I could see the distorted cloudy sky above through the clear water over my face. A feeling of peace and tranquility flooded over me seeming to push any stress I felt out in one long sigh that delicately drifted away as bubbles. Everything seemed like it was falling into place as I fixed my gaze on a bird flying overhead it’s shaped changing from one blobby creation to another as the water above sloshed around.

Suddenly I started feeling a tug at my arm as something dragged me underwater into the seemingly endless abyss below. Blaring sounds overcame the emptiness. The world of silence and beauty I was growing to love fell apart as I slowly regain consciousness and realized the true nature of the situation. A hazy image of my friend Marie was dragging me out of my bed by my arm, the alarm clock impatiently screaming in the background desperately wanting to be turned off.

Groggily I started to say, “I’m awake... I’m… Awake.” though that didn’t stop her from continuing to pull me from my cushioned bed to the hard uncomfortable carpet below with a thud. I felt a surge of pain run out from my shoulder and started to rub it thinking that would help even if I knew it wouldn’t. “You know you don’t have to do that every morning, jeez.”

“Yea but you won’t wake up otherwise, that and it’s fun.” Marie continued to let out a small laugh. It seems that most other guys at school thought that her laugh is “cute”, which is something that I still don’t quite understand. Maybe it’s because I hear it so much that I’m immune to its powers. “Well I’ll be waiting downstairs while get ready for school. Today we practice for the Flowering Ceremony so you can’t be late!”

She scurried out the door and I put on the normal uniform which consisted of a white button up shirt with our school's crest on the front with our last name underneath with our assigned number next to it. The shirt was paired with a pair of light blue slacks for boys and the option of the slacks or a skirt that’s the same color for the girls. On top of the shirt I threw on a light blue and white striped hoodie that was also had the typical school branding on the bottom hemming.

I made my way downstairs past where Marie was sitting in the living room, talking to my mother, to the kitchen and picked up a quick breakfast bar for the road and continued to walk to school with Marie after gathering my supplies.