Light from the open balcony door stirred me from my sleep. I rolled over in bed, taking out my earphones that were still playing classical music. Silence. I stretched and swung my feet out from the warm bed, being attacked by the cold breeze coming from the balcony door. Shouldn't have left that open. I slid it closed and grabbed the folded clothes from my desk, heading towards the shower.

The water was hot. A bit too hot, but not enough for me to fuss with the settings. I stood letting the water slide over my face for a while, head bowed to keep the water out of my eyes. The soap suds from my hair were long gone but I hadn't noticed. A knock on the door whipped me out of my thoughts and I shut off the water. I slid on my outfit, towel dried my hair and brushed my teeth.

I breezed past the person waiting for the bathroom, heading back to my room to gather up my stuff. I packed it into my backpack and headed downstairs. I could smell pancakes being cooked, smothered in syrup, and it made me sick to my stomach, the smell too overwhelming for me this early. Who wants a plate of sugar first thing in the morning? Sliding into my usual chair, I rested my head against the cold of the dining table. My migraine was still there.

"Morning, James Bond." Connor beamed at me, coming into the kitchen.

Of course, he was still in his dressing gown and pink bunny slippers. The slippers themselves were from several birthdays ago and should have been binned to end their suffering. Now, they were mostly indistinguishable rags on his feet. How sentimental.

"What do you mean by that?" Daxx asked curiously, pulling Connor in for a quick kiss.

Even after ten years of being together, they were still all over each other. Daxx was my older, adult brother. He and Connor had been together since I was really young, so they had pretty much acted like my second set of parents while I was growing up. My mum works a lot, so we spend a lot of time here. It had always been this way.

"He was out balancing on the balcony last night. It gave me a fright, Mr. Bond." Connor shook his head, stealing a pancake, much to Daxx's protest.

"Honestly, Andy, what were you thinking?" Daxx sighed while carefully stacking his pancake pile higher, "How are the in-house patients today?"

"They're fine, Mama Daxx. They just need to sleep off their hangover." Connor shrugged, hopping up to sit on the counter next to Daxx.

"Should I tell Mum? I don't think Angel should be out drinking that much. I feel bad that it's happening under my supervision."

"You need to relax, honey. We were out doing stupider stuff at their age."

"Exactly! I was hospitalised."

Connor winced at that memory and Daxx gave him a cheek kiss, taking the tray down the corridor. I didn't really remember it happening, but I was young so it's understandable. See, Daxx has a rare condition that makes him hyper-sensitive to sunlight. When he was younger, it was really bad and one time it landed him in hospital. Now, it's not so bad. Don't get me wrong, he still has to take loads of precautions, but modern medicine has helped a lot.

Ever since Daxx moved in with Connor after college, it had always been the routine for us to spend most weekdays at mums and weekends at Daxx's. This way we got to spend time with both. Connor often joked it was good practice for when they have children of their own. I thought it oddly resembled shared custody.

"Love you! Have a good day!" Connor yelled after me as I left the house.

I drove Daxx's old jeep; it was nice of him to give it to me when he got his new car. It had seen better days, and was incredibly banged up, but it worked. I put it into first gear and edged out of the crammed driveway. As I drove past the house from last night, my mouth dropped in a mixture of disgust and shock. This was worse than usual. The house looked as if it had been involved in some kind of war between confetti, paint and foam. His parents were not going to be happy.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

As I pulled my eyes back to the road, he happened to be coming from the other direction in his own car, pulling into the driveway of his house. We briefly made eye contact and I accelerated past him, just wanting to get today over with so I could go back to bed. The way his eyes widened when he saw me made my blood boil. I pulled up to the car park, slid out of the car and walked inside. I dumped my bag in my locker and slid on an apron, going to clock in with my boss.

"Boss man isn't here today. Actually, he's decided to take Sundays off from now on. I'm in charge in his absence." My cheerful coworker piped up from where he stood at the food counter. His name tag read Felix.

"Ah, Okay." I mumbled, heading to the fridge to get on with my shift.

"We don't usually have shifts together, do we?" Felix chirped, following me.

"Shouldn't you stay on till?" I asked, trying to brush him off.

We both looked to the empty store front and awkward silence ensued. I guess it wasn't like an imaginary customer was going to steal any money from the till. Regardless, it was policy for the till to be manned at all times.

"I got moved to Sunday shifts instead of Saturday ones permanently. So, get used to my company." He laughed, seemingly not affected by my bad attitude.

I didn't recognise him so I guessed that he didn't go to my school. He looked a bit older than me, so he might be in college. I nodded at him and he grinned, seemingly satisfied with my response. He bounded back to the desk and I thought about how his enthusiasm reminds me of Connor. I pieced burger buns together with patties absentmindedly, willing this day to be over so that I could just sleep. It used to bother me, working here as a vegetarian, but now I'm used to it. Guess I'm used to everything by now.

"So what's your deal? Hungover?" Felix joked, coming towards me once again since the store was still empty. As it usually was on a Sunday morning.

"I don't drink." I shook my head.

"So what, then? Bad nights sleep?" He pried.

