A lazy arm reached up to put the smack-down on one loud alarm clock.
Thoughts of the dream he had just had seemed fleeting, and hard to grasp. Disorienting a dream as it was, Greg felt serene, as he gazed at his ceiling, and over to the window. The sun was rising. He had slept straight on through till morning.
He rose from under the sheets and looked around to make sure that everything was accounted for. The idea seemed silly in afterthought.
He walked over to the mirror, still nude from the day before. He looked the same. Something was different, though. He had never really thought of his body as something to be marveled at, something to be wondered at. Whole. Complete. Reflection perfection.
Maybe he had been growing and hadn't noticed it. He felt great.
He noticed his door had been busted down. He actually laughed that his parents had probably seen him sleeping naked. "Must have been awkward for them!" Realizing they had probably been worried that he had not left his room or answered his door, he got dressed headed downstairs. Breakfast was pleasant, any hostility had disappeared. How could he be hostile? He had a whole leftover birthday dinner to eat. His favorites.
In fact, he couldn't rationalize why he had been so angry the day before.
On the bus, Melissa let him copy her homework, "Consider it a birthday treat. Speaking of which, what kind of stuff did you score from your parents?" "Only the best bed ever!" Greg replied, his enthusiasm confusing Melissa..."So, like, is it a racecar or something?" she teased. "You're evil, Mel!" He couldn't help but laugh.
As they walked to class, she couldn't help but notice how different Greg seemed. She couldn't put her finger on it at first, but then she noticed.
"Greg."
"Yeah?"
"You look a lot taller when you stand up so straight!"