Breakfast, Beef, and Bad omens

Ring!!!!

Luke jerked awake, his chest heaving. The images of his nightmare clung to him—shambling figures with hollow eyes, bodies rotting as they lunged toward him. It took him a few seconds to remember where he was.

“Damn it,” he muttered, rubbing his face. “This whole ‘zotes’ nonsense is messing with my head.

Ring!!!

The alarm screamed again, reminding him it wasn’t just nightmares that demanded his attention. “I’m awake!” he grumbled, silencing it. After some quick stretches and a half-hearted attempt at push-ups, he dressed and headed out, hoping to shake off the eerie feeling.

Outside, a fellow classmate passed him with a pale, sickly look, barely managing a nod after Luke acknowledged his existence. Luke frowned. That was the third person he’d seen in this state in two days.

“Is it just exam stress, or...?” he muttered under his breath.

When he got to class, a notice on the door informed him the lecture was canceled because the lecturer had fallen ill.

“Great. First nightmares, now everyone’s dropping like flies,” he muttered, pulling out his phone to call Mira.

“Hey, Romeo,” her chipper voice answered on the first ring.

Luke rolled his eyes. “Shut up. Are you free? Let’s have breakfast at our spot. My treat.”

“Oh? Someone’s in a good mood. Alright, lover boy!”

He sighed. “Don’t make me regret this.”

---

Twenty minutes later, they were walking toward the canteen. Mira was in her usual chatty mood, cracking jokes about Luke’s terrible sleeping habits.

“Did I ever tell you how you mumbled my name during the study group?” she teased.

Luke groaned. “Let it go, Mira.”

“‘Don’t go into the horde, Mira!’” she mimicked dramatically, laughing out loud arms outstretched.

Before Luke could defend himself, a voice interrupted them.

“Hey, Mira. 'sup?”

Luke turned to see Akin leaning out of the passenger window of Charles’s Toyota Camry, smirking like he’d won something.

Mira’s mood instantly shifted. Her smile faded, and she barely looked at Akin. “Hey, Akin,” she said curtly.

“Where you off to?” Akin asked, completely ignoring Luke.

“With a friend. To eat,” Mira replied, her tone sharp.

“Why don’t you come with us? We’re heading to Golden Alley. Way better than that school canteen crap,” Akin said, his smirk widening.

Luke clenched his fists, already annoyed. “She said no. Take the hint, Dennis.”

Akin’s eyes flicked toward Luke as if noticing him, and his smirk disappeared. Luke noticed Mira’s lips twitch, almost like she was... amused? He frowned.

“What the hell did you just say to me?” Akin said, getting out of the car. Charles followed, trying to calm him.

A small crowd had started to gather, watching the standoff. Luke felt something flare up in him—recklessness, maybe, or just plain irritation.

“You heard me,” he said. “What are you going to do about it, Dennis?”

Akin’s nostrils flared as he stepped closer, his jaw tight. Luke didn’t move.

“Leave it,” Charles muttered, tugging Akin’s arm. “Not worth it.”

Akin glared at Luke for a moment longer, then backed off, muttering, “I’ll get even, Princewill. Count on it.”

They drove off, leaving a trail of tension in their wake.

---

“You didn’t have to do that,” Mira said as they continued walking.

Luke scoffed. “You’re welcome.”

Mira glanced at him sideways, her lips twitching again. “Still, I could’ve handled it.”

“Yeah? You looked thrilled back there,” Luke said, shooting her a look.

“Oh, nothing,” she said, walking ahead, her tone light but evasive.

Luke shook his head. He’d never understand Mira. But as they stepped into the canteen, a chill ran down his spine. Akin’s threat had sounded too deliberate. Combined with the sick lecturer, the pale classmates, and his own restless nights, Luke couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right on campus.