UPON WAKING UP, HANA FLINCHED HARD, FALLING OFF HER BED IN THE PROCESS.
"Ouch. . ." The girl mumbled, her face pale and adorned with an exhausted expression. Rubbing her sore back, Hana slowly sat up and glanced around her room, trying to shake off the remnants of the events that had jolted her awake. She took a deep breath, willing herself to calm down before getting up.
Her phone buzzed every second, prompting her to reach out and open it. Her eyes strained due to the intense glare of her screen, although she smiled at the texts of her friends on their group chat, they were asking if everyone was alright.
She typed a quick response, assuring them that she was fine and thanking them for checking in. After sending the message, Hana closed her eyes and took a moment to collect herself before heading down to the kitchen to fetch herself a glass of water.
Now standing in the middle of the dark kitchen, the only source of light coming from the moon peeking through the window, Hana checked back on the group chat. She frowned as she read Ben's text, "Did anyone finish the homework?"
The girl groaned, realizing she hadn't even started with the assignment. With a sigh, she replied, "Fuck it." At the same time, Ashlyn typed back, "Screw it." Hana chuckled at the synchronicity of their responses and decided to just embrace the freedom of a homework-free night.
The ravenette was about to trudge back to her bedroom when she saw a certain six-year-old peering around the corner. "Hey sweetie, what are you doing up so late?" Hana asked with a smile, knowing she was about to be roped into a bedtime story.
"I can't sleep." The little ravenette pouted, approaching Hana with wide eyes and a sheepish smile. "Can you tell me a story?" Hana playfully rolled her eyes, and reached down to scoop the boy up in her arms. "Of course," she replied warmly, leading them both up to her room for a cozy storytelling session.
As she settled in to read to her little brother, Hana couldn't help but feel grateful for the unexpected distraction from the hectic night. The two of them spent the evening lost in a world of fairy tales and bedtime stories and eventually fell asleep in each other's embrace.
---
"Did you sleep well last night?"
Hana yawned, stretching her arms above her head. "Tom and I had a storytelling session again," she replied with a smile to her aunt, who shook her head with a chuckle. "You two are always up to something," she said fondly, ruffling Hana's hair.
"But you need to rest more, you know? I mean, look at those bags under your eyes! Maybe you should take a break from all those late-night adventures," her aunt suggested, handing her a cup of hot coffee.
'Amen to that,' The girl thought with a sigh.
Hana knew that her aunt didn't realize the irony of her statement, so the girl just nodded, still grateful for the concern, and promised to try to get more sleep in the future, 'As if she could.'
From the corner of her eyes, the girl saw a glimpse of two people: a tall blonde and an even taller brunette— standing just outside the window, and with a chuckle, she turned towards the window to see her two friends, and Hana couldn't help but smile at the sight of the duo.
"Hey, Han! Come out!" Aiden mouthed, pointing towards their front door.
Hana tilted her head to the side with a confused expression, not understanding why they were outside her window instead of knocking on the door like normal people. So, with a quick kiss on the cheek of her aunt and a short goodbye, the ravenette grabbed her jacket and headed outside to join her friends.
"Bye, Auntie! Tell Uncle and Tom that I'm off to school!" Hana waved as she made her way out the door. The moment she stepped out into the crisp morning air, the girl walked towards the two waiting for her.
Aiden placed an arm over Hana's shoulder. "Good morning!" he quipped, grinning brightly at the ravenette. Hana smiled back at Aiden; she felt light in his cheerful presence. She looked to her right, locking eyes with Ben. "Morning, you guys slept alright?". But seeing their matching eyebags and tired appearance, it doesn't take long to know the answer to that question. So, the girl shook her head and instead asked, "Nevermind, what are you guys doing here?"
The blonde chuckled, rubbing his eyes before responding, "Haha! To pick you up, of course."
Hana raised her brows, "You both literally live across from me; it's not like I'm far away." Aiden laughed. "We wanted to make sure you didn't oversleep again, like last time." Hana rolled her eyes playfully. "Right. . ."
Just after that, the school bus came to a stop in front of them, prompting the trio to quickly board.
The girl sat with the two boys behind her and the ravenette on the seat alone—only until a certain ginger was picked up—as they usually did.
When the bus started moving, Hana turned around and whispered, "Did any of you do the homework?" Aiden grinned and merely opened his backpack to reveal the completed homework assignments. "Yup! Here, you can copy mine." Hana sighed in relief, flashing the two a grateful look before quickly taking out her notebook to start copying. The boys smiled at her predictable procrastination habits, but knowing what the group of teens had to suffer through every night, who could blame her?
The bus came to a quick-stop not long after. Looking out the window, Hana gazed at the graveyard where they were just in a few hours ago. Clicking her tongue on the roof of her mouth, the girl redirected her focus on the freckled girl boarding the bus instead.
"Hi, Ash." She nodded, making room for the ginger girl to sit next to her. Ash returned the nod in acknowledgement, settling into the seat and leaning her head against the seat in exhaustion. Hana could see the dark circles under Ash's eyes, evidence of the sleepless nights they all endured together.
"Last night was rough, huh?" Aiden grinned. The ginger said nothing and just closed her eyes, looking like she wanted to be alone at the moment, but of course Aiden couldn't take the hint. "I finished the homework; Han has it right now, you can copy it when she's done."
And right on time, the ravenette clicked her pen and handed Ashlyn the completed homework assignment. "Thanks, Hana," The ginger mumbled and began to copy the answers onto her own paper. The bus ride to the school was quiet, with Hana, Ashlyn, and Ben lost in thought and Aiden chattering away behind the two girls, despite Ashlyn's clear desire for solitude.
---
The quartet arrived at their class a few minutes early. Opening the door to the room, the four were greeted by their homeroom teacher, Mr. Thomas, who was surprised to see the cloud of gloom looming behind the group."Good morning-" The man sweatdropped, worry evident in his features.
Hana mustered up a smile. "Good morning, sir," she greeted, to which the teacher responded with a concerned look, "Is everything okay?" Hana hesitated before replying, "We're just a little tired today, Mr. Thomas."
Mr. Thomas nodded understandingly, ushering the students into the classroom. The four settled into their seats. The raven-haired girl lightly patting the twins' heads when she passed them, offering a reassuring smile. The twins looked up at her gratefully, their tired expressions softening slightly.
The lesson began a few moments later, and as much as Hana would like to stay on top of her studies because of the upcoming midterm, her exhaustion from the previous night's events was making it difficult to focus. She hoped Mr. Thomas wouldn't notice her struggling to keep her eyes open during class.
---
A gentle hand on her shoulder caused Hana to jolt awake, rubbing her eyes tiredly. She looked up to see Logan's soft, kind face looking down on her.
She passed out. 'Great.'
"Hey," he gripped the straps of his backpack. "We're all eating lunch together, come on." Hana managed a weak smile and nodded, standing up from her desk as she cracked her neck and stretched her arms.
Looking around, she found the rest of the group waiting for her by the door, with Aiden talking to Ashlyn about the seven needing to discuss "stuff," as he calls it. The ravenette quickly gathered her things and joined the group. Falling into step alongside Ben and Logan, the teenagers began to walk towards the cafeteria.
