Consumed by a strange sensation, I drifted out of sleep and stared up at the ceiling.
A faint clarity settled in, proof that I had returned to reality.
Still, the dream I'd had was… odd.
Have you ever woken from something so bizarre that you know it was strange, yet the details slip away the moment you open your eyes?
That was exactly how I felt.
But did I really have the time or energy to dwell on such trivialities?
Heavy with lingering drowsiness, I groggily fumbled across the sheets, my hand searching blindly for my smartphone.
If memory served me right, I spent the entire night playing that popular game everyone had been obsessing over lately.
What was it called again? Something about nightmares and survival… to summarize, it was definitely the kind of thing you shouldn't binge before bed.
Maybe that explained the strange dream.
Or maybe it didn't.
My fingers finally brushed against the cool surface of my phone. I pulled it closer, squinting at the bright screen as it lit up in the dim room.
6:37 am.
…What's this? It was already past six-thirty in the morning.
That wouldn't have been an issue under normal circumstances. Graduating from high school, I'd been lazing around ever since.
There was nothing urgent to do and nothing I particularly cared to bother with.
Well, aside from the occasional nagging from my parents about attending college, but honestly, I just couldn't bring myself to feel motivated.
You might be wondering why I don't want to attend college.
In fact, it would be completely beneficial to attend college. First of all, those who attend college would obviously have more knowledge in their respective study of choice and would be open to more opportunities upon graduation. And if one decided to push a step further by pursuing their Masters, they'd open themselves up to even more doors and connections that could last a lifetime. The logic was sound. Everyone around me seemed to buy into it without question.
And yet… I just couldn't.
It wasn't that I hated learning or feared responsibility. I'd simply grown tired of the predictable path everyone else seemed so eager to follow.
Wake up, study, graduate, work, retire. Rinse and repeat. A cycle I wasn't interested in joining.
But then again, it wasn't as if I was chasing a life of prestige, nor was I burdened with some grand purpose.
I was just an ordinary guy, like any other teenager, full of hormones and prone to making mistakes.
For some reason, though, it felt like my parents were just waiting for me to make one of those "mistakes" and get some young lady pregnant.
"Ugh."
A faint groan escaped me as I rolled onto my side, propping my head up with one arm. The sunlight creeping through the blinds stung my eyes, pulling me fully out of the haze of sleep.
'Damnit. Looks like going back to sleep isn't happening anymore.'
Letting out a sigh and suppressing a yawn, I lazily swung my legs off the bed and dragged myself toward the bathroom, rubbing my stomach as I went. My hands caught the cool water flowing from the tap, and I splashed it over my face to shake off the lingering sleepiness.
And then I caught my reflection in the mirror.
It looked back at "me" or rather, at "I."
The young man staring from the reflective surface appeared to be around eighteen or nineteen, though in reality he was twenty. Black hair fell across his forehead and down the nape, framing pale skin and grey eyes that carried a quiet, lonely glamour.
His build was lean, with subtle hints of developed muscle that weren't immediately obvious, and his height measured roughly 180 centimeters. Taken altogether, he was above average in terms of looks, enough to catch the eye, but not so breathtaking that a crowd of admirers would naturally flock around him!
That was the reality of Cassius Cain.
Actually, having girls flocking to me 24/7 would be nothing but stressful. It would constantly disrupt my ordinary, uneventful life.
No. Taking the path of the loner was the surest route to mediocrity.
A faint smile formed on my lips, only to vanish almost as soon as it appeared. I shook my head and pushed the thought away.
Finished with that, I dragged my feet across the floor, making my way downstairs. The smell of toast and coffee wafted up from the kitchen, filling the air with an oddly comforting normalcy.
"Morning," I muttered while stepping into the kitchen.
My parents were already there, chatting quietly over their breakfast. My mother looked up first, offering a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Good morning, Cassius," she said, her tone unusually serious.
My father, sitting opposite her, pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Then he said suddenly:
"We have some news for you."
I froze mid-step.
"News?"
Where was this coming from? What's the special occasion? Those two looked uncharacteristically serious for some reason.
'Wait, could it be...'
Tilting my head, I asked, "Is Mom pregnant?"
"Ahh! ♪"
"Fsshh!"
Mother pressed her hands to her cheeks, red with embarrassment, while Father sputtered, spilling his drink and coughing frantically.
"Cough! Cough! Ahem! Son, that was a poorly placed joke. Are you trying to be a comedian?"
"So Mom isn't pregnant?"
"Of course not! Just how the hell did you reach that conclusion?!"
"Well, let's see here… you're always nagging me about my future, Dad, and Mom, you've been acting extra cautious lately, right? Then there's the serious looks this morning, the hushed whispers, and—oh!—the extra-large breakfast you two made like it's some kind of celebration."
I paused for effect, letting them digest my "logic."
"And, of course," I continued, wagging a finger for emphasis, "the mysterious announcement that comes out of nowhere. Put all of that together, and what's the only plausible conclusion? Mom's pregnant. It just… fits."
Mother groaned.
"Cassius... our reasoning is… spectacularly ridiculous."
Confused, I uttered.
"Huh? If you're not pregnant then what's this about?"
Father finally cleared his throat and set his glasses straight.
"Anyway… the actual news is about your college."
I froze again, my previous joke already fading from my mind.
"College?"
"Yes, we signed you up for college," Mother clarified.
"But I didn't want to go to college. Besides, don't you need my approval before you do something like that!?"
"Okay, so why don't you want to go?"
'Nice one, Dad! I like how you skillfully avoided the last question!'
I wanted to say that out loud, but I already knew he would just dodge again, so I glared at him and answered his question instead.
"Why do I not want to go to college? Well, it certainly doesn't have anything to do with the fact that I'm doing perfectly fine without it. I've been doing well since I graduated high school. So what more do you want from me? If that's the case, I can start paying re—"
Before I could finish that sentence, Father lifted a hand, stopping me right there.
"Don't even finish that. Paying rent? As if we would ever let you do something like that."
He gave me a stern look, but underneath it was something softer, almost worried.
Mother sighed.
"Solace, this isn't about rent or money. We just want you to have a stable future."
Father nodded.
"You're smart, capable, and you have potential. We just don't want you wasting it."
I frowned.
"And signing me up behind my back helps… how? By the way, which college did you even sign me up for, anyway?"
They exchanged a quick glance, one of those silent parental conversations where they somehow made decisions telepathically.
For some reason, a chill travelled down my spine.
What was this profound bad feeling?
Just then, Father cleared his throat and said:
"Hey, have you ever heard of Solstice Academy?"
Eh?