Hauntings

CHAPTER 1

I hate the sun. My room faces the east, so of course I get it at full blast every morning. The fact that I'm a night owl doesn't help.

Why are the birds so happy? It's not fair that they don't have school and work like us humans. Wait, maybe they do, and chirping is just a part of their homework or daily tasks. Maybe they go to school and work early in the morning, and laze around the rest of the day. If humans did that...no. Just no. I refuse to wake up any earlier than I do already.

I groan and pull my blanket over my head. Hopefully I can get five more minutes of sleep before Grandma knocks on the door with her usual refrain, "Ayame, get out of bed before I let Satoshi eat your breakfast". 

My alarm hasn't even gone off yet...

RRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!

"Nooooooooo..."

I give up and drag myself out of bed. Obviously, the universe is out to get me on my first day at my new school. I would have joined yesterday, when the academic year began, but jet-lag stopped me and refused to let me leave the bed.

Cursing under my breath, I knock on my brother's door. "Satoshi, wake up!"

My younger brother groans loudly from the other side of the door. He's not a morning person either. I sigh, and leave him to it.

On my way back from the bathroom, I pass Satoshi, who is practically asleep on his feet. "Hurry up," I tell him. "Grandma's making breakfast."

He makes a face. Grandma makes good food, but it comes at the cost of Satoshi spending less time in the bathroom, which he hates. There are two things my brother won't compromise on: sleep and the bathroom. In my case, it's sleep and food.

When I get to my room, I change into my school uniform. It's quite different from the ones I'm used to. Since I haven't studied in Japan after sixth grade, this is the first time I'm wearing a uniform here. Of course, my friends would be more used to it.

I'm really excited to have joined the same high school as my friends. Since my exam results from Grade 10 haven't been declared yet, I was worried the school wouldn't accept me. But they've taken me in on a provisional basis. There's still a month and a half to go before I find out if I've cleared the previous year's exams. Satoshi's results came out the day we left India. I'm relieved that he doesn't have to deal with the same stress as me.

As I look in the mirror, I notice, not for the first time, that Satoshi and I are almost mirror images of each other. Black hair, brown eyes, the same nose, similar shape of mouth, and he's almost as tall as I am.

I examine my uniform as I get dressed. It consists of a white shirt, a red tie, a navy-blue skirt, and a blazer of the same colour. Shou told me that some students don't wear the blazer, but a sweater instead. Still, it's my first day: I should make a good impression, at least with the teachers. Given the crowd I'll be hanging out with, I don't want the teachers to label me a troublemaker in my very first class. I've already missed a day, which doesn't help.

Someone knocks on my door. "Ayame, are you ready?"

It's Grandma. "I'm almost done," I tell her. "I'll be down in a couple of minutes."

"Breakfast is ready, so do hurry up. Is Satoshi awake?"

"He is," I assure her.

"Oh, good."

Unlike my brother, I don't need too much time to get ready, so I wear my clothes, tie my hair back, and head downstairs for breakfast.

It's a traditional Japanese breakfast that greets me. I've eaten Japanese breakfasts in Britain and in India, but the fact that I'm eating it at home makes it special.