I felt incredibly heavy, like there were dumbbells weighing down on my body. I slowly woke up and glanced around while still lying down. The room was dark and cold—the breeze from the open window on the left side, near my wardrobe, brushed against my skin. I was puzzled. Why was the window open?
I sat up on the edge of my bed, but my body felt unusually heavy. On top of that, I felt a little dizzy. Forcing myself, I stood up and checked the time.
"Four o'clock in the morning," I murmured calmly to myself.
I looked back at the window and stared at it for about five minutes. It felt as if it was calling to me. Once again, the cold wind swept over me—it was freezing, like I was inside a refrigerator.
I paused, staring at the window, and thought to myself,
"Should I check it or just leave it?"
After about five seconds of hesitation, I finally decided to take a look. Even though my body felt extremely heavy, I forced myself to walk toward the window. As I got closer, the wind grew stronger and stronger against me.
"Just a little more..." I said, struggling to reach the window.
I stretched out my arm, hoping to at least touch the window frame. But I suddenly froze—
I thought I heard a voice outside my room. It sounded familiar.
I turned toward the door, checking to see if it was just my imagination. No one spoke again, so I continued reaching for the frame to look outside.
But then—
A mysterious voice shouted from beyond the door:
"No! You're not ready yet!"
In that moment, I remembered my mom. I turned to the door and asked,
"Ma? Is that you?"
My voice cracked slightly—maybe from the mix of emotions flooding me.
Moments later, a reply came:
"Yes, it's me, my child. Come here and open the door."
Her tone was excited and warm.
I stopped what I was doing and walked toward my door. As I approached, tears began to fall from my eyes.
"Ma!" I cried out, my voice trembling like a lost child.
The closer I got, the heavier my body felt. The surroundings grew darker and darker. I looked around—the only things I could still see were the doorknob and the window.
So I went straight to the door, ready to open it. But just as I was about to turn the knob, the outside of the window lit up—and a voice from outside spoke:
"Ale—"
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
I was startled when I heard the alarm clock from my cellphone.
"Whoa, it was just a dream?" I said in disbelief over what happened.
"What kind of dream was that?" I wondered.
I grabbed the phone beside me and turned off the alarm clock.
"Four eight in the morning, hmm."
That made me think—because in my dream, it was exactly four o'clock.
I let it go and stood up, then rubbed my neck which hurt like crazy, as if something bit into it.
While I was rubbing it, I couldn't help but think about the dream again.
"Was that really Mom?" I asked myself, worried if the dream meant something.
I stopped touching my neck and looked at the window.
It was closed.
What was I expecting, that it would be open?
"That dream felt so real, though..." I said as I took a tank top from the cabinet and was about to head out of my room.
But before I could step out, I suddenly rushed back to the window and opened it, hoping to see someone outside—
but there was no one.
It was freezing outside.
I stretched my hand out the window and let the wind touch it.
It felt so fresh.
As I looked around, I remembered that I might be running late.
So I checked the time.
"4:20 already? Man, I gotta head down," I said.
I left my room, and while heading downstairs, I checked my phone for any messages—
but there weren't any, so I ignored it and went straight to the kitchen.
To my surprise, I found a mountain of dirty dishes.
"Ugh, John! You didn't wash again, huh?" I said, annoyed and disappointed.
Good thing there were still a few clean plates and pans left.
I cooked breakfast for us.
After cooking, I started getting ready for school—
I'm the only one who has school today since I go to a private school.
An hour and a half later, I was dressed and ready to go early.
Before I left, I went to my brother John's room and knocked.
"John! Wake up!"
Good thing he wakes up easily. He opened the door and said,
"What is it, Bro? It's too early!"
He even sounded annoyed—as if he wasn't the one at fault.
"Why didn't you wash the dishes last night? You know it's your turn yesterday!" I reminded him.
"Sorry, bro... We had a game last night. I got really tired. I didn't tell you guys because I knew you wouldn't let me play," he explained.
He seemed to be telling the truth—
His face and posture clearly showed how tired he was.
"Okay, I'll let it slide for now, but I don't know if Dad will," I warned him.
I said goodbye, told him where I kept the food, and headed out.
I started walking toward school.
It's a bit far from our house, but still walkable.
While walking, I stopped in front of a grocery store.
I saw one of my friends buying something—it was Gilbert.
He's the type who's easily startled and very talkative.
I thought of surprising him, so I quietly entered the store and snuck up on him,
raising my hand to tickle his side—
But he suddenly turned to me.
"Heyyy Alexander! So it's you, huh? Thought you could sneak up on me!" he said excitedly,
clearly happy that I didn't succeed in surprising him.
"You're early today," I said, since this was the first time I'd seen him up and about so early.
Gilbert looked confused about why I asked that.
"Dude, we have a project, remember?" he reminded me.
I suddenly got nervous when he said that—our group leader today is really strict.
"Ah, uhh..." I mumbled, scratching the back of my head.
He noticed my unsure expression.
"Don't tell me you forgot?" he asked, clearly suspicious—and he was right.
Without hesitation, I admitted I forgot.
"Oh man, we're screwed—Sophia's going to kill us," he said.
Ugh, Sophia again... what a mess.
"Don't worry, I'll explain everything when we get to school," I said, trying to sound calm—but deep inside, I was panicking.
