Hello Monday

Part 15; 7:31 am

For the first time in forever, I smile in my sleep. I smile a genuine smile, albeit small.

I sigh as I feel soft strokes on the side of my head. I keep my eyes shut, relishing the feeling of care. It's been a while since I felt that—of course, besides the love Dr. Sanders showers me with. But there's only so much love one can pour out.

It's nice to have more than one person show that they care.

Wait a minute.

My smile falters. In the spur of the moment, I forget that I have just woken up from a deep slumber. I open my eyes just to squint them from all the blinding lights. I blink slowly, adjusting myself to the sun-kissed room.

As my eyes come into focus, the first thing I see are shoes; specifically, black combat boots. From afar, they may have looked brand new with no dirt in view, but looking at them from this distance, I can tell that the owner has tried one too many times to polish it clean—it has islands of various shades of black, if that is even possible.

Like clouds being driven away, my hazy mind turns clear. Beyond belief, I spring away from him and push myself into the corner, hoping the concept 'if I don't see him, he doesn't see me' comes true. I fix my eyes at nothing in particular, my pupils darting to the wall, then to the floor, then to the crack on the wall, then to the blemish on the floor. I hate how I can feel my face heating up.

It must be the room. The sunlight. Right.

Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, Monday opens his mouth that I so badly want to take away from him. "There's no need to feel all shy now, princess," I can hear the smirk in his voice. Someone, anyone, might as well just light me on fire any second now.

"Besides, you cradled my leg all night long." I jump as I feel his hot breath fan my ear.

If it was possible, my face heats up even further. I can practically feel the heat radiating off of the furnace that is my face. I raise a hand up to fan my face. It does nothing, though. If anything, the heat becomes unbearable for my face. I resort to squishing both my cheeks with the palm of my hands, hoping my cheeks can feel something, anything. Conclusion: my cheeks are broken.

I run my fingers through my now tangled hair. I take off my hair band and attempt to brush through the knots in my curls. I am only on my third stroke before I realize that my hands are empty.

Coin.

My coin.

My heart stops for a second and a chill shoots out from it, spreading coldness to the tips of my fingers and toes. Good news is, I no longer feel the unbearable heat. Bad news? Where do I begin?

My first instinct roams my eyes around the floor, searching for a particular, worthless but meaningful silver coin. Just as my hands land on the floor to push me up, Monday grabs my arm.

"Looking for this?" he asks, opening his hand to reveal the ring-sized artifact I was just looking for. I fall back to the ground as my body slumps down.

I let out a shaky breath. "Yes," I say, reaching out to take the object resting on his palm. I don't know what I was expecting, but I for sure did NOT expect him to just let me take it from his palm without a fight. I grip the coin in my hand. Strange.

Not knowing what else to say, I resort to furrowing my eyebrows, keeping my lips tightly shut. Not knowing what else to do, I push my arms into my sides, folding my hands neatly over my consistently bent knees. I try not to stare, but from the corner of my eye, I can see Monday doing similarly.