I woke up to the sound of my alarm. Groggily, I checked the time—7:00 AM.
"Class is at 9. I'll just sleep for five more minutes," I muttered, placing my phone back on the side of my bed.
Closing my eyes felt like a second, but the alarm went off again.
"What the heck? I just closed my eyes. How did five minutes fly by already?" I grumbled. "Alright, just five more minutes this time…"
The alarm sounded again.
I squinted at the clock: 7:30 AM.
"Ugh, it doesn't feel good to wake up at 30. I'll just wake up at 8," I rationalized, rolling over.
Before I knew it, I was woken by a loud knock on my door.
"Ayaa, Ashan! Didn't you say your class was at 9? Wake up; it's almost 9 already!" My warden's voice carried through the door.
Still half-asleep, I mumbled, "Okay, Otsu…" That's what we PG mates called our warden—Otsu, meaning granny in her language.
I rubbed my eyes, glanced at my phone, and froze.
"OH SHIT! It's 8:40!"
Panic set in. There was a test first period. I scrambled out of bed, washing up in record time, grabbing the first clothes I could find, and dashing out.
"Fifteen minutes left… I'm going to be so late!" I muttered, jogging down the street. Spotting a taxi, I waved frantically.
The driver rolled down the window. "Where?"
"Brigade," I said quickly and hopped in.
Checking the time, I breathed a small sigh of relief. "Still ten minutes. I might just make it… as long as there's no traffic."
I pulled out my phone and saw Tsula's unread message from earlier. In my hurry, I hadn't even responded.
"Good morning," I texted back and a few more, but my thoughts were interrupted.
"Where are you going?" I asked the driver, noticing something off.
"You said Brigade," he replied casually.
"Yeah, but why are you taking this way?"
I looked out the window, realizing he'd taken the Laimu route—a longer, more roundabout path.
"There was traffic ahead," he explained.
I sighed internally. "Great, just great," I thought, glancing at the growing line of cars ahead.
Rena texted me: Where are you? Class is about to start!
I sent her a picture of the traffic outside my window.
I got up late, took a taxi to save time, but the driver took the Laimu route. Now I'm stuck in traffic.
Her response came almost immediately: LOL. Why don't you get off the taxi and just walk?
"Good question," I thought bitterly. But walking now would take even longer, so I typed back, It's too late for that. I'll just wait.
"Okay, but hurry up and get to class," she replied.
"Sure, I'll just lift this car and fly over," I muttered to myself sarcastically.
Minutes crawled by. The traffic didn't budge. My frustration grew, and by the time I finally reached college, it was already 9:15.
"Well, there goes the test…" I sighed, deciding to wait for the next period.
I made my way to the cafeteria and ordered a tea. I hated coffee—it was bitter and overrated. I only drank it around others to seem "mature."
With my tea in hand, I headed to the library, flashing my ID at the entrance. Spotting an empty corner hidden by rows of bookshelves, I walked over, hoping to relax.
Someone else was there—a girl, sitting at the far end, absorbed in her book. I ignored her and slumped into a chair. Taking out my notebook, I placed it on the table, rested my head on it, and closed my eyes for just a moment.
"Ahh… exhausted," I thought, still feeling the remnants of sleep tugging at me.
Before I knew it, I was dozing off again.
Later, I opened my eyes to the sound of someone calling my name.
Groggily lifting my head, I blinked and saw a girl standing in front of me.
Wait a minute... wasn't she the same girl who was reading earlier?
Straightening up quickly, I tried to appear more presentable.
In a soft voice, she said, "I noticed you've been sleeping for so long, so I thought I should wake you up."
"Oh, thank you! That was sweet of you," I said, a little embarrassed.
She stood there for a moment longer, as if hesitating to say something, but then just nodded and walked away.
I glanced at my phone to check the time.
"What the faqqq?! It's 1 already?! What the heck am I even doing today?!"
All the classes were over by now.
I shot up from my seat, and bolted toward my class.
Midway, I froze in my tracks.
"Wait… how did she know my name?"
I shook my head. "Never mind. I can just ask her the next time I see her again. Right now, I need to figure out how to reply to Rena's texts…"
I could just go home now, but knowing Rena, she will probably still in the lab, arranging files for the week or something.
"I can't just let her handle everything alone," I thought as my feet instinctively carried me toward the lab.
Sure enough, as I reached the door, there she was, sitting at a desk surrounded by a mess of papers.
"Hey, Rena," I called out.
She looked up, surprised. "What happened, Ashan? Where were you?!"
I waved her question off. "That can wait. More importantly, why are you still here?"
She frowned. "I'm just doing our work for the week…"
"Exactly. Why are you here doing it alone? You could've gone home. We could've handled this tomorrow!"
Rena shrugged. "I didn't have anything to do at home today, so I thought I might as well finish half the work now."
"Uhh, workaholic baka," I muttered under my breath.
Rena narrowed her eyes. "What was that?"
"Nothing! Nothing at all!" I said quickly, before realizing she was still waiting for an explanation.
"Anyway," she said, crossing her arms, "what are you doing here right now? And where were you all day?"
My mind raced. Oh no, I was still in a tough spot.
"Well, you see…" I began, trying to sound convincing. "I was… um… reading some stuff… for our club's planning… in the library…"
"And?" Rena asked suspiciously.
"And… I… dozed off," I admitted sheepishly.
Rena's face was a mix of disbelief and exasperation.
"You lazy dumb arse!" she snapped. "How can you be so careless?!"
"I dunno… I was just really sleepy," I said, scratching the back of my head.
"But hey, I still came, didn't I?"
"That's not the point here!" she said, shaking her head.
I smiled apologetically, and after some grumbling, she let it slide. We settled down and finished the rest of the work together.
As we packed up to leave, Rena turned to me and asked, "Oh, Ashan, do you know what's tomorrow?"
"Tuesday? Or was it Wednesday?" I guessed.
She rolled her eyes. "I'm not talking about the day of the week. Tomorrow is All Souls' Day."
"And?" I asked, still confused.
"Our group decided to visit the cemetery tomorrow night," she said. "They'll have candle decorations and stuff to honor the dead."
I groaned. "By group, you mean me too?"
"Yes, you. Jee already added you to the plan. You're not escaping her."
"Ughhh…" I sighed, resigning myself to whatever nonsense tomorrow would bring.