"I guess you could say that." I shrugged, thinking about last night.

"That sucks. I was at a party last night. It was insane, we had a foam fight in the pool and then the police showed up. I had to run through this wheat field in my soaking wet boxers." He sighed, a smile playing on his lips at the memory.

I furrowed my eyebrows; was every young person in the area at this party last night?

"Did the guy who threw it get arrested?" I couldn't resist asking.

"My friend said he wasn't even there." Felix shrugged while watching me work, "He was probably hiding from the police."

Who does he think he is? Gatsby?

"Probably." I agreed.

The door chimed, announcing a customer's arrival and Felix jumped into action. He beamed at them and took their orders, calling me over to hand me their ticket. As I walked closer I recoiled a bit, my tongue suddenly feeling too large for my throat. There were a few guys from the football team standing at the counter, goofing around. All of them were clearly hungover and in need of carbs, which was the only reason anyone bothered to come eat here on a Sunday.

"Is that the kid from the football team?" One of them caught sight of me before I could duck back into the kitchen.

My tongue seemed to continue to grow in my mouth, taking up all the space and making me forget how to inhale. I sucked in breath, trying to breathe normally.

"I didn't know he worked here. Gross. I don't want him cooking my food."

It was only at a whisper's volume but the hate behind those words struck me.

I flinched. I felt like I had been slapped across the face. Tears welled up and I walked straight through the kitchen doors, into the staff bathrooms. I slid to the floor, drawing my knees to my chest and gasping for air. I tried to breathe but my chest tightened with every gasp. At least they couldn't hurt me at work. What if they waited for me after work? They knew I worked here now. They could harass me every week. Thoughts ran through my mind and I gripped my chest in agony.

Usually I could deal with their comments, being used to it at school, but right now everything seemed too much. I was sleep deprived and anxious; the last thing I wanted to deal with was idiots from school. Work had been my safe haven away from home, the only place I didn't get sly comments from others. Knowing they knew about it now was too much for me to handle.

"Andy? I kicked them out..." Felix's voice floated through the door, in one ear and out the other as I struggled to breath, "Take as long as you need."

The tile of the bathroom floor felt cool against my burning skin and I laid across it as I gradually returned my breathing to normal, my chest still feeling tight. I got to my feet and looked at myself in the mirror; my messy hair was sweatily stuck to my forehead and my eyes were bloodshot from crying. Not to mention, my cheeks and nose were red, running slightly and tear streaked. I looked like a complete and utter mess.

I ran the cold tap and splashed my face with water, my hands still shaking. I stared at myself in the mirror for a few more minutes, reminding myself how to breathe, before leaving the bathroom. Felix was pacing behind the counter, looking worried sick. I felt bad. This wasn't professional and he shouldn't have to deal with this shit.

"I'm sorry about that..." My voice sounded strange. Fear. It wobbled and sounded frail- apologetic, but more fearful at what he would say.

"Don't apologise! Are you okay? What dickheads." Felix rushed towards me, checking me over with pitiful eyes.

I recoiled from his touch and flinched, making him jump back and apologise. I hated everything about this. Even if he didn't hate me, the way he was looking at me made me feel so small. I had a million thoughts running through my mind and I felt entirely overwhelmed. It took everything within me to not just run away from him.

"Why don't you head home? I don't think you should stay... I can manage alone. It'll be between you and me." Felix offered weakly, clearly unsure of what he should do or say.

I debated it, but accepted that I couldn't stay for another minute before I had another panic attack.

"Can you walk me to my car?" I mumbled out, feeling stupid.

"Of course." He smiled warmly.

I grabbed my stuff and went out the staff exit with Felix, walking towards my jeep. I could see the group of goons waiting on the street corner, watching Felix and I intently. I didn't want to look at them. Felix clearly noticed them too, because he was staring at me intently. I pulled the door open and slid in, sticking the key in the ignition. He put his hand on the car door, stopping it from closing.

"Andy... Are you okay?" He asked, his face painted with concern.

"I'm fine." I mumbled, my eyes darting to the group of guys.

"No you're not. I know you don't know me very well, but we need to talk about this. I'll let it go for now, but we're talking soon. Text me." He slid me a piece of paper with his number with 'Felix' written underneath it in curling, messy letters.

He pushed the door closed and stood in the carpark as I drove away, driving right past the group. One threw a rock at my car and I flinched. Hopefully it hadn't done anything other than scratch it. I drove straight past my turning for Daxx's house and carried on further up the hill. I parked on the hillside and climbed out, sitting on my car bonnet.

Directly ahead of me was a sheer drop but beyond that you could see the whole town. From up here, everything looked tiny. It wasn't very late in the day but I felt so tired after my breakdown earlier. I climbed back into my car and laid down on the backseats, letting myself fall asleep.

When I woke up again it was pitch black outside.

It was cold and the hairs on my arms were standing on end with goosebumps. I looked around groggily and saw the lit up view of the city in front of me. I pushed the car door open and walked over to the ledge, looking out at the view.

I put my freezing cold hands in my pockets, shivering. I felt the little sliver of paper and my heart warmed a bit.