The Story I Never Published

ten

Wake Up!

~*~

Several days passed after the visitation at Papa's grave and, thankfully, Mama has been discharged from the hospital.

"Thank you for coming home," Mama murmured, burying her face into my left shoulder and hugging me tighter.

"I'm relieved," I closed my eyes, "home has never felt this good."

Going to our favorite resort in Baguio has always been a habit, especially when the whole family is together. Now that Papa is gone, Mama decided that we should move on and make some more treasurable memories.

Approaching the destination, I start to wake up my mom and sister. "We're almost here," I smiled excitedly.

"Wow!" Nevaeh was ecstatic as soon as she opened her eyes to wondrous view of nature, "it's been a while since we went here!" Her smiles were enough to tell me that she missed the old days we had. She kept looking out the window, not taking her eyes off of it, even when she attempted to grab her camera in her purse.

My mom was silent after waking up, though, but I could tell that she was delighted. Her reaction was priceless when I told her that we would be going here. She had this Joker-kind of smile on her face while rummaging through her closet and drawers, looking for clothes to pack and wear.

Nothing could be compared to Nevaeh's vibes after she was told about the sudden trip. She was running and jumping around her room even while packing a lot of clothes. The trip would last for only a week but the amount of items she has were enough to last for a month.

"Welcome to The Manor!" The hotel manager greeted as me and my family made our way inside.

We checked in into a family-sized room and settled down.

"There are a lot of new attractions here," I mentioned. I placed my handbag on top of the presented work desk and fished for my phone. I proposed, "do you want to go out for dinner later?"

"Yeah, okay!" Nevaeh jabbered, "I'll just vlog for a bit. The gigantic lawn is terrific!" She added before heading out to the door with her camera in hand.

"What do you want me to wear?" Mama asked.

I smiled. "Whatever you're comfortable with. You look good in everything."

My mom's eyes lit up. She gave a cheerful smile then proceeded to dig into her small suitcase.

I took the free time to sit down and relax by the balcony and enjoy the cold fresh air. I eventually got interested in taking a few photos here and there and posting them on social media.

Social media had become tiring especially when I felt my eyelids turn heavy. They're so heavy as if my fingers were pushing them down to close.

"I'm just going to take a quick nap," I inform my busy mother.

I plumped down on the soft mattress and bundled myself up into a little ball under the covers until I manage to drift away to dreamland.

Well... sort of.

As I slowly opened my eyes, all I saw was nothing. Even my body wasn't visible!

I turned my head sideways, still not being able to see a single object nor light. This is weird. No, scratch that. This is terrifying! I can feel my inner self shaking. I'm having goosebumps all over my body. Why can't I see anything? Am I blind? But how? I don't do anything to make myself blind nor do I have any eye problems.

What is happening?

Then suddenly, when I was about to lose my mind and soul, I heard a sound. A soft tap. It's like someone waking up another person by lightly tapping their arm.

And right then and there, I felt something on my right shoulder. But it disappeared. Oh wait, it's back. What! It keeps appearing and disappearing? What is that?

I touched my right shoulder and dust it off. The 'thing' that was happening to my shoulder stopped.

But then I heard someone talk through the pitch black surroundings.

"No," the voice said, "you do not sleep in my class." The voice, I assume that it was a man since it was in a deep tone, sounded firm and impatient.

Who is that?

Why can't I see him?

A few moments passed and there was silence. The tapping sound stopped. The voice of the unknown man wasn't heard anymore.

But then it hit me.

More like...

"Oh my God!" I exclaimed, "why am I drowning?!" I yelled still closing my eyes tightly and obviously froze in pure shock.

"No, it's called waking up to reality," the man spoke again. The voice, it's back! 

"What?" I rubbed my eyes with the palm of my eyes and slowly opened them, revealing a torso of a man in a polo shirt. I slowly raised my vision to see a very familiar face.

"M-mr. C-Callihan!" I stuttered, being anxious all of a sudden.

"One hour," he concluded, leaving the room with his laptop and book.

"Oh shit," I muttered to myself, making sure my professor was out of the room.

Why did I even fall asleep?! I never fall asleep in any class. And because of 'napping' in class, I got a full hour of detention along with soaked clothes and hair.

Swinging my backpack along my shoulder, I rushed out of the classroom and proceed to my locker. People were staring but I didn't care. My professor was to be blamed even if I accidentally slept in his class.

"What the fuck did you do?" Pandora, my best friend, cursed.

"I'll explain later," I panted, "I need to change. Bye!" I ran as fast as I could towards the nearest bathroom and got dressed. Good thing I have extra clothes and a towel in my locker.

Getting comfortable in my sweatpants and crop cotton t-shirt, I slid my feet into my white canvas sneakers and headed back to my locker to meet Pandora.

"So?" She scoffed, crossing her arms to her chest and raising an eyebrow at me.

I thought I owed her an explanation for getting wet and soaked earlier. I told her about me sleeping during Mr. Callihan's class until I dreamt about having an ex boyfriend called Skye then falling in love with someone called Ilianno. Basically everything about my dream.

The dream that felt so realistic.

Wait...

So if my family and Pandora are in that dream, who the hell is Skye Alexander?

But most importantly, who in this cruel world is Ilianno De Legaspi?