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Chapter 22: Tuesday-Thursday

The funeral was a solemn occasion, and I didn't say a thing. I could swear that Jazz was recording anything and everything I did. It was likely, after all, she was going to be a psychologist when she grew up. I kept my head down, and focused on not doing anything weird. Lately, it had been a little bit easier to avoid phasing, but it still happened if I got upset. I didn't cry much, despite the nearly overwhelming sadness that the people around me radiated.

The funeral was simple, fairly private, making it easier for me to avoid being influenced by others' emotions, because there weren't many people there. It finished quickly, and I was careful not to stare at anything or anyone much. I kept my eyes on the ground, and managed to bump into lots of people. I was glad when we piled into the car, got back to the hotel, and began packing for the trip home.

I was the first to be finished; I had only brought a few pairs of clothes. My schoolwork was firmly tucked in the bottom of my suitcase, and I steadily moved along. We were leaving in the morning, and, while everyone was subdued, we had things to do. I walked through the part of the city we were in, nothing in particular occurring to me of great interest. The library made an ideal place to stay, while I read as much as I could. I practiced reading Spanish, a skill I knew would come in handy for the school year. After all, I had started Spanish for high school already.

I recognized some words here and there, and managed to get a basic idea of what several passages said, before I gave up. Reading in a language I could barely understand was both boring and almost pointless, considering I had trouble understanding a thing. To think I was only practicing with the equivalent of first reader books!

In the end, I left the library, and wandered back, watching the scenery, and arriving past supper. At least I left a message about my absence. If I hadn't they might have gotten worried. I went almost straight to bed, glad for having gotten in some practice before I came back in a park I had located. At this time of year, it was getting to be cold, and leaves were already turning colors. I had flown right into a tree while trying to dodge one of them. It smacked me anyway, and the tree had made me lose my balance, while transforming in mid-air, and hitting the ground a few feet below. Ow.

At any rate, in the morning, we went through security at the airport fairly quickly. It was nice, being able to do that. We arrived at our plane, and it took a while to sort out our seats. I got the window seat, and Jazz and mom, in that order, sat down beside me. I fidgeted anxiously, and my ears popped as we ascended into the clouds. I wondered what it would feel like to fly in one. Damp, because of the clouds being made of water, and windy, because it was so high, I guessed. Maybe I would go flying up there, just once, before I separated myself from Danny, and did whatever ghosts did when they died.

My eyes fluttered shut, and I closed the outside world out as I fell into uneasy slumber, nightmares plaguing my mind, visions of what might happen to me when I finished the separation. Many horrific ones, such as eternally drifting, until I went insane due to the sheer nothinglessness inside me. I struggled in my sleep, steadily fighting it wishing the horrible torture inside my mind would stop, until I woke, Jazz shaking me, forcing the nightmares away. I offered her a faint smile when she asked me how I felt, and what I had dreamed about. Same old Jazz, same old sis-I cut the thought off before I thought the word, sister. I reassured her I was fine. Nothing was wrong, and she was doubtlessly trying to psychoanalyze me. All I let out was that I had a nightmare, and she bought my lie about what it was about, though she looked ever so slightly suspicious. Hopefully, she wouldn't find the answer to what was bothering me.

When we arrived at home, the distinct smell I had noticed about most airport terminals was the first thing that greeted me. The smell of gas, and people, and starched uniforms, smells that belonged to many places, but had a distinct airport smell to it. We got a small snack, and ate it on the way home. It was dark, very dark, as we wound our way home on the precarious roads, cliffs that mom had trouble seeing, ones that I could see in all their glory, almost as if it were daylight. It was shiver-worthy, how close we came to the edge without mom noticing. She simply drove as close to the cliff wall as she could, and if another vehicle had come along, both of the vehicles would have toppled to the ground below.

Arrival was blissful, and we crashed late, because our bodies were still on New York City time. Waking up would be painful, but I set the clock for 6:30am, giving me enough time to sleep for a few hours, about three, and making me wake up really tired. I was not pleased to be going back to school right now, because it would be incredibly painful to attempt to not go to sleep.

I was proven right when I fell asleep before my first class was finished, and continued to be in a daze all day, though I managed to pull my way through a pop quiz fairly well. I also turned in my work that I'd done while we were away. Sam was mostly unable to talk to me, because I was barely capable of responding to anything at all. Detention was pretty bad, because I fell asleep during the principal's lecture on paying attention, and wound up earning another lecture for ignoring Principal Ishiyama.

Was it my fault that I was incapable of sleeping after such a big time change? Absolutely, apparently. I didn't have much fun, and the second I arrived at home, I fell fast asleep, already determining that I wouldn't do my schoolwork until I was better rested, even if it would be a bit of a squeeze to get everything done.

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-MiaulinK