Monochromatic

Chapter 5

Rave

I woke up with a headache and a pain in my chest; normal, for me at least. It was 6:00 on the dot and as usual, I woke up without an ounce of energy in my body. The good thing was, I never needed an alarm clock. For some unknown reason I'd always wake up at this time whether it's a weekday or the weekend. I guess it wasn't too bad since I was never late for school, although Libia would beg to differ. At last I decided to stretch out my arms and legs and get up. Like any other morning, I went down the hall to wake up my little sister who was sound asleep in her room. Her bedroom door creaked quietly, but it was enough for my sister to open her sleepy eyes for a moment. Libia groaned and turned over to her other side, making me chuckle lightly. Poor Libia was never a morning person, and if you knew what was best for you, you wouldn't touch her right after she woke up. I decided to walk in and ignore my sister's silent plea for me to leave. The single window in her room, once boarded up with wood, was now covered by a thick blanket sewn up in place of a curtain. If it was autumn or winter, this trick wouldn't have worked; but it was spring, and it was time to wake up. The early morning light sprinkled upon Libia's drowsy body, curled up in her blanket. It was just enough to wake her, but not enough to temporarily blind her.

"Fine...you win" Libia groaned again

You'd think she'd like to wake up for school, she is pretty intelligent, so she shouldn't have too many problems. Then again, it's 6:15 in the morning.

I was always the one to go out with the bucket and get some water from the well, Libia was in charge of grabbing both of our uniforms and placing them on our beds. As I stepped outside, the strong smell of rain filled my senses. The moist soil squished between the soles of my outdoor shoes, which I always set outside the door specifically for occasions like these. It was still too dark to be able to see inside the well, so if I happened to pick up some leaves and sticks as well, I'd only know when I stepped into a brighter light. I took only the water that I needed from the well's bucket, permanently tied to the rope above it, and carried my own back inside. Libia sat on the toilet seat waiting for my arrival. Her hair still a bit mangled up from her rest, and I could help but snicker at how cute she looked. I laughed again as she glared at me for laughing at her hair. I set the water bucket down on the floor, checking if anything other than water made its way inside. Nothing was there, a good sign. We both undressed and quickly washed our bodies for the day, leaving out afterwards to get dressed. I quickly slipped on both my uniform shirt and jacket simultaneously; throwing on my pre-tied black uniform tie; and slipping inside a pair of black pants. I grabbed my bookbag sitting by the door, meeting up with my little sister and leaving out the door.

The bus stop was only a few blocks away from our house, and it only took 10 minutes to come as we left at 7:10. However, the first bus always took about 45 minutes, from which we'd have to rush to the second as soon as we got off. These trips were always the quietest parts of my day. I didn't necessarily hate the quiet, it just seemed so out of place to me. Maybe it's because I was used to hearing the voices of others when they're around, or maybe it's because I'm used to having to drown out so much noise. It didn't matter though, it's not like I'd feel comfortable breaking the silence either. Meanwhile, Libia seemed to enjoy these rides. I'd hold her under my arm as she sleeps peacefully through it all. I admire her because of it, she loved how quiet it was. I guess because of her, I get to enjoy these times a little more than when I'm alone. It's too bad that I'm the one who has to wake her when we stop.

I walked Libia the rest of the way to school. She assured me once again that she was old enough to simply be brought to the entrance of my high school, which was closer, and we waved goodbye. I watched her continue on to her school while I entered the first set of doors. It was now 8:27, the second set of doors were unlocked by now. I took off my bag and went through the metal detector. The security guard in charge of checking my bag only peeped inside, then slid it over to me without a second thought. I made it into the gym with perfect timing, there was a small yet brutal play fight going on. It was a couple of regulars as usual, and everyone was focused on who'd win this time. As far as I knew, these two in particular weren't allowed to join the wrestling team because of a suspension last year. They both decided to break this guy's arm for attempting to break them up in a fight. Some say that the wrestling coach was also slightly afraid of those boys, but that's not in my interest to look into. I climbed to the top of the gym room stairs, resting my feet up on the last row and looking up at the exposed ceiling. Suddenly, I heard a familiar voice next to me. The two boys decided that fighting each other was no longer as fun and decided they'd mess with me instead. I didn't care to listen in on what they had to say, all I knew was that they were challenging me to a fight I had no interest in. One shoved me in the shoulder, and the other laughed.