Gilbert walked up to the vendor to buy the stuff he needed—one pack of A4 bond paper and some ink.
That's when I remembered—we were having a research project.
"Hey! Why are you spacing out?" Gilbert asked.
"Ah, it's nothing," I replied with a nervous laugh, hoping he'd stop asking questions.
"Come on, let's go!" I told him, now in a rush.
And with that, we headed straight for school.
We finally arrived at school. There were so many students here even though it's a private school. From the outside, our school looks nice, but to me, it's just normal—nothing special. While Gilbert and I were walking, he asked, "Hey, do you need help explaining things later?" He was clearly concerned about me.
"No need, man, I got this," I told him confidently.
"Just a reminder, okay? We each have a chapter in the research—chapter 3 is mine!" he added.
While Gilbert was talking, I couldn't stop thinking about my dream. It's surprising how vividly I remember everything that happened. One part I clearly recall was the voice by the window. Was it a woman's voice? I'm not sure, but I have a strong feeling it was.
"Hey! You're spacing out again!" Gilbert said as he hit me lightly on the head.
"Ouch! That hurt!" I complained.
"Was it a girl that got you thinking, huh?" he teased. But kidding aside, it's strange how accurate his guesses have been lately. I thought for about three seconds and just let it slide.
"What girl? I'm thinking about our research, you weirdo!" I explained—even though that's not really what I was thinking about.
A few minutes later, we arrived at our classroom. There were already quite a few people there. Wow, a lot of early birds today, huh? Well, it makes sense—the whole school has a research project, so everyone's busy.
Gilbert sat in his spot to check the stuff he bought, while I looked around to see if Sophia was already there. To be honest, I was really nervous. I didn't even know what excuse I'd use. Maybe I'll say there was a technical issue at home, and that's why I couldn't work on the project? Ugh, whatever happens, happens.
Sophia wasn't in the room yet, so I went to my seat near the back and tried to calm myself. As I was trying to relax, I started thinking about my mom again. It's been a long time since we've seen her. We haven't had any contact with her since she and my dad separated. I've always wanted to ask my dad if he knows where she is or if he still has a way to reach her—but he's always so busy with his business that he barely has time for us, his kids.
After a few minutes of calming down, Sophia finally arrived. I glanced at her and noticed how tired and sleep-deprived she looked—probably because of our research project. And since she's a top student, it adds even more stress. She sat down, and to my surprise, she looked at me sharply, like she already suspected I didn't do anything for the project.
I avoided looking at her because I couldn't hold her gaze for long. Instead, I stared out the window, watching the students walking by the gate. A few moments later, Sophia walked straight toward me, like she already confirmed her suspicion.
"Hey, Alex! Where's your Chapter 2? I need it now!" she asked, sounding both angry and rushed.
Panic hit me again. I'm doomed! What do I do now? While she waited for my answer, a wild (but funny) idea popped into my head.
"Uhh… Sophia, well… our Chapter 2 got messed up… by the cat," I explained, hoping she'd believe it.
"What??!! What kind of excuse is that? Ugh, fine! Just redo it. We still have five days left to finish this. This project's been taking forever, Alex! We can't move forward without Chapter 2!" she snapped.
Thankfully, she gave me a second chance—whew! "Yeah, I'll fix it right away," I replied.
While we were talking, our adviser suddenly arrived. Everyone fell silent and got back to their seats, even Sophia returned to hers. I couldn't help but chuckle a bit—she looked cute when she was mad.
"Okay, class! I have an announcement today!" our adviser began.
She wasn't even done talking yet when Gilbert raised his hand. You're dead, Gilbert, I thought.
"What's with you, Gilbert?! I'm not even done speaking!" our adviser scolded him, frowning.
"Sorry, ma'am! Is this about the school-wide research project?" he asked curiously.
Because of his question, the whole class laughed—everyone except me. One of our classmates, Kent, who's a bit of a smart kid, chimed in, "Seriously, Gilbert? That was announced just yesterday!" Then he laughed.
"Kent, everyone—enough! Listen to the announcement!" our adviser shouted to quiet the class.
Gilbert sat down, and for some reason, instead of being embarrassed, he was smiling—maybe because he got everyone's attention?
"You're getting a new classmate this school year, so welcome her properly, okay? She's from a wealthy family, so be on your best behavior!" our adviser explained.
A few moments later, the new student entered the room—and immediately caught my attention. I looked at her closely. She wore glasses and had a pendant around her neck. The pendant… it looked familiar. Silver, with a red rose in the center.
Then she spoke.
"Hi… everyone… my na-…me is Esthera," she said, stammering nervously.
I judged her right then and there. "Hmph, so dramatic", I whispered to myself, making sure no one heard.
I glanced around. It looked like others were already gossiping about her behind her back because of how she introduced herself.
"I… live… in Bulacan. Nice to meet you, everyone!" she said in an excited tone.
While she was talking, I looked around to see where she might sit—and of course, the only empty seat left was beside me. Just my luck.
I looked at our adviser, who was also scanning the room.
Please don't say she's sitting next to me.
"Okay, Esthera, go sit beside Alexander," our adviser said.
Without hesitation, she walked toward me. As she got closer and our eyes met, it felt like time slowed down. Her gaze was so sweet, and the color of her eyes—golden brown—was beautiful.
Before she even reached her seat, I quickly looked away. Sheesh, she might think I'm planning something creepy or weird.