The Present.

Night terrors. It's always been there, since the day he passed away. I could still remember the bright smile and the comforting smell of pancakes in the morning wafting to my bedroom from the kitchen.

"Who's my best girl?" He would say while taking a sip of his coffee from the 'You're the number 1 Dad' mug. "I'm your best girl." I would have replied shyly. Well, he passed away in a car accident so it was just me and my mom .

I peered out of the window to find that it was still dark outside. I spread my hands around in search for my phone. I turned it on and squinted at the bright light. I always hated that. 4:56 AM. It was a Monday anyways, so I had to get up at 7. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes trying to get some sleep but I was wide awake. Groaning, I got up and shuffled on my pink rabbit bedroom slippers. Don't judge. I got it as a present from my uncle on my 13th birthday. I just couldn't let go of it. It was mid-February here at Washington and still freezing. It was still pretty cold inside and I think I told my mom to turn on the radiator at least thrice. Rubbing my hands together, I scuttled towards the radiator screen. When I glanced at it I snorted. Trust my mom to turn the knob to the coldest temperature possible. Turning the knob the right side (get the pun: P Lame I know) I could hear the machines grunt to blow out hot air. The cuckoo clock in the kitchen started singing so I figured it was 5 in the morning already. Drumming my fingers on the kitchen island I brought out my laptop and did what I did best. Code.

"Its 7:30 and you still haven't eaten yet!" My mom yelled from downstairs. "Coming!" I turned back to my reflection in my mirror. A slight dark-ish circle covered the under my eyes. My dull green eyes and pasty face looked back at me. Sighing, I ran one more brush through my jet black hair before running down the stairs.

"Morning mom!" I said cheerfully while pecking her on her cheek. She laughed. "Good morning darling." Ready for all your tests? I grimaced. "I am. I just hate them." "Well hun, who doesn't?" She thrust a bagel and an apple before giving me a slight push towards the door. "Out, or you'll get detention." I rolled my eyes. But I picked up my car keys and ran out.

I sighed as I ran my hand through the hood of my car. I just loved the new Nissan Altima. I was Googling it for like months before my mom found out and bought it for my birthday. I opened it and pushed my bag to the back as I had to pick up my best friend Haley.

I backed out of my garage and soon cruising out to Haley's house with my favorite radio station on.

'Cause all of me

Loves all of you

Love your curves and all your edges

All your perfect imperfections

Give your all to me

I'll give my all to you' . I sang with all my heart. I barely noticed Haley standing outside my car smirking at me. I rolled my eyes as I unlocked the door.

"What?" I said frowning at her.

"Yeah, Hello to you too. I'm doing great thanks for asking." She muttered sarcastically. I laughed. "Hey babe." I smirked winking at her. "Oh my gosh! You will not believe who I kissed yesterday!" There we go, not again. "Who?" I said trying to keep my voice excited and light but this was an everyday thing. It got pretty boring after the 3rd week. "Guess?" She said almost jumping in her seat. "Uh.. Chris Hayford?" "Who?" I shrugged. "I don't know..." "Look out!" Haley screamed. And that was when I crashed into a huge truck and everything went black.

"Get the fluids, now!" I tried my hardest to move, at least to stretch my fingers, it was too tiring. I spaced out again.  

"Do you think she will be all right?" A woman asked. Mid-age by the sound of her voice. "We have to wait and see." A more masculine voice replied. I tried again, and this time, I succeeded. My eyes blinked open as I warily peered across the room. White lights, white walls and white dressed people. I gasped for breath. One woman with tears stricken across her face helped me get up. After I was sitting for a few minutes I opened my mouth to utter one phrase. "Where's dad?" The woman who helped me sit up tensed. "Alessia?" I turned my head slightly to face her. "Who are you? She looked so familiar but I couldn't place my finger on it." Immediately, she started crying. A nurse took her hand and led her out of the room. A doctor looked at me with a worried expression. "Alessia? Did you not know her?" But I was too busy looking at my reflection. I had grown so tall. I remember things about Algebra and trigonometry, but I never remember learning it. "How many years was I asleep?" I asked him. The Doctor took in a deep breath. "What is your last memory?" I wracked my brain for the answer and I smiled. "Dad was making pancakes in the morning and mom was watching something funny on TV." Another deep breath. "You were asleep for only 3 days." I gasped. My hair, eyes and height had changed so much. So much math and geography and Spanish came flooding to me. "The woman who helped you? Who was she?" The Doctor asked again. "I don't know her. She looks familiar though." On cue, the woman entered the room again. I took a close look at her and gasped. "Mom?" She ran to me and hugged me tight. "I knew you would remember me!" I smiled and gently pushed her away. "You look so much older, but still beautiful." I said smiling. "Where's dad? I want to see him." Mom's face turned emotionless. She slowly sat down on the bed and took my hand. "Don't you remember?" "What?" I was getting impatient. People kept on asking me the questions when I actually needed to ask them. "Your father past away 12 years back." It took me a minute to register what she said. I couldn't talk, move or breathe. It felt like the whole world collapsed on me. 12 years? It felt like it was yesterday that I was eating my dad's special recipe of chocolate chip pancakes and bacon.