[Five Days Earlier]

Roxanne stirred on her bed as she turned from side to side. She muttered intelligible words as she tightly clutched her comfy pillow.

“Roxanne! Aren’t you up yet? At this rate, you’ll be late for school!” A loud voice came forth.

This voice belonged to her mother, who was beginning to get concerned that her daughter wasn’t responding to her calls.

“This girl…” She muttered to herself, climbing the stairs which led to the first floor where Roxanne’s room was located.

Within moments, she arrived at the front of Roxanne’s room, with only the lacquered door serving as a boundary, preventing her from entering.

>Knock, Knock, Knock<

The clacking sounds her mother’s hands made as they made contact with the door to her room seemed to do the trick as the sleeping beauty immediately roused from her slumber, opening her eyes slowly as the knocking sounds continued.

Her blue lens shone dimly as she opened her eyes lazily. She slowly stirred, moving her body in an attempt to rise from bed, an exercise in futility. Instead, she compensated by shifting her body toward the crown of the bed, while using the wooden structure alongside her hands to support her body.

“I can hear you mom. I’m up…” Roxanne grumbled, sitting up on her bed.

Her unruly, long dark hair covered her face, causing the strands to dance all over her cheeks. She pushed herself to stand, dragging her feet as she walked toward the door to her room where her mom stood on the other side. She undid the lock and opened the door slowly.

“Morning mom,” She said in a tired fashion.

“Roxanne!? I can’t believe this. You’re such a mess! This never happens, just when did you get to bed last night?” Her mom asked her with a concerned look.

Roxanne smiled uncomfortably. There’s no way she could tell her mom what she had been up to the previous night. As always, she had to just come up with a special something called a LIE.

“I was studying. We have tests by the end of the week before we leave for Winter Break.” Roxanne mumbled.

“Oh, wow. That’s good then, but don’t push it, okay? You need to get to school quickly, so I’ll leave you right now. Get freshened up quickly, if you don’t want to ruin your perfect attendance record.” Her mom said with her usual doting tone.

Roxanne was used to this though.

“Aye aye mom,” She said, closing the door to her room before her mother uttered another word.

“Gah, I feel sore. Last night didn’t, in any way, go as I thought.” She said to herself.

She stretched her body and yawned, releasing the tensed-up feeling she was feeling as she felt even more awake. She turned her head, causing her hair to flail behind her and stop it’s dance all over her face. A strand still remained in the middle of her face, causing her to glare a bit.

“Whoo. Whoo. Hoooo.”

She let out air from her mouth, pursing her lips to increase the concentration of her breath as she tried to use the air she produced to forcibly make the strand join the rest of its members. All to no avail.

Tired of her meaningless and fruitless effort, she used her hand to carry the strand and place it at its rightful place behind her, just where it belonged. Even though she had achieved her goal, she still felt a sense of defeat, like she lost to the strand.

She quickly pulled herself together, realising the goal she was neglecting.

“School! I should start getting ready” She mumbled.

Without wasting more time than what she had done already, she darted toward the bathroom to freshen up.

She brushed her teeth while staring at her reflection in the mirror directly facing her, a habit she had cultivated ever since she was little. Without this little truck, she never managed to take care of her teeth properly.

She glared at the unruly hair she had on, noticing blue strands appearing among the predominantly black colour.

“It's happening again, uh?” She thought to herself.

She quickly finished up with her teeth and went to take her bath, brushing off the thought of her hair. It was something she didn’t want to bother with so early in the morning. She had more important things to think about. For example, her perfect attendance record.

“Better hurry up!” She said under her breath.

After thirty minutes and her daughter was still not downstairs, Roxanne’s mother had stopped checking the time.

“She’s never been this tardy before. I wonder…”

As her thoughts trailed off, she suddenly heard a ringing sound coming from the table in front of her. The ringtone and vibrations from her smartphone made the woman snap from her thoughts on her daughter as she quickly reached for her phone.

Her eyes tightened and her lips pursed when she saw the number calling her. It was unsaved, but she recognized the person the number belonged to. She tightened her left fist as her right hands trembled slightly as she saw it.

“Just leave me alone… Please…” She muttered as she stared hard at the number, waiting for the call to time out.

Her moment of wait seemed like forever, until finally the call ended without her answering. She took a deep breath as she closed her eyes and clutched her chest. She heaved a sigh of relief, but at the same time, sadness. She didn’t know how to feel, or what to do.

Her phone suddenly started ringing again, startling her for a bit as the vibrations could be felt from her body since the phone was close to her chest. She quickly glanced at the phone and saw yet the same number. She made a deep scowl as she stared intensely at the digits displayed on the device.

“Ohhh, who’s got mum so upset this early in the morning?” Roxanne’s voice suddenly appeared.

Roxanne’s mother’s skin jumped from the sound of her voice, nearly dropping her phone due to her sudden appearance. She quickly grabbed it and placed it back on the table, while appearing to maintain a semblance of normalcy.

“Oh, that? That was just work. Some annoying client just won’t get off my back” Her mother said with a slight smile, obviously she was faking it.

Roxanne stared hard at her mother and observed her face. Her now brown eyes, thanks to contact lenses, focused on her Mom’s expression.

Her mother’s eyes twitched and her lips pursed while her fingers moved irrationally, tapping on the she sat on. This only happened when her mother was being dishonest about something.

“She’s lying,” Roxanne thought to herself.

Her mother’s work involved bookkeeping and accounting, so she never had to deal with customers or clients. She worked for a very large company, so she only answered to her superiors, which were very few. Besides, since the time she knew her mother, she had never once received any calls from ‘annoying clients’.

Something was definitely fishy, but she had no right to pry or judge her mother. After all, she was keeping a few secrets of her own.