Missconception

Chapter 5

Silvia

Silus stood by the front door of our house, his posture tense, as if he couldn't wait to leave. Ever the meddlesome sister, I reached out and grasped his sleeve. "You're heading out again at this ungodly hour?" I asked.

He yanked his sleeve away with a sharp jerk, as though my touch had burned him. "Yeah, the great outdoors beats this dump any day," he spat, his words laced with more bitterness than I was prepared for.

I softened my tone, trying to reach him, trying to understand the anger simmering just beneath the surface. "Is it because Mum is gone? Or...do you have issues with Dad?"

He shot me a glare that could curdle milk, his tongue clicking in irritation. "Stop hyperventilating over me and focus on your own shit. You've always been the smarter one. No wonder Dad thinks you hung the moon. So just leave me alone."

His words cut far deeper than I'd expected, the acidity of his tone seeping into my skin. I stood frozen in the doorway, helpless as Silus stormed out into the night. The weight of his words lingered, a hollow ache spreading in my chest. It felt like a direct hit—something undeniable, something I'd been too blind to see all along.

My eyes flew open, and I shot upright in bed, my heart racing. I blinked, disorientated, before realising—I'd been dreaming about Silus. Or was it more of a memory?

As I struggled to catch my breath, his words stayed with me, heavy and unsettling. I couldn't shake the feeling that, in some way, I had made those around me feel inadequate. Even when Mum was still with us, had Silus always felt this way? Had I missed the signs entirely?

Why had I deceived myself into believing our family was flawless to begin with?

A ray of sunlight pierced through the curtains, landing directly on my face as if the universe had a vendetta against my much-needed sleep. I glanced at my phone on the bedside table. A gasp escaped me as I saw the time—apparently, the clock had conspired with the sun to betray me at a startling half past eight.

Panic gripped me like a caffeine overdose, making my heart race in the most undignified fashion. One thing was crystal clear—I was perilously late for school. I leapt into action, my every movement a frenzied blur as I scrambled to transform from a sleep-deprived mess into a half-decent human being.

There was no time to sniff breakfast or indulge in any semblance of morning routine. The ticking clock seemed louder than ever, my heart pounding in sync as I threw on my clothes and rushed to perfect my Silus disguise.

I hadn't moved with this much urgency since those awkward P.E. days when dodgeball became a brutal test of survival. Yet here I was, mentally preparing for another late and ill-advised entrance into homeroom.

Naturally, fate greeted me with the stern gaze of Miss Cowan. Her wrath hit me with the force of a textbook launched across the room, her scolding reverberating in front of the class with the subtlety of a trumpet in a library.

"Do you never plan to learn from your mishaps, Silus?" Her words bore the weight of countless prior offences. "How many more times must I tell you before it sinks in?!"

Swallowed by a blanket of shame, I could do nothing but bow my head, my response a meek whisper in the face of her fury. "Sorry, Miss Cowan..."

Her command sliced through the air like a guillotine. "Sit down."

Bearing the full force of her disapproval, I slumped into my seat, feeling the oppressive weight of public humiliation. Camila, ever the observant friend, eyed me with mounting concern. She knew me well enough to understand I wasn't the type to be fashionably late—even if it meant pole-vaulting over the Amazon just to make it to homeroom on time.