MELISSA’S POV
I woke up oblivious to what time of the day it was, though the weight of my sleep still clung to me like an old blanket. For a moment, I just lay there, blinking at the ceiling, trying to orient myself. My body felt heavy, as if I had wrestled through storms in my dreams. It had been so long since I had slept this deeply, so long since I had surrendered to the kind of sleep that leaves you disoriented when you wake, unsure of whether it’s morning, afternoon, or the beginning of a new week.
I rubbed my eyes and sat up slowly. My limbs resisted at first, but then something in me surged—a burst of energy I couldn’t explain, like the way an athlete bursts from the starting line after crouching for too long. I dragged myself off the bed and shuffled to the bathroom. My reflectio
