THE APP FEST: CHAPTER 1
PHNXpiyush | Omegatglul



START


Beep-beep... Beep-beep... Beep-beep...


I slammed my hand down on the alarm, shutting off that irritating ring the second it cut through the quiet of my room. I groaned, rubbing the sleep from my blue eyes as I sat up in bed. Ugh, what time is it?

I grabbed my phone off the nightstand to check the screen. My heart instantly dropped.


10:00 AM.


"What?!" I gasped out loud. "No, no, no..."


I had college at eight. I was two full hours late, and Professor Elena was going to absolutely kill me.


I bolted out of bed and went straight for my closet in a sheer panic. Thankfully, I already had my charcoal-grey ribbed tank top on, so I didn't need to waste time changing. I grabbed my favorite heavy vintage flannel shirt-the green and black plaid one and a pair of distressed light-wash jeans. After yanking the jeans on, I took a microsecond to glance at my sandy-blonde hair and freckles in the mirror, threw the open flannel over my shoulders, and sprinted right downstairs.



As I rounded the corner at the bottom of the steps, I came right across my mom, Mrs. Amanda Miller. She was already busy, hauling a heavy basket of laundry toward the washing machine.

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"Travis, what the hell?!" she snapped, dropping the basket onto her hip as she stared at me. "I thought you left early this morning with Chloe! I had no idea you were still up there sleeping it off!"


She glared at me with a look of pure, disappointed irritation. She was clearly annoyed by my laziness, though at this point, it was practically a regular part of my daily routine.


"Uh, sorry, Mom," I mumbled, offering a weak, guilty grin. "You know how it is... I was up studying until late last night."


It was a blatant, straight-off-the-cuff lie, and it was so obvious that she immediately saw right through it. She knew for a fact I had been up gaming until the sunrise.


"Whatever," she sighed, rolling her eyes and heading toward the laundry room to continue her chores. "Just learn something from your younger sister, Chloe, for once in your life."


I rolled my eyes as she walked away, entirely text-book annoyed at getting compared to my supposedly disciplined younger sister yet again. If only my parents actually knew …