The Morning After.

Chapter 2: The Morning After

Alpha opened the door to his dorm room, exhausted from the previous night's events. His roommate, Fred, looked up from his bed, relief written all over his face.

"Alpha, where have you been?" Fred exclaimed. "You didn't come back last night, and your phone wasn't reachable. I was scared something might have happened to you. Even your mom called me because she couldn't reach you."

Alpha's eyes widened as he heard his mom mentioned. He immediately tensed up, remembering her warning and the strange occurrences at Ciara's place the night before. He shook off the thought and forced a casual tone.

"I'm sorry, Fred. I got invited to Ciara's place to help with her room decorations. I totally lost track of time."

Fred raised an eyebrow, a sly grin spreading across his face. "Ermm, dude, the same Ciara you're too scared to tell her how you feel about her?" He chuckled.

Alpha gave Fred an uncertain look, feeling his face heat up. "Look, I'll tell her when it's time, okay? There's no pressure at all. Please, bro."

Fred held up his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, man, if you say so."

Fred glanced at his watch. "It's 8:00 AM already. I'm heading to math class now. You coming?"

Alpha was too engrossed in his phone to respond. Fred repeated the question, louder this time.

Alpha finally looked up, stammering, "Erm, yeah yeah, bro, sure I will. I might be some minutes late, though."

Fred nodded. "Alright. Don't forget to call your mom, okay?" He grabbed his backpack and headed out the door.

As the door closed behind Fred, Alpha let out a deep breath. He had just gotten a text from Ciara which wasn't t so pleasant. Alpha had left her place very early that morning because he was not comfortable especially with the nightmare he had. "How could I have left without even a goodbye" Alpha thought to himself.

Alpha took a deep breath and started typing out a response. He knew he had to apologize and explain himself, but he wasn't sure where to start.

"Hey Ciara, I'm really sorry for leaving without saying goodbye. I know it was rude and thoughtless. To be honest, I had a math class to attend by 8:00am this morning so I just had to leave that early. I wasn't thinking clearly and I didn't mean to upset you or your roommates."

Alpha hesitated for a moment before hitting send. He hoped that his apology would be enough to smooth things over with Ciara.

As he waited for Ciara's response, Alpha's mind started to wander. He thought about his dream and how it had left him feeling uneasy. He also thought about his mom's call and how he was going to explain everything to her.

Just as Alpha was starting to feel anxious again, his phone buzzed. It was a response from Ciara. Alpha who had been eagerly waiting for her response immediately opened the text only to find out that it was totally chill, "Let's see and have a chat tonight. Enjoy your class!" she wrote complete with a smiley emoji.

Alpha gave a sign of relief but wondered why Ciara was so chill. He knows his friend very well and how she would act in such situation. Just as Alpha was having this thought his phone binged and it was a message from Fred, his roommate, asking if he was still coming to class. Suddenly, the frantic energy of a runaway train took over. Thirty minutes late? He leaped out of bed, grabbed his towel, and practically sprinted to the bathroom.

He turned on the shower...nothing. He fiddled with the knob, muttering "What the heck?" before a triumphant gush of water finally appeared. "That was weird," he mumbled, shaking his head. "But no time for plumbing mysteries! Class is calling!" He showered at warp speed, then finally, made it to school.

As Alpha arrived at class, he was greeted by the disappointing sight of empty chairs and a professor packing up their things. "Ugh, I missed it," Alpha said to himself, frustration etched on his face.

Just then, Fred and Michael( Michael was Fred and Alpha's course mate), approached him. "Alpha!!" Michael called out, and Alpha turned to recognize his friends. "You missed class, dude," Michael continued. "We've got an assignment now, and we're starting our tutorial soon. You'd better stay, because you missed a lot today."

Alpha sighed, feeling a pang of disappointment in himself. As he tried to get a note from Fred, his phone buzzed again. It was his mom calling for the second time. "C'mon, mom," Alpha said to himself, feeling a bit exasperated.

Fred looked at him in shock. "Alpha, you still haven't called your mom? What's wrong with you, man? You've been acting weird since morning." Alpha sighed and excused himself to finally call his mom back.

Hello mom! Alpha's mom's voice was stern and worried on the other end of the line. "Alpha, I've been trying to reach you since last night and all morning. Where have you been?"

Alpha hesitated, unsure of how to respond. "I'm sorry, mom. I've been having tutorials and classes."

His mom's tone turned skeptical. "Alpha, do you think I'm a fool or stupid? Yesterday was Sunday, today is Monday. So, how could you say you had classes? You now have classes on Sundays?"

Alpha's mind went blank as he struggled to come up with a convincing excuse. His mom's words hung in the air, waiting for a response.

Just as Alpha was about to speak, his mom continued, "Alpha, you have to come home this weekend. I don't want to hear any excuses."

Alpha's heart sank as he realized that this weekend was the Halloween party. He tried to think of a way to get out of it. "Mom, I have a lot of tutorials and assignments due this weekend..."

But his mom was firm. "No, Alpha. You are coming home this weekend, and that's final. Okay, talk to you later. Love you."

The line went dead, and Alpha was left staring at his phone, wondering how he was going to get out of this one.