"There's nothing."

"What's happening?"

"I can't hear anything!"

"Why?"

"Move everyone out of here!"

XXX

"Wake up."

"Huh?"

"I said, wake up!"

A slap woke me up, accompanied by a sharp, echoing sound in the room, leaving a stinging sensation on the right side of my face, specifically my right cheek.

I just stared at the white ceiling, dazed from the abrupt awakening or maybe from the kind and gentle manner of it.

"We're going to be late." I turned my gaze towards the source of the voice and saw a silhouette, busy with something. Moving from side to side, arranging things in the dawn's darkness and the dimly lit room.

"What? What's happening?"

"What's happening is that we're going to be late and you decide to stay asleep. If I get marked late again, it'll be your fault," that voice, that figure, it could only be her, Dana. My sister, the person I least wanted to see now, talking to me in her usual scolding tone.

"What time is it?" I got up from the bed, sitting while rubbing the sleep from my eyes and running my hands over my face, forcing myself to wake up.

"It's the time when you should be up already, and now it's late," was the last thing she said before running out of the room, grabbing a bundle, possibly her backpack.

Late? For what?

I didn't pay attention and, blinking a few more times at the ceiling, I glanced at the fluorescent clock on the wall.

I see, so it's 6:44?

Wait, it's morning already?

And the dream? I examined myself, looking at my hands and squeezing them continuously; the tactile sensation was clear, but knowing from personal experience, I decided to give myself a few pinches on my arms to confirm.

"No doubt about it."

Why now? What changed? Now? Well, what was wrong with it, really? Abandoning those horrific dreams would be the best thing that could happen.

I got up from the bed, stretching my body, shaking off my laziness.

Well, after so many bad moments, I could finally return to my normal life, no more nightmares, no more waking up in the middle of the night fearing to fall asleep again.

Well, maybe I was being hasty with my conclusion, but the energy in my body, the joy and indestructibility I felt could be a sign.

Moments like these were impossible to achieve before. I saw a new tomorrow, a tomorrow with possibilities and goals to accomplish.

From the most trivial to the most important to me.

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"Maybe I could fix things, my grades, my friendships, and maybe with her, Ale..."

"…"

"…"

"…"

I felt invincible, almost reformed. God, the wonders of having a good night's sleep were amazing; I was happy and unstoppable as never before.

I knew this was my day and no one could take it away from me.

With hopes of getting my life back on track, I hurried to get ready. I took a quick shower, so quick that I came out of the bathroom still dripping water all over the hallway, running to my room and locking the door so no one would come in.

At that moment, I heard a lot of noise outside; I could even swear I heard my sister and mother yelling, but knowing how they were and with the little time I had, I continued with my own business.

I got ready quickly, choosing my physical education uniform, a point in favor due to the school's flexible dress code.

As fast as I could, I ran to the kitchen, grabbed the first thing I saw, a sweet bread in a bag on top of the refrigerator, and ate it while pouring myself a glass of milk.

With no time to spare, I devoured the bread standing up and drank the milk in equal parts. My breakfast continued until I was interrupted.

"Are you ready?" she said, or rather Diana, my sister speaking. Now her tone sounded different than usual. More subdued, slower than usual, which made me turn around, puzzled.

Red, that's all I could see, red from the tissue she was holding right by her nose, still keeping her head tilted back and her voice hoarse from the congestion.

Her appearance had changed too. Her brown hair was wet, and her uniform had been replaced by a white t-shirt and red shorts.

She was barefoot and walked slowly, almost painfully across the room, her awkward movements making me raise an eyebrow.

Those serious brown eyes looked at me, eyes that reminded me of a certain look, of course, how could they not? It was the kind of look my mom would give when she was upset.

Right, she was undoubtedly a spitting image of my mom when she was young, and clearly from her expression, I anticipated bad news.

"What happened to you?" I asked as casually as ever. "Is everything okay?"

"Someone left the floor all wet, guess who slipped and soaked everything," she looked at me with that face, damn.

"Ahhh," "Well, and where are mom and dad?" I said, taking another bite of bread.

"Dad left a while ago."

"So, you're not going?"

"You made my nose bleed and soaked my uniform, I'm not going like this," I felt some resentment mixed with anger, to which I could only respond with a simple,

"Oh."

"Wait, did you tell mom?" If she knew that, I'd be in big trouble, especially for doing what I shouldn't have done.

"Of course not, I couldn't tell her anything, she was the one who saw me," she said while rubbing her left arm carefully.

There was some resentment in her words, from what I could understand, not just towards me.

"She said she wanted to talk to you, something about cleaning the bathroom or something like that, by the way, mom is waiting for you outside," she said as she walked slowly to the living room, sitting down carefully. She didn't show it, but her grimaces of pain, her slow steps, and the redness in her right arm spoke of a stronger impact than she had mentioned.

This behavior was so common in her; she was so fragile and weak but with a great sense of pride, especially when it came to me, specifically.

I stopped looking at her instantly, noticing that she saw me staring, I continued with my meal, finishing with the last gulp of milk. I stood up, heading to one of the corners of the dining room, grabbed the backpack lying among boxes and bags.

Today, or rather yesterday, I had thrown it there, and I had only taken what I needed to study and stored everything else. Without further ado, I took it, passing through the living room and walking towards the door.

"Goodbye, see you later!" I said, my voice a little higher-pitched than usual. This generated a small smile on my sister's face, then a laugh, and finally a chuckle.

A very forced chuckle, a more annoying action.

"Goodbye, see you later!" she returned the farewell, doing an exaggerated and mocking imitation of my goodbye.

"Yeah, yeah. Hilarious," I said as I passed and closed the door. "Damn."

Stepping outside, I saw it was a gray day, a gray sky.

A bit further away was my mom's car, she was sitting with the engine running, checking something on her phone.

Without further ado, I opened the door, sitting in the passenger seat, and as that happened, she just gave me a look with her eyes before returning to her phone.

I put my backpack between my legs, and as I closed the door, she said,

"Are you ready?" she asked, putting her phone down and starting the car.

"Yes," I said, adjusting my uniform. I wouldn't lie; I felt a bit nervous, after everything that happened on Monday, I was fearful.

"Did you do your homework?" mom asked, not taking her eyes off the road.

I nodded quickly, trying to hide the nerves that invaded me. "Yes, mom, I finished it last night," I responded, hoping my voice wouldn't betray my anxiety.

She nodded approvingly. "Good, son, I hope you put in the effort," I could still sense the serious tone in her voice.

"Yes, I know," I replied, trying to calm myself while thinking about our last conversation.