The alarm on his phone went off, causing him to jump slightly. Why hadn't he turned it off, after all this time? He hadn't even been to school in ages.
Well, without it, he wouldn't even know the difference between day and night. So, it wasn't all that useless after all.
School… Yes, it was because of school that he had ended up like this. None of this would have happened. He should have had a normal life, made lots of friends.
For the first time, someone had spoken to him, had accepted him. But what was his name again ? Oh, right, Zayn. He hadn't forgotten him, of course. It's just that he hadn't heard his name in ages. Or maybe he had repeated Daniel's name so many times in his head that he had forgotten the names of everyone else.
School... Was it far away? Yes, a little, at least. Well, it depended on the context.
For Tora, everything felt distant. His house seemed like it belonged to another dimension, and it took an astronomical amount of energy for him to open a portal capable of connecting it to the human world. Something like the alignment of the planets or the passing of a comet. Only at those moments could Tora cross the threshold, and not a second sooner.
For example, the start of school was one of those rare events, occurring only once a year.
It was the day when everyone felt lost : we were in a new school, a new class with strangers. It was normal not to know where to go, not to know the names of our classmates. After all, it was the first time ! No one could blame us. We could ask for names as many times as we wanted, and it wouldn't be an issue.
We could ask the teachers where the classrooms were, and they would answer without hesitation because it was normal not to know. Yes, there was no reason to be anxious that day, because everyone was on the same level.
Isn't it wonderful that such a day could exist ? It was a gift from the heavens. A blessing.
But what happens if you've been absent for a long time and didn't have the chance to get used to it ? It would be embarrassing to ask where the classrooms are, or worse, ask people's names. They would look at us with surprise, judge us negatively. We would come across as indifferent, careless, apathetic.
And that's not all. There are also the lessons, which we can no longer follow. Then, we have to work twice as hard as everyone else. It's frustrating, exhausting. It's really not easy.
What could possibly make him cross the threshold under these conditions ?
Of course, there were other factors that could contribute to it, but everything seemed hopeless from the start. He could have gone out if he were accompanied by someone, or if he was expecting to meet someone, no matter how far apart they were. In this second case, the person would also have to be able to give him their full attention. In short, it was impossible.
Who would be crazy enough to want him for company ? But when he really thought about it, there was one name that came to mind. But would they still want him as a friend after two weeks with no word from him ? Did he even remember him ?
So then what ? What could possibly serve as an excuse to leave this place ? It was suffocating, boring. He didn't want to stay stuck here. His room was the only place where he didn't feel like he belonged. He couldn't stand such a small space. The light from the bulb wasn't even enough to illuminate the entire room, it was almost disorienting. He didn't feel safe in this room. It was the one place he couldn't escape from. It felt like a prison. Yes, he didn't want to be in his room.
Zayn was probably waiting for him at school, and besides, the weather was nice today. There were leftovers from yesterday in the fridge, so he wouldn't waste time eating and wouldn't even have to cook. He had woken up on time. The bus and train might not be late today. Everyone would likely have forgotten the incident, and maybe no one would talk about what had happened. All the possibilities seemed worth considering.