Sunlight sliced through the gaps in my curtains, painting the room in blinding stripes like some kind of interrogation chamber. I flinched and buried my face in the pillow. The glare drilled straight into my skull, nerves behind my eyes sparking like faulty wires.

“Uuugh…”

Instead of getting up, I yanked the blanket over my head and sank deeper. Colder than usual. The weather report hadn’t lied. Snow dumped on the city all night. Sure, the sun was up. That didn’t mean I had to be. My bed clung to me like gravity itself. Mercilessly persuasive.

Then it hit, a shift in the air.

I hurled the pillow over my head just in time.

“THEOOO!”

The door slammed open like a battering ram. Footsteps thundered in, each one a war drum against my skull.

“Wake up, you lazy bum! You trying to skip again?!”

The blanket vanished in an instant, ripped away by a girl who treated mornings like combat drills.

“How the hell did you even get in?” I muttered from under the pillow. “I locked the door.”

“Locked what door?” she shot back. “You sure you didn’t just forget again, dumbass?”

Yeah, probably. Got home late last night. Figures.

“Tch. Just go without me if you’re so desperate to be early.”

“You serious right now?! This is the third time this week!”

She tore the pillow away like she was unsealing a cursed artifact.

“I never even show up late,” I shot back, squinting at the light.

“Barely! Our homeroom teacher already asked me to fix your attitude!”

“That baldie asked you?”

“What did you just call him?!” she hissed, stomping closer, so close her slipper nearly grazed my nose.

“Nothing!” I yelped. “Ugh… I’m not feeling good today, okay? Just cut me some slack. It’s not like I skip that often…”

Her eye twitched.

Then her whole aura twitched.

Without warning, she grabbed the edge of my mattress and flipped it like she was cooking breakfast.

I hit the floor with a crash, tangled in sheets like laundry.

“Ow! Abuse! I’m calling Child Protection!”

“Go ahead! They’ll thank me for dragging your rotting corpse out of bed!”

“Such cruelty in the morning…” I groaned, sitting up and rubbing the fresh bump on my head. “Can’t we start the day with something peaceful? Maybe a nice breakfast? A chocolate, since today’s Valentine’s?”

“Bold of you to think you’re worth any chocolate!”

“Then a good morning kiss?”

Less than a second later, a slipper nailed me in the forehead. The slap of fabric on skin echoed like poetic justice. I fell back on the bed, arms sprawled, staring at the ceiling in defeat.

“Dream on, perv! Where do you even learn that crap?!”

“Damn it… it’s not like I never walk to school with you,” I muttered, rubbing the red mark.

“Yeah, and clearly not today either.” She tossed my neatly ironed uniform at me. “Put it on and move. I’m going ahead!”

She stomped out, slamming the door so hard the picture frame on the table beside it clattered to the floor. I lay there in silence until her footsteps faded down the hall.

Then I sighed. Felt like my heart almost exploded.

I rolled onto my back again, letting the cold air seep in, rebooting my brain. Just a little more time. A short pause before the storm.

“Siigh…”

Even though today was Valentine’s…

Well, we weren’t even that close. But she treated me like we were siblings. Even Lizzy—my sister—clung to her a lot.

Not that it bothered me.

I stretched a hand toward the bedside table, patting around until my fingers finally closed on my phone. The screen lit up, stabbing my eyes with white.

One new message, sent half an hour ago while I was still out cold.

Val, my other childhood friend.

> [You’re skipping class again today?]

Straight to the point. Classic Val.

I didn’t bother replying. I’d see him in person anyway.

“Siiigh…”

With whatever scraps of willpower I had left, I dragged myself upright. Starting the day felt like jumpstarting a rusty diesel engine. So slow, so stiff, and needs more push to actually start. 

But the fear of another Serina dropkick…

Yeah, that worked better than any caffeine.

“Ugh…”

The hallway was silent. My room. The bathroom. Lizzy’s room. Out of habit, I tiptoed past her door. A force of habit. No sound inside, of course. She must’ve already left. Lizzy was a proper morning person.

Unlike me.

The stairs creaked under my feet, each step threatening to betray me. Dust made the wood a little slick. I hadn’t swept in a week. Rina would roast me alive for that later.

Downstairs, the air was dim and even colder. February in Argon City. Highlands where winter practically squats year-round and refuses to leave.

I grabbed a towel from the closet and shuffled into the bathroom, locking the door behind me. Quick rinse. Quick shower. Never been one for wasting time in there.

Soon, I was standing in front of the mirror, towel rubbing through my black hair. Shoulder-length, always falling into my face. A hassle, yeah. But not worth the effort of cutting. The school didn’t care about hair length, and I sure as hell wasn’t paying for a salon. So, I let it grow.

My reflection stared back at me. Dull, heavy eyes. Tired. Irritating to look at. They weren’t even the same eyes I grew up with. My mother has light green eyes, same as Lizzy. My eyes were used to be the same color, too, but it's not green anymore. Now they were a piercing, icy blue, and with vertical slits for pupils. Like a cat’s. Changed in fourth grade, when I received my Gift. Never changed back.

I dressed fast. Uniform crisp, still smelled clean even though I’d worn it two days straight.

Maybe I just didn’t sweat much.

…Or maybe that was Rina’s doing.

Yeah. Definitely her doing.

Truth was, I should be grateful. She didn’t just look out for Lizzy. She looked out for me too. Even though we were just neighbors. Even though she didn’t have to.

‘If you don’t want to live with us, at least let us take care of you two.’

That was what Rina’s dad told me two years ago. After Mom passed.

I was ready to pack it in. Use Mom’s allowance, cover Lizzy’s needs, send myself off to an orphanage.

Rina’s parents weren’t having it.

They’d been friends with Mom for years. They wanted us with them—but not as a burden. And that was when Rina herself stepped up, insisting she’d help whenever she could.

One time, I even tried giving them money. To pay them back.

Big mistake.

They shoved it right back into my hands, like I’d just insulted them.

I left the bathroom while the air inside was still foggy. Cold air crept over my skin the moment I stepped out, sending a shiver straight down my spine. And with it, an unimaginable amount of the urge to throw myself back onto the bed and sleep like nothing in the world mattered.

But then, as I passed through the kitchen, I glanced at the dining table.