Wherever that may be

Arc V (1) - 1909

Jenine wakes up startled due the loud knocking on her bedroom's door. She sits up in bed as her mother yells in a rush that her breakfast is ready and that she's leaving for work. With her heart still beating hard against her chest, Jenine searches frantically for her clock and narrows her eyes, forcing them to focus. When she fails, she hastily searches for her glasses, just besides her clock, and puts them on. She tries to focus again.

Six am.

Her body relaxes against her white cushion.

School does not start until another two hours.

The girl runs her fingers through her long, chocolate locks and sighs deeply.

She knows that she won't be able to fall asleep again.

Resigned, Jenine moves her blankets aside and decides that she might as well eat her breakfast while it's still warm. Then, she can enjoy her extra free minutes to read a book or to work on homework. Or maybe she can stare out the window until she is inspired enough to write something decent.

The brunette lets her eyes fall on the white and black images of the television her father insisted to buy, and, as he's never home, never uses.

This absolutely unstable political situation that might end in-

She stands up to turn the device off and decides to temporarily ditch Dracula for Elizabeth Bennet. The atmosphere that rises with the beginning of the ocher autumn can only be matched, from her point of view, with the sweetness of words of romance.

An hour later, after reading non-stop while letting her body search for the most comfortable position, Jenine sighs and leaves her fantasy aside to put on her very-real school uniform. She stares at herself in the mirror, at the long, black skirt reaching her ribcage, at the pristine shirt bottomed to the top, at the spec glasses that sit on her nose.

She bites the inside of her cheek and puts her bag on her shoulders.

There are some days in which she wishes she couldn't see herself.

Jenine arrives to school walking, as she always does, and tries to spend her last minutes of freedom without thinking about how boring the second period will be.

She absolutely despises mathematics.

But when she's reaching the school's door, a familiar voice makes her lose her breath partially. She blushes immediately, and she lowers her head to keep herself from starring.

The radiant voice breaks in a happy giggle, and Jenine lowers her gaze even further. The sound moves beside her, as a group of girls keep joking until they go through the big front door.

The brunette stays frozen looking at the mosaics, at her ugly black shoes.

Once the honey voice disappears, she hears another one, considerably less gentle.

"Move! Do you want all of us to be late?"

Jenine realizes then that she is standing in the middle doorway with hands her grasping the straps of her backpack tightly.

She apologizes quickly and forces her feet to tap against the floor again.

At least she has Literature on her fist period.

-

Nemamiah floats in absolute nothing and stares at absolutely nothing.

Everything hurts.

Her back, her head, her throat, her chest.

Once in a while, between an eternity or two, she finds new tears coating her cheeks.