Earth's sun awakens on the horizon after the darkness of night, radiating her brilliance in all directions. She arrives in the way that forces of nature do, with no need for an invitation but a warm welcome. Anyone who cares to open their eyes in the morning and watch the world awake is given her gift of light, which is courageous and free. This is our sunrise, a fire lit to warm the world and encourage us to seek brightness within ourselves.

Golden rays streamed through the window and drapes, highlighting the dullness of the grey tones that make up the fabric I hated. The beams appear to be swaying with the rippling folds in the light, but they are powerful and true, providing structure and form. The brightness moves up and down as time pass, strong and delicate, reflecting the day that passes in the world outside.

I woke up as if I was in crisis. As if sleeping has turned into a risky endeavour. My heart was racing, my head was buzzing, and I could feel light droplets of sweat forming on my brow. Only now, my mind feels like a broken engine, and the night's activities have been a race of inconsistent challenges. So, this day will pass as if I'm hungover, not from alcohol, but from the nightmares that need to be solved.

"Sorry, I didn't wake you up earlier, but I was scared you were going to push me again," Ben said as he let out a sigh.

I took in my surroundings, feeling out of place despite the fact that I was in my room. Ben appeared exhausted, staring blankly at the ceiling as if his life had been taken from him.

As I pushed myself up, yawning gapingly, I asked, "Are you all right?"

"You're a really intense dreamer," he observed with a grin as he turned his head toward me.

With some embarrassment, I asked, "Did I keep you awake at night? I'd never actually shared a room before."

"Perhaps I should just buy you a shock collar and every time you have a terrible dream, I'll simply push the button," he said with a devious grin on his face, before hastily wiping his grin away and adding, "I'm just kidding, please don't stretch out another one of my collars!"

I exhaled deeply and forced myself out of bed, slipping into my navy blue slippers. Before taking my toiletries to freshen up for the day, I checked my phone for any messages. Nothing interesting happened on my phone as usual, so I put it back on my bedside table.

I spotted someone lurking around the corner inside the bathroom as I splashed my face with water, but they remained faceless. I quickly rubbed my face with a dry towel and noticed Arlo standing behind me as I glanced in the mirror. He appeared to be a lot less nervous than when I last saw him at the party. He appeared to be pretty menacing, so I took a step back and stared into his chilling amber eyes.

He gave me a quick glance up and down, this time making direct eye contact. I felt really uneasy as he slowly circled me. As I scoffed past him, I pushed him to the side, but he had other ideas. He yanked me towards him by the back of my collar, but the wet surface felt like a treadmill, and I lost my footing, slamming against the white tiled floor.

Apparently, I hit the ground so hard that Ben and Bryan ran out of their rooms to come and see what was all the ruckus about. My blood started to boil and I tried to steady myself upright.

"You messed with the wrong fucking person!" I growled as I jumped him and threw a hefty punch at his face.

He pushed me up against the wall and I was quite surprised by his strength. He knocked my wind out as Ben rushed over to Arlo and pulled him away from me. I collapsed into Bryan's arms as he caught me.

"Let's get out of here," Bryan said in a concerned, but calming voice as he walked me to his room.

I sat comfortably in his desk chair, still attempting to calm my racing heart. I didn't pay much attention to my surroundings since I was more fascinated by Arlo's punch. It left my stomach aching as a red patch slowly appeared. Bryan tossed me a pack of ice cubes from his small freezer and took a seat on his bed.

"I fucking hate that guy," he muttered as his friendly persona quickly changed to hatred and anger.

"I could've handled him myself," I huffed as I adjusted my seat, pressing the ice pack gently on my stomach.

"I was more scared that Ben would get injured in the middle of you two fighting," he explained. "He's a delicate kid; one knock can send him to the hospital."

I nodded my head in agreement as I looked down at my stomach. I slowly stood up from the chair and made my way out of his room.

"Thanks for the ice pack," I said as I opened his door.

"See you around, Wolf," he greeted with a small wave.

Arlo had no right to strike me. He remained silent and circled me like a lunatic. He didn't even mention why he's mad at me. I decided to return to the restroom to retrieve the items I had left there. I watched Ben jogging into the restroom as I gathered all of my strewn possessions.

Ben screamed fiercely, "What the heck happened back there? You hit him to the ground and badly bruised him, according to Arlo!"

As I turned to face his crimson face, I protested, "Hey, that wasn't the case!"

"You did it! You have a thing for scaring people off and injuring them!" he said as he stomped outside the hall, growling.

I had the option of simply knocking him out, but I didn't want to prove his point.

Yes, I have a bad temper, but that wasn't my fault AT ALL!