The day began peacefully. The sun rose over the mountains surrounding the little city. The birds sang a gentle song in the sky. The clouds hovered over the lush greenery and waking people. A perfect day.
   "WAKE UP!!!"
   THOOMP!
   "AAAHH!!!"
   Daimian pulled his head up from his pillow as his hands yanked his blanket over his chest. "ALEX, what the HELL WAS THAT FOR?!?" He rubbed his bruised abdomen as he glared at his sister, who loomed over him with a pissed expression on her face while holding her hands on her hips.
   "It's time to go to school and Mom said I gotta give you a lift. You got five minutes."
   "Oh good, five minutes of rest," Daimian lurched back into his bed, pulling his blanket over his face as he shut his eyes.
   "Nope, five to get your ass ready."
   In his bed, Daimian let out a long and tired groan. "Yeah, that’s coming from the guy who woke up ten minutes until school starts," Alex said, looking back as she started to leave the room. A few moments after she closed the creaky door, Daimian let out a soft sigh as he rolled his eyes. He sluggishly stepped out of bed and walked to the door himself, patting his messy, lopsided hair as he squinted at the light in the next room.
   "Alex said you were finally awake," a voice in the kitchen told him. "Breakfast is sitting on the counter over there."
   "Thanks, Mom," Daimian peaked out of the door frame of his room and left to join his mother Faith as she stood by the counter she pointed out. Faith hugged Daimian after he got his breakfast. "You got all of your stuff  packed and ready to go, Daimian?"
   "Kinda," Daimian pulled away from his mother’s embrace and looked back at his backpack quickly, "my bag's got the important stuff I need at least." He ran for it and picked it up with his right hand, still holding the pieces of bacon Faith made him in his left. He rushed to the door, opening it as quickly as he could, and ran through the halls of the building.
   Faith watched her son from the open door as he blazed through the hall in a hurried mess. "Okay, have a good day. Love you," she said , sweetly waving him off.
"LOVE YOU TOO, MOM!" Daimian yelled as he reached the flight of stairs at the end of the hall. He scurried down them, occasionally missing a few, and made it to the main door of the building to entering the bleak parking lot. "God Alex, where are you?" He looked around the scene, seeing vans pulling away and small construction crews going down the road. He went closer to the main road, looking to his left at the massive parking garage that stood next to the housing facility he lived in. "The hell did you even park, dude?"
   BEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-
   "GAH!" Daimian jumped as a small teal car blared it's horn at him from behind. He swiftly turned around in a slight shock and walked up to passenger's door as it’s windows slowly dropped. He looked through the gap at the driver angrily. "Don't DO that!"
   "That'll teach you not to wake up so late, bitch." Alex turned her head in the driver's seat and unlocked the doors. Daimian threw his backpack in the backseat and scooched into the seat next to his sister before he closed the door and looked down.
   "There." Alex started the car and rolled out of the parking lot, leaving their home behind. The two of them sat in an awkward silence as they entered the busy morning traffic of downtown. Around the time they passed the public library, Daimian looked over at Alex, smirking as he sank into his seat. "So, pretty soon you'll be graduating. Thought about jobs or anything like that?"
   "No,” Alex rolled her tired eyes slightly at the comment. “No, not really,"
   Daimian tilted his head as his sister turned a corner into a neighborhood. "Well, I guess you're pretty screwed then, huh?"
   "Dame, you're 16 and without a single care in the world. Why are you so worried about me and my future so much?"
   "What, I can't be concerned about my older sister?"
   "How flattering…" Alex crossed the busy street into another little neighborhood shrouded by blooming trees that glistened in the morning sun.
   "Well, if you can't find something to do with your life, what hope do I have?"
   Alex turned a bit toward Daimian as he looked out the windshield. "I'll say this, if neither of us get a job, we're both screwed, and we’ll both be living in that rusted shit-shack until we’re financially stable." She strained her brow.
   Not long after she spoke, she turned into the crowded senior parking section of the high school, barely finding a spot in the mass of different vehicles. They opened their doors and stood up, looking at each other as they moved. "Well, we're here," Alex tugged at her small bag on her side before closing the driver’s door. "It was nice talking to you, bro."
   "Yeah, a great start to the day," Daimian said with a hint of sarcasm. He closed his door and got his backpack from the back, putting it on as he started  walking to the main building. "See you after school., Alex," he said with a wave. The two set off their separate ways to start their morning of school.
   The day seemed to go normally until Alex was called to the nurses office early in the afternoon, seeing Daimian sitting nonchalantly in a chair with a black eye and a bag of ice. Nearly an hour and a half later, school was officially let out and everyone scrambled to leave one way or another.
   "You know, you can be a pure dumbass sometimes. I mean a real handful, honestly," Alex shook her head, pointing at Daimian as they got back to her car.
"Oh? How so?" Daimian asked, rubbing his newly bruised right eye.
   Alex sat in the car and put her seat belt on before glaring at Daimian in suspicion. "You expect me to believe that you rammed you face into a door on accident?"
"You've believed worse," Daimian entered the car and sat down. Alex looked up for a second, trying to process what Daimian just said as he clipped himself into place. She sat in a slight confusion before she started to drive off through the senior parking. When she turned and reached their first stoplight, she looked at her brother statically.
   "Dame, you were in a fight, weren't you?"
   Daimian hesitated as the light turned green. "Well, I-"
   "Before you ask, news travels fast."
   "I know..."
   "Not to mention, I had to pick you up from the nurses office. I really don't like doing that near the middle of my day, kid!"
   “Sorry...
   Alex drove for a bit, arriving in a parking area downtown that was a slight drive from the housing facility. The two got out of the car and walked under the iron pavilion that overshadowed the backs of the surrounding buildings. Alex looked at Daimian as they walked.
   "You really gotta stop doing this to yourself."
   "What? I was trying to help."
   Alex stopped for a minute before opening the door to their destination. She looked at Daimian with slight worry, but tried not to show any of it. "Daimian... You're my little bro. I couldn't stand to see you get hurt by someone else other than me. If you try to defend others all the time, you could get yourself killed, maybe even the people you're trying to save in the first place. You can’t help everybody that you want. Got that?"
   Daimian closed his eyes as he rubbed the back of his shaggy head. "Sorry, I wasn't listening. What'd you say?" Alex stared in the distance with her eyes opened slightly wider. She slapped her palms onto her face, pushing her head back a bit. She lowered her head and sighed before pointing her hand at the back door of one of the buildings.
   "I basically said only I can beat you up. Also that we're here," Alex started to squeak the door open and the two stepped inside to the smell of coffee beans and steam.