It All Started With A Pen

Untold truths

In case anyone is unsure, that^ is a good example of what a lecture hall looks like

         I awake with a start, my eyes snapping open and taking in the dark ceiling above me. Grabbing my phone, I turn it on and squint at the bright glare from the screen. 3:27 am. I grimace and stick my foot out from under my warm duvet. No wonder I woke up. On top of it being the devil's hour, it's so hot I could cook an egg on the floor. Zara has a weird obsession with heat, and she enjoys feeling like she's being suffocated in flaming blankets.

         After tossing and turning for another 20 minutes, I decide there's no use in trying to go back to sleep here. I grab a warm fleece to wear over my thin tank top and head outside.

         The cold air hits me and wakes me up immediately. I inhale deeply through my nose. It smells incredible, like cedar wood and fresh leaves. I wish I could bottle it and keep it as a candle. Setting myself down on the grainy cement steps, I spread the fleece pullover across my lap. It's probably not safe to come out here alone at 4 am, but my complex is pretty safe... And I have my phone, I remember, grabbing the device from the waistband of my flannel pants.

         I look up at the sky,  the midnight blue canvas, with splatters of silver paint across it. I was always fascinated by stars. They were beautiful, and the concept of them was amazing. Burning balls of gas, created from dust clouds, that were so far away that half the time they were dead and their light was still shining. That sounds depressing, but it's what I've always wanted to be like: even when I'm long gone, I want my influence to shine on for years to come. They reminded me of my sister in a way. Born out of a small, lowlife family, with the intention of being a light source for other people. Another thing I loved about stars. They were universal. The thought that someone could be 16 hours away from you and be looking at the exact same stars always warmed my heart. Me and my sister had a tradition since we were little. Whenever we were homesick, our mom told us to look up at the stars and think of each other.

I gaze up at the dark sky, looking for my favorite star, Canopus. As the second brightest star in the night sky, it wasn't hard to find. After finding Canopus, I scour the sky for Orion, and look for a bright blue beauty making up Orion: Rigel. I look between the two stars.

"Love you, Amber. I'll see you soon," I whisper. As I flick my gaze over the night sky one more time, I look for Pleiades, the cluster of stars in Taurus that my mom always loved. I know I won't find it, since the three constellations are almost never in the sky together, but I look anyway. "I love you, Mom. I miss you so much. I wish you could see us now." Wiping a stray tear from my cheek, I grab my pullover and step back into reality.

***

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I roll over onto my side and pull my fluffy pillow over my head. It does nothing to stop the beeping. Usually I'm able to wake up early, but I'm definitely not feeling it right now. The beeping continues, and I finally give up.

"WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TURN THAT DAMN THING OFF?!" I exclaim, flipping back onto my stomach and burying my body in the messy blankets.

Zara, already dressed, walks into my room and pulls the pillow off my face. "Are you okay? You look hungover," she observes with a little smirk.

I peer through my half-shut eyelids to look at my phone. 6:20am. My usual time. So why am I so freaking tired? And more importantly...

I launch myself out of bed, bringing the blankets with me and making my messy brown hair hit Zara in the face.

"Graceful. Real graceful, Ash. Adam will definitely want to tap that."