4. Don’t Panic

The night was long – I barely closed an eye and every little sound in my room made me wake up again. I sat up in my bed and opened my curtains to look out of my window. Despite the exhaustion and a painful headache, I couldn’t fall asleep. I got up from the side of my bed and made my way over to my computer – maybe playing a game would make me tired enough to fall asleep. But I couldn’t make myself turn my computer on, afraid of waking up my family.
„Akari, please go to sleep, tomorrow is a long day“, I said to myself as I rubbed my eyes.

The morning arrived, and it was nearly impossible to get out of my bed.
I heard Jaxon his voice from my door: „Morning sis, I’ll take you to school.“
„Are you sure?“ I turned in my bed and looked at him.
„If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have told you.“ He smiled a little before leaving and closing my door again.
I stayed in bed for a few more minutes and looked out of my window to see the sunrise.
„Alright, let’s get up“, I told myself as I got up from my bed. I chose my outfit for today and headed to the bathroom.
„Good morning, sweetheart“, my grandma said when she saw me in the hallway.
„Morning, Nana.“ I gave her a hug.
„Could you sleep a little last night?“
„It was ok, thank you for asking“, I responded.
She nodded and talked in a comforting way: „I’ll see you downstairs in a bit.“
I made my way into the bathroom and started getting myself ready for the day.

Jaxon was waiting for me at the front door as I quickly told everyone goodbye.
My mom wished me good luck with school and waved before we walked out of the house.
„Thanks for bringing me to school“, I said the moment I got into Jaxon his car.
„No problem!“ he reassured me while fastening his seat belt and starting the car.
„See you tonight.“ I waved at Jaxon.
He waved back and drove off.

„Hey!“ Deja looked concerned.
„Morning“, I greeted her back.
„We heard what happened to Kaito. Are you ok?“
„I’m as ok as I can be.“
„Let’s head to class. I heard that Mr. Alden his class is canceled, so no history for us today!“ Aubri said and put her arm around my shoulders.

Our school day passed really quickly. As usual, the classes were boring, but we made the best of it. I opened the front door and took my shoes off before walking into the living room.
„I’m home!“ I announced as I closed the hallway door behind me.
„Welcome home, sweetheart. How was school?“ grandma asked me.
„It was alright“, I told her and smiled. I noticed that my mom tried to read my face.
„I’ll be upstairs for a bit, can you call me when dinner’s ready?“
„Of course, take some rest“, my mom reassured me.

I made my way to my room and closed my door behind me. I sat down in my chair and turned my computer on to play Forestveil for a bit – because I needed to get my mind somewhere else – until I eventually dozed off while sitting at my desk.