Antonio was very bored. He felt like this a lot. Life just wasn't very exciting. Antonio's life was a nice life, an ideal life, sure, but sometimes it felt like he was living in a dream, someone else's idea of a perfect life.

He had a nice house with two older sisters that he both loved and annoyed the hell out of, parents who were proud of him and good grades in school.

And Az. His datemate who had mesmerizing, icy blue eyes and a shaved head of light caramel stubble. Antonio had met them last year at hockey practice and they had been close ever since. When they asked him out a couple of months ago, Antonio had said yes. They were the perfect couple and the talk of the school, beating all odds.

Despite this, Antonio felt off sometimes. It had happened a lot the past few weeks, in random places, when he started to space out. The spacing out had started a couple of weeks ago as well.

Antonio would find himself drifting off. When he realized that someone was calling his name with a concerned look on their face, usually Az or a teacher, he'd realize where he was. But for the life of him, he could never remember what he was thinking about during an episode.

Antonio had been trying to break this habit. So he turned his attention back to the basketball game. He was here because his nineteen-year-old sister, Aña, was training to be a basketball coach. She had decided to become the co-coach for Antonio's schools' 10th-grade girls basketball team. In support of her, the family sometimes came to watch.

He had to admit, the team was pretty good. Especially this tall black girl, number 21. Her shots came flying off her fingertips, landing in the basket with such precision that it was almost...magic. It was fun to watch her play. The way she moved on the court was almost like she was dancing. She was in her element.

The game had just started and it was already exciting. Willow, as Antonio believed her name to be, judging from the cheers of her teammates, was having a good game. She had already made a basket, putting the Stonemill Demons ahead by two points. Number Twenty-Two was on a roll. She was magic.

Antonio got so caught up in the game, he forgot about everything else. He just watched her. The way she moved, fluid, like water. You didn't see many people move that these days. People now days walked beaten down like they had seen too much like there was no purpose. Heavily. Like rocks rolling.

Thinking about this set Antonio off on one of his zoning out episodes. His mind was empty, but his eyes followed Willow. Her movements. The world was blocked out. No sound. Looking at nothing else but Willow's graceful jumps.

Then, blinking twice, like he always did when he was snapping out of an episode, Antonio came back into reality. It always felt like a wave was crashing down on him. The wave of emotions and sensation coming back after the peaceful emptiness.

He sat up, his back complaining. He realized he had been leaning forward on his knees.

He leaned back and stretched. He yawned. While his head was tilted back,  he heard something that caught his attention. Sitting forward, looked toward where it was coming from. It was coming from the direction of the hall outside the door.

He leaned forward and squinted to see what it could be.

What was coming?