralph said it would take so long. I didn't want to have even more time for my anxiety to build up.

"Well I s'pose if you were driving by car, it would be around that time then yes. I have to go a bit slower though, I gots to be extra careful when I'm drivin ye kids around." I guess that kind of makes sense, and the bus is a lot bigger than a car, so it was probably harder to drive. I nod and lay back against the leather seats, closing my eyes as the bus started to move forward. Hikari and the bus driver Ralph talked on and on. Southern! I realized after a few minutes, that's what Ralph's accent reminded me of. He reminded me of the kindhearted old southern people in the movies. Hikari could talk to people for hours if she had the time, and it was really showing now. After what seemed like hours, I was fighting to stay awake. My sleep must have been catching up to me, or maybe listening to my sister and Ralph was just too calming, but I found myself bobbing my head up and down, fighting off the drowsiness.