“Akira? Akira, honey.”

“Ugh! Five more minutes, mom!”

“Honey, we need to discuss something important.”

It took me a while to realize that my mom was really here and I wasn't imaging it. And it wasn’t seven in the morning and that I was in my bed, sleeping at twelve in the afternoon.

“I’m up.” I sat up leaning against my headboard, rubbing the sleep from my eyes with both palms, my hair probably… scratch that, I knew my hair looked exactly like Medusa’s.

“Good. How are you feeling now?” Mom asked, running her hands through my hair to untangle them as best as she could. Mom’s taken today off...