The system

I woke up to the all-too familiar beeping of my alarm clock on my night table. I made the mistake of staying up till 4:00am the night before, so the only thing in the world that I wanted was to just stay in bed and sleep. But it was a school day. The weekend was over and it was time to start getting up early again. I reached over and groped for the button that would silence this annoying wake up call. I pressed it and took a few seconds to enjoy the silence. I tossed the blankets aside and dragged myself out of bed, and over to my window. I threw open the curtains and was blinded by the sunlight that flooded my room. I would have turned to walk to the bathroom, but I was far too busy staring outside. I couldn't believe what my eyes were staring at. Actually, it wasn't really what I was staring at that caught my attention, but rather the lack of it: people. The parking lot behind my house was empty. No cars, nothing. It's usually packed! It's been packed every day for as long as I can remember! Maybe they already left. Maybe I just woke up late. I looked at my alarm clock. Nope, 7:30. Same time I always wake up. Oh well, they probably just left early. I shrugged it off as just that, and went to take a shower. The warm water felt so nice and always helped to wake me up. It was my favorite part of the morning. Without my morning shower, my day just wouldn't be complete. I dried myself off and got dressed. I picked out a pretty casual outfit; I'm not one for being the center of attention. Blue jeans, white shirt, black jacket. You can't get much more casual than that. I glanced out my window and my heart skipped a beat. Every car that was usually there, was now there, and their drivers were preparing to leave. All I could do was stare in disbelief. I know for a fact that parking lot was void of anything just a few minutes ago. Maybe they all pulled in while I was in the shower... Yeah, that's what happened. Cars don't appear out of thin air. My thoughts were shattered, however when I heard the familiar, 'Hunter, time for breakfast!' I came downstairs and saw my mom standing there with a huge smile on her face. She always made my morning happy with her bright personality. She was a nice lady, the nicest I've ever known. She's always been this happy, even though my dad passed away when I was only 3. I felt bad for her. It's hard having a tragedy so great shake up your life, and not let it change you. With a big smile, I said, 'Good morning mom!' 'Bacon and eggs?' She asked. I've had bacon and eggs every day for who knows how long; I don't think I could stand to look at them anymore. 'I think I'll switch it up today,' I replied, 'How about I just have cereal?' I smiled and looked out the window at the men and women leaving for work. I looked for a while, then my heart stopped when I turned back to see my mother staring directly at me with an absolutely dead serious look on her face, almost angry. 'Mom...?' I said, feeling a little creeped out. She kept looking at me for the next ten seconds, and then her look instantly turned into a bright smile. 'Ok!' she said, 'Cereal it is then!' She got me milk and the box of cereal, and I poured myself a bowl. What the hell was that... was all I could think for the next two minutes while I ate. When I was finished, I slowly got up and turned to leave. I said, 'Thanks mom,' and proceeded to walk out the door. I was almost out when I heard, 'Aren't you forgetting something?' in the most disturbing tone I've ever heard from my mother. She might as well have growled it at me. I turned around to see her holding my backpack up. I took it and said, 'Oh... thanks,' and left. She shouted out after me 'Have a great day, hunny,' In her usual happy-go-lucky tone. I smiled and started my walk to school. I decided to take a different route to school today. I've never taken this one before, might as well try it out; I'm in no rush anyway. My walk was particularly weird. You know that strange feeling you get sometimes, like someone's watching you? Well that's what I felt on my entire walk to school... bec