Vanessa's eyes opened in the quiet darkness of her room, a blue-gray light just beginning to seep through the blinds. She checked the time: 5:09 a.m. Her alarm wouldn't go off for another hour. That was an hour that was supposed to be for sleep, an hour that had always been for sleep.
She closed her eyes, determined to let the familiarity of her room lull her back to sleep. But it didn't work. Her mind was alert, more awake than she could understand, refusing the usual comfort of sleep. The minutes passed, ticking by with an irritating slowness, and Vanessa felt herself getting more and more annoyed.
Maybe it was the strange gift from yesterday, the cup of flat root beer, that had unsettled her. Who would know to leave it for her, and why? She hadn't been able to get it out of her mind all night, and now here she was, wide awake an hour early, her morning routine in shambles before it had even begun.
She sat up, an impulse stirring to fill the time with something else—something completely outside her routine, something she'd never tried. She remembered the café she'd passed by every day on her way to school. She'd overheard classmates talking about how it was open early, and she knew it was exactly 25 minutes away on foot. A bit of a walk, but she had time.
Throwing on a jacket over her pajamas and lacing up her sneakers, Vanessa slipped out of her house. The early morning air was crisp and cool, filling her lungs in a way that felt like her first real breath in a while. And instead of sticking to her usual walking pace, she found herself...running.
Her feet hit the pavement in a steady rhythm, her arms pumping at her sides as the wind rushed past her. Her heart picked up speed, thumping against her ribs as she pushed herself faster. She'd never really run before—not without a specific purpose, like gym class or a fire drill. But now, as she sprinted down the street, she felt lighter, as if every step she took peeled back layers she'd been carrying around for years.
Buildings blurred past, and she barely noticed the time or the distance. When she finally stopped, panting slightly, she found herself standing outside the café. She checked her phone, eyes widening. Ten minutes. A walk that usually took nearly half an hour, and she'd done it in ten.
The windows of the café glowed warmly in the early morning light, and as she stepped inside, a burst of scents—coffee, fresh pastries—filled her senses. She ordered a hot chocolate, the warmth of the cup seeping through her fingers as she sat down by the window. Sipping slowly, Vanessa felt a quiet thrill bubbling beneath her calm exterior. She hadn't planned any of this, hadn't thought about what it would feel like to step outside of her usual lines.
But as she gazed out at the quiet street, her pulse still racing from the run, she couldn't deny the feeling she'd discovered—the feeling of being fully, intensely alive.
YOU ARE READING
a little bit crazy
Science-Fictionit's about a teenager with mental health issues. She is very smart, but she doesn't exactly talk to people very often, accept people who she has to talk to like her parents and her teachers. people think she's a little bit crazy, and that is absolut...
