Oblivion (Short Story)

February 28

They say that dreams are premonition of what will happen in the future. But in Janna's case, it was the opposite. She dreams of events in the past that she can't even remember happening. In her subconscious, she saw herself as a young grade schooler standing on the railing. The young girl in her dream counts the clouds while there's a young boy beside her, pulling her back. Too bad, she's too mischievous that nothing can stop her. When she's about to face the boy, the alarm went off. Another day has begun.

Groggy and sleepy, Janna dragged her ass off the bed and start walking to the bathroom. The reflection was awful. She looked like hell. Dark eye bags, messy hair, gloomy face, all thanks to James. She still wanted to sleep but she couldn't and shouldn't. She regretted saying yes to his invitation.

"Honey, are you awake already? Please come down immediately if you are," her mom exclaimed. But she's seemed out of her self-consciousness. She checked her phone for any messages. In usual days, it seemed to be a miracle if there's one messages and even a bigger miracle if there's a missed call. And a miracle happened. Two consecutive texts were sent by no other than James. She opened the first message without any reaction.

From: James Meadows

Hey, you up already?

Sent 8:35 A.M.

She didn't reply and opened the other messages instead.

From: James Meadows

Good morning, Ice-Princess-slash-future-babies-murderer girl! Rise and shine! :D

Sent 8:39 A.M.

She got enough of the nut kicking jokes and the ':D' emoticon made her feel giddy and crept out at the same time. She was about to reply on the second message when another one popped from the screen.

From: James Meadows

Seriously, if you're not going to wake up, I'll bang your door open 'coz yo mom's pancakes's making me drool. Open up!

Sent 8:45 A.M.

And that's the time she stood up and stormed to her door. She got her hair fixed first so she tried to comb it with her fingers and straightened up her shirt. When she's about to twist the door knob, the door suddenly flew open. For the second time, her almost-got-kicked-yet-so-adorable neighbor stood in front of her. But he then was wearing decent clothes and fixed hair, not just boxers and a messy hairstyle. He just shrugged and smiled.

"What the heck are you doing here, Mister?" she blurted with amusement and annoyance in her face. He's holding his fork up and a plate on the other side. She's really getting into her nerves.

"Easy, calm down, babe," he baited calmly. Calling her 'babe' became her hobby and that didn't make her any tamer than before. But somehow calling her that endearment had an effect on her.