-Vaughn Blackmore:
Morning doesn't come quietly here.
It never does.
Even before the bell, before the footsteps in the hallway, before the voices start bleeding through the walls, there's this… shift. Something in the air that changes, like the entire place is waking up at once, stretching into another day that doesn't care whether you're ready or not.
I wake up before it happens.
Again.
My eyes open slowly, adjusting to the faint light slipping through the thin gap in the curtains. For a moment, I don't move. I just lie there, staring at the ceiling, letting myself exist in that small pocket of silence before everything starts demanding something from me.
My body aches.
It's deep, settled into my muscles in a way that feels permanent now. My arms feel heavy, my legs worse, my shoulders tight from yesterday's drills. Even my back protests when I shift slightly against the mattress.
It's not sharp pain.
It's not something I need to fix.
It's just… there.
A reminder.
