Beautifully Damaged

2. Stares

A shrilling alarm clock wasn’t enough to convince me to get out of bed. What did it was the dog pawing at my stomach and nudging my face with a cold nose. I shoved him away with a reluctant groan and rolled over to glare at the cheerfully lit numbers on the digital clock. It was six in the morning. Great, I thought, three hours of sleep. I pressed my face into my pillow, so soft and warm. Within a couple of seconds, I was hovering on the brink of sleep once again.

I didn’t have to get up, after all, I needed a day to figure out what was going on. A few hours more of sleep and I'd be ready. Sighing through my pillow, I settled back into the lull of almost sleep. A pressure on my side didn't even bother me, until it turned into a playful shove. The world tilted and I flailed to grab something to ground me, but it was too late; I landed on my back on the carpeted floor with a surprised 'Oomph'. Oxygen escaped my lungs, knocked out of me by the force of the fall. Gasping in a deep breath, I looked up at the edge of my mattress. A guilty furry face peered over the edge, his soft eyes apologetically mischievous.

“You little-” I started but he cut me off with an excited bark. “Fine.”

I hauled myself up from the floor, holding the corner of my side table until my equilibrium leveled out.

"I suppose you're hungry," I mused as he looked longingly on at me.

His resounding woof confirmed my suspicions. The dog dropped from the bed, much more gracefully than he had allowed me, and trotted out of the room with his tail waving high above his back.

***

I got a shower and changed into some clean clothes, a simple v-necked white t-shirt, jeans and a purple cardigan. I tied up my hair- though with my bangs hanging on my eyebrows it was near pointless- and fed the dog, grabbing myself some toast while I was at it.

It wasn't long before I was ready for my first day of school, or as ready as I could be given the circumstances.

I leaned on the island in my open kitchen and took a quick look over the apartment. It was still as perfect as it had been the night before, but it somehow looked different with light streaming through the window panes. I certainly wasn't doing too badly for a sixteen-year-old without a clue, that much was made painfully clear.

In one grand, open room, the kitchen and living room were combined, with a desk and a computer at the furthest wall. I shoved the last bite of my toast into my mouth and strode over to the desk. The chair spun as I sat down in it, until I caught the edge of the desk and pulled myself forward. Perhaps the computer would solve the question that had been whispering at the front of my mind all morning.

Honestly, I didn't know how I was expected to get to school without further instruction.

I moved the mouse and clicked, the computer started itself up pretty soon after. There wasn't anything there besides the default start-up programs, and I sat back. Where else would directions for school be? Was I expected to enroll mysel into one? This was starting to sound like a treasure hunt, rather than a real life.

I spun in the leather office chair again, surveying the room from my perch. My eyes landed on the printer at the other end of the huge desk space.

There was a printout in the printer’s tray. As I removed the paper from the tray, I didn't have a doubt that it would answer my long standing question. I scanned the route to have an idea of where I was going.

Well, knowing which way to go was great, but what then? I would have gladly walked, had the distance not been five miles. That was a bit of a stretch, especially with the time I was running on. The strange hope that another note would show itself manifested in my chest, and I snuck one more look around the room.