Nova's eyes opened lazily, the sun's rays flooding the room instantly hurting her eyes.
"It's morning?" She murmured, blocking the bright light with her arm. A flick of thought ran through her mind, and with a trembling hand, she touched her head. Immediately, a knot of disappointment tightened in her stomach. "I had hoped it was all a dream."
Her mother's insistent knocks had turned into a gentle lullaby, lulling her to sleep.
Yawning, she stood and opened the door. The temperature suggested it was before 11 AM. Her stomach rumbled loudly. She planned to get something to eat after retrieving her phone.
On the floor was a box, wrapped in beautiful paper. It was undoubtedly from her mother. She crouched and unraveled the wrapping. The moment she opened the box, its content flew into the room with a bang. With a scowl, Nova rushed down the stairs, her footsteps echoing. Why would she wrap a mathematics textbook in beautiful paper?
She stepped outside, the sun hanging elegantly in the sky. Its warm rays on her skin felt invigorating, a totally new experience. It was a nice day out, a stark contrast to the heavy rain of the previous day. Looking back, that storm had been an ominous sign of what was to come.
She stealthily moved out of the gate, walking down the street. Since it was a weekend, many people were resting, and the street was mostly quiet with few passersby. It was the kind of serenity her heart and mind had been craving.
She walked to the vicinity of her fall. Standing there, she carefully scanned the ground. After about six seconds, she spotted a pink object. Her phone, still in its case. Moving closer, she picked it up. A crack resembling a spiderweb ran across the middle of the screen. Was it even functional? Wiping the screen with the wristband of her hoodie, she made her way to the nearby community basketball court.
Six boys were practicing, seemingly adolescents. They paid no mind to her as they jumped and ran around the court. The only sounds were the ball hitting the pavement and their shouts as they called out each other's names.
'Maybe if I were a girl, they'd have looked my way.'
She sat down on a bench against the wire mesh fence, turning the phone on. When the screen lit up, she dramatically placed her palm over her chest in relief. It was 10:21 AM. A notification popped up, and she quickly checked who sent it.
'Your phone's buzzing because someone wants to feel your touch.'
She immediately frowned. Since last week, she had been trying to identify the source of these spam notifications to no avail. She was sure she hadn't interacted with any dating site. With an irritated sigh, she turned off the phone, looked around the vicinity, and stood up to walk back home.