14

No alarm clock waking me up today. No hurrying, no stress, no being tired despite having slept for a healthy amount of time. Just the faint chirping of birds outside, the light from outside slipping through the smallest gaps of the window that my curtain does not cover, and the occasional footsteps outside my door. It's peaceful, it's needed, it's something I wish would never end.

However, this break is not for staying in my bed all day. It is for working, too. Now that the weekend's over, I have things to do. With a loud groan, I throw the covers off of me. My stomach growls. As I get up, I check the time. It is eleven AM. Since Tsukishima and I have not agreed on a time for our meeting, I believe I can go whenever I feel like it.

When I walk out of my room, I walk into Myra, one of our maids. "Sorry, Myra. Are you alright?" I ask, worried because of her already fragile body. She may be one of the oldest here, but she is only 56. However, her muscles are weak and she's got bad balance.

"Yes. Thank you, sir. Did you sleep well?" She nods. I told her she can call me by my first name, but she refuses to.

"I always rest well when I sleep in such a clean room. Thanks for that. But I'm hungry now, so I will be heading downstairs." I smile at her and wave goodbye.

As soon as arrive on the ground floor, a pleasant smell greets me, leading me to the kitchen. "Good morning everyone!" I say as I walk in, straight towards the plate with freshly baked chocolate croissants.

"Good morning, sir," a choir of voices responds. I grab a few of the baked goods, thank the employees, and head towards the dining room.

My father is sitting at the head of the table, reading a paper, glasses on top of his head and a cup of coffee in his hands. He never needed any glasses until a few months ago. Now, he has to use reading glasses for pretty much every paper. It looks weird.

I grab a seat next to him. "Good morning dad," I say. He doesn't answer. He doesn't even look up. I try to take a glance at his paper, but he is holding it in such a position that I am unable to see. I grab the top of his paper and drag it down, until it's showing me a crossword puzzle. "Good morning, dad," I say again. "Is it that hard of a puzzle?"

This time, he does look up, having an irritated look on his face for a second before he realizes it's me. "Good morning. I am just stuck on this one word..." he scratches his head.

"Can I see?" I grab his paper and pencil. He points at number fifteen, horizontal. 'The one you want to spend your free days with, 5 letters', the explanation reads. "Family doesn't fit. It can't be friend, either," I think out loud. I look at the two letters that are already filled in: _O_E_. "Isn't it lover?" I tell him.

His face lights up as he grabs the pencil and the paper and fills it in. "Thank you. I don't know how I got stuck on that one." He sighs, but looks content now. The one you spend your free days with, huh? I blush a little as Jerah comes to mind. Lover? In what way? The thought irritates me and I swallow my croissant too fast, making me choke.

"Are you okay?" my dad asks while hitting me on the back softly.

I nod, walking back towards the kitchen to grab some water. Now even more red in the face than I was before, I head upstairs, still annoyed. I start packing a small backpack with math books, a ruler, a calculator, pens, pencils, and whatever else I may need.

"Bye, dad! Say hi to mom!" I yell as I head out the front door. Today will be my first time visiting Jerah's house. How will his family react? What do they look like? What does his home look like? All kinds of questions fill my head as I start walking.