Markings

Chapter 2

I woke up in the morning really groggy and tired feeling which isn't usually normal for me. It's not usually normal for anybody really. We're all supposed to go to bed at our designated house time and wake up eight hours later. We take these purple tablets every night before bed that help us go to sleep at the right time to get the optimum amount of sleep. I laid there in my bed and I thought back on everything I did last night.

I started walking up the stairs, feeling  drained of energy and lacking in any emotions at that time. I got to my room and turned the knob to open my door, walked into my semi-messy bedroom and leaned against my door to close it. I picked up my stuff that was lying everywhere and shoved it under my bed along with the rest of the mess I had pushed hastily under there earlier. 

I made my way over to the tablet dispenser and asked for it to give me my pill and my water. I then took my tablet, walked over to my bed, laid down and got comfy. I then started crying because of the earlier events then I glanced at my clock to see it say 10:59pm then rolled over, continued crying and within seconds,  I fell asleep.

"I never realized how fast those things worked before," I mumbled to myself while propping myself up on my elbows in bed and thought for a moment. "If I fell asleep so fast, why am I so tired?" I looked at the clock at it instantly changed from 6:59am to 7:00am. "I got enough sleep," I mumbled to myself, "but that doesn't explain why I'm tired..."

I rolled over reluctantly in my bed then sat up and pulled the covers off of myself. I kicked my legs off the bed over the edge then stood up and stretched. My mum opened the door and stared at me for a moment.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing. It's just time for breakfast," she replied.

"Oh," I started then paused remembering I still had a ton of stuff under my bed that needed to be put back where they belonged then continued,  "I'll uh, I'll be down in a minute."

My mother looked at me with a question mark face then said, "well, just hurry up, Ketsia."

"Okay, mum."

She closed my door and then walked down the stairs. As soon as I  knew for sure she was out of earshot, I lifted my bed up off the floor and let it hover while I began de-cluttering the underside of it. I grabbed all the books and put them in my hidden bookshelf so that no one would see them and then grabbed all my painting tools and put them in there as well.

We aren't actually aloud to create anything. Painting pictures and writing stories, songs or poems is against the rules. The Ones seem to think that people would start an uprising through their pictures or words. I know. Weird, right?

There's nothing I can do about it. I just have to make sure my window is blacked out and is reflecting what my room looks like empty whenever I'm painting in my room.

I really wish that I could show people my creations. The only person that knows I'm swaying from the norm is my best friend, Jayce. I've known him for as long as I can remember and I'd trust him with my life. He's always been there for me. Through everything.

He accepts me for who I am. He doesn't care that I don't always follow the rules, he just stays by my side through it all. Thinking about him actually reminds me, I haven't seen him in about a month because his job set sent him off to one of the southern provinces to take care of his older sister because they're saying she had been showing symptoms of the Parasite.

I crawled out of bed and put my slippers on. I was reaching for my door handle when my door opened, almost hitting me right in the face.

"Breakfast is on the table, Ketti," my mother said loudly, expecting me to be at my bed. I had to jump back in order not to get whacked in the face with my door.

I looked at her with shock and surprise all over my face then collected myself and said, "okay. I was just on my way down anyway."

My mum stood there in my doorway just staring at me for about 15 seconds then shook her head as if to clear her mind and then walked away without saying a word. I looked at her funny but she didn't see it -luckily- because her back was already facing me.

Breakfast was the usual on Sundays. Two eggs, two pieces of toast and hash browns with a cup of tea or coffee, depending on your preference or what your parents allow you to have. Some days it's just orange juice or milk.

While eating, my mother was unusually quiet. She usually has tons to say at the table. Talks about her dreams from the night or about her job being a Norn. What cases she has or conversations she has with the patients but today, she said nothing. She just smiled occasionally and nodded in agreement at what my father or brother would say.

After we all finished eating and cleaning up our house, there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it!" my brother exclaimed while skipping towards the door.

I heard the door open then a familiar voice say, "Oh, hey there, Kyo. Jeez, you've grown! Is Ketsia here?"

As soon as I heard his voice I grinned like an idiot and raced for the door, or well, tried to before my mum had a death grip on my arm, slowing me down. I got to the opened door and said, "get in here, you!" so that I could hug him because displaying affection publicly is another thing The Ones are paranoid about.

My hug shocked him, so it took him a couple seconds to hug me back and I breathed in his familiar scent and the smell of snow. He chuckled then said, "hey there, Kettle. I missed you."

I grinned widely at my childhood nickname then tears of joy fell down my face. "I've  missed you too, Blue Jay. It's funny how you always show up whenever I'm thinking about you."

A/N Sorry it's taken me forever to write this chapter.. I've been having a SERIOUS case of writers block...