Alex groggily stepped out of his bed to the smell of something burning outside. Finally coming to his senses, he realized this wasn't normal.
"Hm? Oh crap! What is that smell?"
Alex barged through his bedroom door and down the hallway leading to his kitchen, catching his foot slightly on the upturned floorboard that had bugged him his whole life.
As Alex flew through the air out towards his living room, he caught a glimpse of his mother's jet black hair and the look of panic on her face as she desperately reached to turn the stove off.
Landing on his side with a large thud, Alex slid across the floor wincing in pain.
"Oof, that damn floorboard! You have to get that fixed mom, I've been telling you this for 18 years now, I trip on it once a month at the very least!"
Alex's mother sent a worried glance towards him, but once his words confirmed he was ok she burst out in laughter.
"Maybe you should start watching your step instead!" She said, wiping tears from her eyes, "you know we don't have the money to fix that properly. Go get the tape and fix it you goofball."
"You get way too much enjoyment out of watching your son fall on his ass every morning. Some mother you are." Alex scoffed and walked to the cupboard to get tape.
"Watch that language young man! I'm one of the best mothers out there, I know you're fine every time it happens. That's why I laugh!"
"Yeah yeah. I can't wait to be out of this old house and be able to do things without worrying about tripping over everything!"
Alex finished taping down the floorboard and got up to check out his mother's cooking with a sly look on his face.
In the kitchen, his mom was standing over a plate of slightly charred pancakes.
She stared at them like they had personally betrayed her.
Alex leaned in and squinted. "Okay, I'll admit it, that's improvement. Only like… 40% charcoal this time."
"That's called progress, thank you very much." She replied.
"It's also called borderline arson. The poor pancakes, what did they ever do to you."
She pointed the spatula at him. "Eat it or run on empty."
"I guess I'm running on empty then, not like a bunch of ash is gonna fill me up anyway." Alex laughed.
"Maybe just whip up some eggs and toast, you can't mess that up too horribly. I'm gonna go for a run before school."
Alex darted off towards his bedroom and quickly stripped from his pajamas into a comfortable pair of grey running shorts, a blue compression shirt that accentuated his lean frame, and a pair of cheap socks bought from some dollar store.
Still in his room, he grabbed his headphones from his nightstand and laced them around his neck.
He paused again in front of the mirror.
Jet black hair. Slightly messy no matter what he did. Golden yellow eyes that always looked too awake for how tired he felt.
People at school sometimes asked if he wore contacts.
He never bothered correcting them anymore, if only they saw his dad.
He pulled his shirt down slightly, stretching his shoulders.
Then he grabbed his jacket and left.
The scent of unburnt toast and sound of sizzling from cooking eggs filled his senses.
"Mmm smells much better mom, stick to eggs and toast more often, they're a tad more your speed." Alex said while grabbing a plate and some toast out of the toaster.
"Here you go" His mother said, placing a scrambled egg on one of his pieces of toast.
"Egg sandwich?" She asked.
"You know it!" Alex said, placing the other piece of toast on top, completing the sorry excuse of an 'egg sandwich.'
He took a bite immediately.
A pause.
"…Okay. Yeah. That's actually decent."
His mom gasped in fake offense. "Excuse you? I always make decent eggs."
"You once made eggs so dry they qualified as construction material."
"That was one time. I've improved a lot since then" She said, puffing out her chest in pride.
"That was like last week."
Her pride immediately vanished and she waved him off, turning back to the stove, already cracking another egg like she was determined to redeem her pride in real time.
The kitchen filled with a soft sizzling sound. It was calmer now, there was less smoke, less panic, more controlled chaos.
Alex leaned against the counter, chewing slowly. For a moment, he just watched her.
She was tired. He could see it in the way her shoulders sagged lightly as if she didn't have the energy to keep them up, he could see it in the way she blinked a little slower when she thought he wasn't looking.
But she still moved like the morning depended on her.
Like it always did.
...
Alex glanced at the clock on the wall.
Same time. Same schedule as always.
"School's gonna be boring again today," he muttered.
"School is always boring," his mom replied without looking at him. "That's why it's called school and not 'fun surprise adventure time.'"
"Could be both."
"But it's not is it."
Alex shrugged and finished his sandwich in two more bites, brushing crumbs off his hands.
For a second, he hesitated near the doorway.
Then he sighed.
"Alright. I'm gonna leave for my run. See you soon."
"Bye honey." She replied.
...
Outside, the morning air hit him immediately.
Warm, but still sharp enough to wake him up properly.
The street was already alive in its usual way. The sound of distant cars, a neighbor walking their dog, someone's lawn sprinkler clicking rhythmically like a metronome.
Everything moved like it always did.
Like nothing could ever really change.
Alex started jogging slowly at first, letting his body wake up into the motion.
One block.
Two blocks.
The rhythm settled in.
Footsteps. Breathing. Control.
He adjusted his headphones and pressed play.
Music filled the space in his head, dulling everything else into something manageable.
As he ran, his thoughts drifted the way they always did during mornings like this.
School. Tests. Teachers talking too long about things he already half-understood.
Nothing urgent. Nothing new.
He passed the same corner store where the owner usually stood outside smoking before opening hours.
The man gave him a lazy wave.
Alex nodded back without stopping.
His pace picked up slightly as he reached the longer stretch of road near the local park.
Trees lined the sidewalk, their leaves a shade of golden brown, signs of fall filled his surroundings.
A group of kids walked the opposite direction toward school, laughing loudly about something that didn't seem important.
Alex passed them without thinking.
Not because he was avoiding them.
Just because that's how his mornings worked.
He finally slowed near the end of the park loop, rolling his shoulders as he caught his breath.
A bench sat under a tree near the sidewalk.
It was the same bench he had seen a hundred times.
It had the same scratches carved into the wood. The same etchings caused by people wanting to make their presence known.
He looked at it for a second longer than usual, noticing a name he recognized, then shook his head slightly and continued running.
By the time he turned back toward home, his breathing was steady again.
The sun had risen higher now, painting the street in brighter tones.
...
As he walked up to his front door he sighed, "Only a few more months of this before summer starts. I can make it. I'm so close to graduating I can taste it."
With that, he went back inside.