She looks like me on...

*The Next Morning*

The rain had stopped during the night, but the sky remained a dull gray. Kaiser, sitting alone on the bus, watched the scenery slide past through the window smeared with streaks. Residual droplets trickled slowly down the glass, tracing hesitant lines, like the thoughts drifting through his mind.

He looked tired, his features drawn, his gaze distant. One hand rested on his temple, the other held his bag on his knees.

When he got off at his high school stop, it wasn't even 8 a.m. yet. The hallways buzzed with the morning hum of slamming lockers, laughter, and overly lively chatter. He headed silently toward his own locker, slid his fingers over the lock's combination, and turned it mechanically. He hadn't slept more than three hours. Still that damn feeling of emptiness and that sticky fatigue clinging to his skin like a second sweat. Probably the L-Dopa backlash. The skipped heartbeat, the nausea, and that sneaky, silent kind of craving.