Dawnlight - WORK IN PROGRESS

1. Midnight

I stopped being able to hear the sound of trees rustling. I flinched, realizing that I had not noticed myself submerged in water. I opened my eyes, half-lidded, glaring into the foggy moonlight. It all stopped, all noise, besides the faint echo of the night seeming to fade away quite quickly.

With the echo fading away, so was my breath.

However, it was nothing. Everything is nothing, as opposed to what I used to believe; I know what is better now. I felt my clothes flutter as the water took me in, deeper I went, the less it mattered. There was so use in trying to fight the suffocation if there was no breath to begin with. succumbing to the gravity against my weight, I closed my eyes.

    —

    Shooting awake, I gasped in a cold sweat. My throat was killing me, I must've woken up due to dehydration. Unfortunately, going back to sleep wasn't an option, for my head was pounding and I felt like I was about to vomit. I stepped out of my room, tip-toeing down the hallway as to not wake anyone up, before grabbing a cup of water and heading toward the sink.

    As I proceeded to fill the cup with water, I looked into the reflection to see myself with huge dark circles. I wonder how late it must've been, anyway. It's not like this is the first time something like this has happened, but I'm usually not up this early unless I'm sick. Fuck, maybe I am sick. Oh well. No sickness is getting in the way of the plans I have today. Making my way back, my room was waiting for me as I laid back into my sweaty bed, with the vent ringing being prominent as ever. I couldn't stop sweating, but it was fine, because I should be fine by the time I wake up.

    I forgot to go back to sleep. I rotted all night. Oh, and that dream, I remember it clearly now.

—

    Hearing the sound of my mom leaving her room to make coffee, I assume, I took it as an opportunity to ditch my bed and get ready for school. I may feel like a zombie, but staying here any longer isn't doing me good. My morning routine was nothing memorable, as it was about 7:30 AM by now, and I grabbed my backpack to head to the car for school.

Stepping into the car, I made funny faces at my baby brother. It was nice to see him after such a long morning spent doing absolutely nothing. Other than the sound of our laughs, the car was utterly quiet. It stayed that way until I was dropped off at the front of campus. Feeling too unmotivated to speak, I gestured a light wave to my parents before they drove off.

I wonder if my parents even care about me. Like, yeah, I know they love me, but I bet they didn't bother to glance at my sick face. I should hurt myself, to see if they would notice. wait, no, thats a horrible thing to say, scratch that.

I opened my phone to see a text from Izzy, one of my closest friends ever since the 'Total Drama' thing. I've kept up with some friends since then, more than I've ever had, really. Izzy, Eva, Owen, and Cody. I really don't talk to Cody much, but I'd feel bad for not considering him a friend. Izzy and Eva are just about the most insane couple I've ever met, but I enjoy the chaos, as much as I'd never admit it. Owen is sweet, and thats really all I can say about him. He is always there for me when things go to shit.

As I was about to open Izzy's text, I flinched at the sudden feeling of someone coming up from behind me and shoving me.

"Aye, Noah!" Said a familiar voice, Cody. I ought to be used to the way he greets me by now, but this particular morning, I was on edge.

"Fuck, man! Stop doing that," I yelled a bit too harshly, darting my eyes the opposite direction, finding myself already losing stability at first interaction. At least it was Cody of all people, I'm sure he would understand.