ᴛʜɪɴᴋ ꜱᴍᴀʀᴛᴇʀ, ɴᴏᴛ ʜᴀʀᴅᴇʀ

Prologue - "I'm a Genie in a Bottle, You Gotta Rub Me the Right Way."

Quote: Genie in a Bottle by Christina Aguilera.

______________________________________________

I entered my home, welcomed by the comfortably warm house, a positive "hey" coming from the kitchen. I walked in as I checked my phone, reading 3:38 PM, August 5, 2023. "Hey ma, how's work?" I responded as I pocketed my phone and walked closer, her back faced me. The smell of freshly fried chicken and spices filled the house, the sound of hot oil popping here and there filling the comfortable silence that engulfed the house.

"Ah shit," oil flew onto her shirt after she flipped the chicken, facing me afterwards, "It was okay as usual, nothing interesting really happened. How was school? You're pretty close to graduation, right? Which day was it again?" She turned back around to check the fire on the stove. I graduated early from highschool, so I got into college early too. I just so happened to get a free ride for the first two years for an associate's degree, so I went straight to it. It seems that my college is unusual, however, because who the fuck graduates in August?

"It was boring per usual. Also yeah, graduation is next Monday." My annoyance and fatigue toward the inconvenient schedule was audible, exhaustion expressed through my face and slumped body.

She looked at me with her eyebrows furrowed, "Monday? Why the hell would they schedule it on a Monday?"

"Honestly I don't know."

"Oh, by the way, I've decided to celebrate your 19th birthday next Saturday, is that fine? Money is tight right now, so-"

"Of course it's fine, you know I don't mind."

"Okay, thanks. Well, go get some rest, you have the rest of the weekend to get mentally ready for Monday at least." She smiled and turned back around to remove the food from the pan, "I've made enough food for leftovers if you wake up in the middle of the night with an empty stomach."

"Thanks." I smiled at her despite her facing away, then walked away from the kitchen towards my room. I opened the door and was welcomed by a cold room. 'She must have turned the AC on before I arrived,' I thought as I closed the door. The bed was really tempting, however, I decided it was better to change.

I took my bag and headphones, placing them on my desk next to some of the books that were stacked on the righthand side. The one on the top being Jujutsu Kaisen, the 8th volume. I smiled at the thought of the second season currently airing, despite knowing what's conspiring as of the latest chapters.

Shaking out of my thoughts after a yawn, I quickly got changed and got under my covers. It took 30 minutes of me tossing and turning to finally knock out.

______________________________________________

My eyes blinked open, met with a very dark scenery, and I felt my heart race, 'why the fuck am I in a forest?' I tried to speak, however, nothing came out. My eyebrow twitched in annoyance and curiosity, and instead of standing around like an idiot, I started to walk around until I found something familiar. Leaves under my feet crunched as insects around chirped. I felt a shiver go down my spine from the cold around me, my breath coming out as fog.

I spotted a familiar log and river, a small clearing up ahead past it. 'Wait a minute, I think this is that park near the forest a few blocks away.' At that thought, I cautiously hopped onto a few rocks on the river and headed into the middle of the clearing, not wanting to risk going on the log. I looked to the left, and there it was, the small bridge leading to the park. I looked up at the sky, trying to guess the time by the color. It seems to be around dawn and- thud.

I spun around, feeling anxiety bubble up as I looked around frantically. I looked at the ground and saw an insulated cup, flinching as it jumped and rattled. That shit was glowing blue and rolling around violently. 'What the fuck?'