CH 61

The hot wind of summer still blew past the blossoming trees while the local children who had to attend school naturally felt nothing but unutterable anguish at the thought of having to wake up early again. Though this was lessened by the fortunate fact that they would have lunch money later.

"Zel! Wake up! It's 6:30 already!" A roaring voice came eagerly from downstairs. It was the familiar voice of his beloved mother.

" Huh? Huh! " Zel who was fondly dreaming of being a mighty hero who flew his way towards a gigantic monster rabbit was jolted awake by the fierce cry coming from downstairs. He hurriedly stood up, causing him to feel dizzy for a while before heading straight for the shower. He carefully took the towel he strategically placed on the chair last night while gently pressing the 'print' button on his still turned on reliable computer.

" Beep- Beep- Beep- "A sound came from his printer that was also left on since forever ago. His intimate knowledge of computers made him realize keenly that he didn't need to turn them off ever again. Though his lack of practical knowledge about life didn't allow him to know respectively that the radiant heat it produces also harms his precious health, not only that, his parents' wallets too due to the constant consumption of electricity.

He ran out of his room while wearing only the boxers he slept comfortably with last night, he had already removed his shirt and tossed it into the clothes basket by the bathroom door. He looked at the windows and saw that it was still dark outside, but he hadn't connected the dots as of yet.

"Oh no, oh no!" The bathroom door was tactfully left open while the brilliant lights were on, which probably means his eldest sister was already done with her shower. He entered rapidly and placed the towel on the sink before closing the door. He didn't realize that the temperature inside wasn't warm at all.

" Slip. Bang. Ow!" As he was too hasty in his careless movements, he didn't care about how much overwhelming power he exerted to close the door and inevitably ended up slipping on the polished floor. The pain on his thighs was giving him no small amount of irritation. Nevertheless, Zel had already started stripping off his boxers. When he had removed one leg out, he clicked on the lock of the door.

His other leg was still inside his boxers, but he had already turned the shower handle to start the heater, though he quickly left the area so his clothes don't get wet. Nothing worse than having a wet boxer in a pile so that mother would scold you for peeing the bed again.

'I don't have time to brush my teeth afterwards!'

Mentally calculating the time that had elapsed in his head, Zel arranged a plan to sequence it all out. He took his toothbrush from the cabinet, as well as a flexible tube of toothpaste. He then hurriedly placed them on a rack for soap while taking the soap in exchange. The scorching hot water made him flinch momentarily before he quickly adapted to the heat. He scrubbed his bed head with water before letting the water hit every part of his body.

"Zel!" His mother's shout had forced his brisk pace quicken up, turning what was already a mess into one that would make him graze his head and skin as he scrubbed like a madman.

The boy next took the soap and smeared his face with it. He operated one spare hand to rub the places the soap had passed through as the soap hand explored uncharted territory. A cycle he perpetuated twice to make sure he got every nook and cranny. He cleansed just his face while barely letting the water hit everything else.

'Shampoo!' A shampoo container that was very forcefully opened was promptly placed over his head while he took the toothbrush with another hand. He squeezed the container to let its contents squirt out, feeling a weight added on top of his head. He subsequently placed the bottle back on the storage space before picking up the toothpaste and letting a few drops dribble into the toothbrush.

"Zel!" Another shout came from downstairs again, making him squeeze the toothpaste too hard and ended up amassing a tall amount. But he couldn't be bothered and squandered it anyway.

Zel madly brushed his teeth with one hand while furiously washing his hair with the other. Almost choking on the toothbrush as it went a little too hard. He then washed everything away in just a few minutes before rushing towards the towel. When he was ceased rubbing himself from top to bottom, as a good boy should, he took the powder from the cosmetics rack and doused it on himself. Not even caring if he was wasting the powder that fell on the floor.

"Zel! Hurry up and eat!"

Zel who had just left the bathroom froze on the spot, watching as his mother was knocking on his bedroom door.

She didn't look like she was frantic at all, in fact, she looked quite lax. But what really made him freeze was when he found his big sister standing by her room door, seemingly having just woken up. Her hand was even scratching her right eye while she yawned loudly in front of the stationary Zel.

"Morning..." Zel's eldest sister just walked towards the bathroom behind Zel while the boy stood in place. A moment later, he proceeded to go back into his room while leaving behind a shimmering pool of water on where he stood on just a moment ago.

"No way..."

Zel took a look at the calendar and clock on the bottom right of his computer and he felt ridiculous.

"Is this real?" Zel had an incredulous look on his youthful face as he gently massaged his temple. His dull eyes darted around the room while he sat down on his adjustable chair without caring if it got wet.

'It's only 5:10 am'

His cruel mother had never lied to him about the time before, making him think that it was late. How cruel. A feeling of terrible betrayal lingered in his sorrowful heart for a good 10 minutes before he arbitrarily decided to lie back down, his disheveled hair still sopping wet.

'How could she?' The frantic rush he had experienced inevitably turned into a solemn mood that threatened to radically change the boy's perspective on life. How much personal effort did he just give only to look like a blundering idiot, even if it's just to himself?

