A/N: Inotia 4 is so addicting

2. What you don't know

I sat back and admired the black backpack that sat in front of me. It looked almost lonely compared to the mountain of new school supplies that had been in its place a couple hours earlier.

Who knew you could fit 10 pencils, 3 pens (red, black, and blue), a binder filled with folders, a calculator a ruler, and 5 differently colored textbooks, in a single backpack. Not to mention, the 3 books that I've been reading at the same time.

Don't do that. You'll get all the character's mixed up and the plots too.

"Go to bed, Casey."

I nodded, even though Dad couldn't see me. I pulled out my earbuds, but it wasn't like I hadn't been listening to music. Do you ever do that? Just put your earbuds in for no reason?

I closed the lights and climbed into bed. When I was little, I used to have three nightlights in my room. Then I turned 8, and Dad called me a big boy, so I got all puffed up about that and threw all my "little kid stuff" away. To be completely honest, I'm still afraid of the dark.

I stared at the ceiling waiting for sleep to come. Actually, I didn't really stare at the ceiling because it was pitch black and you'd have to have superhuman powers to see the ceiling. I didn't have any superhuman powers that I knew of.

I close my eyes and suddenly feel like I'm falling. Snapping my eyes open, I grip the sheets on my bed. I'm not falling. Everything's fine. This has happened before. It's very common, I've asked around, but it never gets less weird.

I sat up and grabbed the notebook on the desk beside my bed. The first 10 pages had already been filled with words, so I started a new page.

Find out what that feeling of falling when you sleep is called.

Sometime after that, I drifted off to sleep.


"Honey, do you think this dress looks better than the previous one?"

I looked up and sighed. "Mom, they look exactly the same." Yawning, I glanced at my watch. "It's already 9:30. Can we just go already?"

Mom pouted and went back into the changing rooms. A couple minutes later, she walked out again in her regular t-shirt and jeans, long pink hair tied up in a loose bun. "Okay, fine, let's go. But can we come back tomorrow?"

Sometimes I wonder if I'm the parent or the kid. I mean, whose parent asks their child's permission to return to a store? Shouldn't it be the other way around?

"Sure, Mom."

"Thanks Mi-chan!"

I bit my lip irritably. "Don't call me 'Mi-chan'."

Just then, I noticed a group of girls standing nearby, whispering and staring at us. One girl broke away from the group and walked up to Mom with one of those stupid girl smiles that are impossible to understand.

"You two make a really couple."

I felt my face heat up in embarrassment, and wished the floor just open up and swallow me. If I got a dollar each time someone said that, I'd be filthy rich.

"You think Mi-chan and I are dating?" Mom giggled. "He's my son."

That left the whole group gawking at us as Mom casually strolled out of the store and I found a fascinating new species living right there on the floor.

Mom's somewhere in her thirties. She looks around 20, give or take, acts like she's 12. Me, I'm 15, I look 15, act like I'm 15, thank you very much.

The car rumbled quietly as Mom turned the key in the ignition. All the little lights lit up and shone brightly in the dark. Seeing the time, Mom gasped. "I hope Kiyo won't be mad," she murmured.

Dad wouldn't be mad. He'd be too wrapped up in his work or whatever it was he did in his private little office. It was when he actually cared that anyone should worry.

Like they say, what you don't know won't hurt you.