AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Syn is here, sipping a cup of tea or coffee, reading today’s copy of the Wall Street Journal. I’m not sure if that’s supposed to be some weird flex, because I’d expect him to be reading it on a tablet, like most normal people do these days.
Gemini is nowhere in sight, as usual, but Royal is still eating his breakfast. There’s a pile of bacon on the plate in front of him, which he’s eating with his fingers, staring at me as he does so.
Although I can’t keep the irritated sigh from escaping, I stare back, arching an eyebrow. God, what I would give to finish those off. Instead, I’ve got rice.
On cue, Ilana puts the tray in front of me with a clatter, the plastic rattling noisily against the cutlery. Her wince is somewhat satisfying.
The noise finally attracts Syn’s attention as he lowers the paper and glowers at me. “If you can’t eat that quietly, you won’t eat it at all.”
Asshole.
I flash him a bright smile and pick up my spoon so I can eat a large mouthful of bland, overcooked but lukewarm rice. Needless to say, it doesn’t take me long to wolf down my meal.
Syn walks over to me. “I assume the assignments were submitted on time.”
“You assume wrong.” I look up at him and set my spoon down. “They were submitted early.”
As I stand, Syn looks me up and down. “You look like shit. I hope you didn’t stay up all night working on them. You clearly need all the beauty sleep you can get.”
I’m too tired to think of anything resembling a witty comeback. Instead, I just walk away. There’s just enough time to have a quick shower before class. Aside from the smell of kitchen that’s seeped into my hair and clothes, I’ve not showered since before I visited Cole in prison.
Although breakfast sucked, the little bit of food has perked me up, so I feel a little more human and a little less zombie. And seeing Syn read the newspaper reminds me that I’ve arranged to have access to the archives of the Keyingham Ledger this evening.
Even if I am tired, I’m not missing that opportunity.
I strip off my clothes and dump them in a pile in the corner of the room. At some point soon, I’m also going to have to tackle some laundry as my clean clothes are running low again.
In the bathroom, I reach into the shower and turn on the water. I’ve learned my lesson. When it’s obvious the water hasn’t changed color, I step into the stream of water.
Almost instantly, I let out a squeal and jump out of the jet of water, barely managing not to slip and fall.
The water is ice cold.
“Fuck’s sake.” I curse, loudly.
Since I’ve gotten here, the water has always been gloriously warm. I can only blame my sleep-deprivation on not noticing the lack of steam. Making sure I’m clear of the jet stream, I reach back and turn the control hotter. Then I stick my hand back under the water and wait.
Hot water never comes.
Frowning, I turn the shower off and then turn on the faucet on the sink. Just like the shower, the water is icy.
“Of course.”
Even if I report this to facilities now, I’ll not have hot water before class. Thankfully, over the last couple of years, I’ve gotten used to periods where my mom forgot to pay the electric bill or the water bill. The shower we had was barely functional half of the time, either. Cold showers, while completely hellish, are not completely alien to me.
Sucking in a deep breath, I turn the shower back on and inch under the water.Thisis when having great water pressure sucks. So much cold water being shot at my body is awful, and I make the quick decision that today, my hair is going up in a ponytail, and I’m not washing it. In record time, I have my shower, desperate to get out into the warmth.
At least this woke me up.
With my towel still around me, I pull my laptop from the bag I abandoned on my bed before I hurried out to work this morning and open up the university portal to log the issue. Then I quickly get dressed, refix my hair and makeup, throw the laptop back in my bag, and hurry to class.
It’s Communications Studies with Dr. Wright. Just like nothing has changed, Penny is still sitting in the seat next to me. She’s stubborn and won’t move, whereas I tried to move and was yelled at by the professor.
I sink into my seat and keep my attention focused on myself, getting my laptop out of my bag, or the remnants of the graffiti on my desk. Actually, I prepared myself to clear the desk of trash, but there’s nothing there. Perhaps everyone has gotten bored…
“How was your weekend?” Penny asks me. “I went back to Connecticut to see Bubbe.”
While there’s nothing I’d like more than to ask her how it went with her grandmother, I keep my lips clamped shut and stare at the blank document I have open, ready to take notes. I don’t doubt that there’s at least a dozen people in this room watching us right now, ready to report back to Syn, and I’m not going to give himanything.