"Zel! You hav- Bang. Click. " Zel couldn't take her urgent voice in without feeling mad so he slammed the door and locked it. Promising to never go to school again. He lied back down on his bed while playing music to calm himself down. It was when he reached for his computer that he saw the paper he just printed.

"Sigh." Climbing back out of his miserable bed, he proceeded to wear his uniform. Even if he hated his mother, he shouldn't let his friends down. Their lunch for today needed his personal attendance, or it wouldn't be complete without him presenting his novel there. He slowly walked out of his room in full attire while finding his sister fixing her uncombed hair over the mirror.

"You're early today."

"Mumble." Zel hadn't expected the harsh reminder so he didn't care to respond, though his sister also didn't care as she proceeded to go back and brush her hair.

When Zel had gone downstairs, a table filled with food greeted him. A stack of pancakes, prepared fruits and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that was his favorite. Though he didn't care about them at all as he merely grasped the glass of milk and chugged it in one go, not taking a single bite of the lousy food. His sister had went downstairs after he drank and seated herself to have a meal.

"Are you not hungry?"

"..." Zel didn't even look at his concerned mother, the traitor. He merely went to the living room and involuntarily turned on the television, not caring about his upset father who was delivering him a dissatisfied look that said 'Go and eat'.

"This following program is unintended for young audiences, viewer discretion is advised." A movie played out, and it was only just starting too. Zel looked at his watch to see how much time he had before they would leave for school.

'5:40, that's like 50 minutes left? 60 minus 40 plus 30. Yep, 50 minutes'

The sensitive boy sat down while awkwardly placing his backpack on his side. Not minding anyone else' business. His distraught mother had looked suspiciously at him from time to time but didn't call him out again. When the time hit 6:30, his hapless father stood up and called them.

"Let's go kids."

Zel's big sister had already started to go out of the house but not before giving her mother a kiss on the cheek.

"Bye, mom."

"Bye, sweetie."

Zel didn't follow her though and just went to the door. Though he was forcibly stopped by an overstuffed bag that was placed right in front of him. He looked up to see that it was his wicked mother's hand.

"I packed the sandwich for you, in case you get hungry."

"..." Zel took the bag and merely left without saying anything. Zel's anxious mother still didn't understand why the boy had suddenly started willfully ignoring her but in her preoccupied mind, 'that's just kids'. Even if it did hurt a little.

Zel's school was a private school that had nuns as the governing body, which means there's a lot of praying that goes around. One of the prayers is held in the morning, just before the school sessions start. Zel went out of the car with his sister and bid their father goodbye with a wave of the hand.

It was only when Zel and Melba had went inside the building already that Tommy saw that an overstuffed bag was left behind inside the car. One that looked like a lunch bag.

'Oh no!' He hurriedly stopped the car and parked it on the side, so he can check up on what was inside the bag. When he did so, he only found a packed sandwich, two packs of 'Chiffy' chips and three bars of dark chocolate while a note that said 'Mommy's sorry' was covering one of the candy bars.

"Sigh." Tommy went home but not before eating the food and hiding the bag in the trunk so his helpless wife doesn't see. He wondered bitterly what got into that boy who was so sweet just last night.

'It's too early for puberty isn't it?'

.....

'What was it again?'

Zel opened his personal notebook and started writing furiously as if the class hadn't started yet. It began three minutes ago already.

'It was something like, name, race, level, exp, exp?' He wrote down a list of odd things he remembered from his dreams. He wondered uneasily why he was able to see them on a watch in his terrible dreams, but then he merely recalled.

'They are dreams.' He searched online about what could have been happening to him for a few nights now, when he couldn't even move sometimes. But when he could, it feel like it was real when he did. It was as if he was seeing something more akin to a memory than a dream. The overwhelming sense of excessive familiarity in his new body, the raw emotions he felt when experiencing it. It was too real.

Turns out what he had been experiencing were lucid dreams, where he could dictate what happens in the dream. But why was it that he would dream of something he had never thought about before. For starters, he had never liked playing role playing video games, so why was it that the dreadful dream would have a bleak setting like that. "Sigh."

'I'd rather have a real-time strategy game or even a city-building game. That would be much nicer.' He wrote down which parts of the dream he liked most, and wrote down things he didn't. He was jotting down these things when he realized that a person was looking at him write, a person he didn't know.

'Who is she?' A girl wearing a white blouse that had the insignia of the school on its left breast.A black and white pleated plaid skirt that reached all the way to her knees. All this combined with a pair of black shoes with white socks. Blue eyes and black hair, a short stature and fair skin.

She was cute, there was no doubt about that in Zel's disordered mind, but she was too nosy. He had never seen her before, so she must be a new student. But he didn't really care about those students other than the friends he already had.

"Umm, please don't look." Zel was shyly hiding his notebook from the uninvited guest who was taking a peek. He didn't know the girl, but didn't want to be rude about it, so he tried to be polite.

Luckily, the unknown girl seemed to understand as she nodded her head and opened a notebook of her own. Seemingly writing down something as well.

'Don't want to eat my own words now.' He then went back to writing, not bothering the girl as she wrote on her notebook. Her previously confused look changed into one of seriousness which made her look more adorable in Zel's eyes.

If only Zel was able to take a peek, though, he'd be terribly surprised to see what she was writing.

As it was an exact copy of what he was writing.