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I arrive to school thirty minutes early, before anyone else, which is not surprising. The school doors are luckily open, so I enter and go to my locker. I organize everything I need, almost throwing things inside, before dragging myself to our usual spot. I drop onto the floor, then wait for one of the others to arrive. I should’ve stayed at home and finished some more things. The only reason I came this early is because I was failing to keep my eyes open and was on the verge of falling asleep. The walk, the school, and the coffee all help. Even though black coffee is too much, I need it.
After a while, footsteps echo the empty hall, prompting me to turn and see Elias walking toward me. Elias. God, I still can’t get Saturday out of my head. I should. It should be easy to; it was nothing. I’m making a big deal out of nothing. I don’t know why I keep remembering it. Why my head, my heart, is telling me otherwise. I need to get the moment out of my mind. The rain was making me weird. Yeah, that’s it. It was the rain’s fault. Reasonable answer.
“Violet?” he calls out. I raise my hand and wave. When he comes closer, I greet him properly.
“Elias. Hey.” I smile weakly. His eyes are shining, even though I swear they didn’t do that before Saturday. Did he switch eyes? DidIswitch eyes? Whatever switched, now the brown color is etched into my head, the reflection of the rain inside them.
“What are you doing here this early?” he asks, and I shift my gaze away from his eyes. I’m being weird, and that adds on to the tiredness I’m feeling. I honestly don’t even know why I’m here early, and why I didn’t just sit outside in the wind, hoping it takes me with it.
“I woke up early, couldn’t sleep again. Now, I’m here,” I answer, gesturing my hands around me lazily. The first part is a lie, I didn’t wake up. I didn’t even go to sleep. But I was at a studio throughout the day yesterday, so most of my planning and organizing happened at the night. Work is more important than sleep.
I take a sip from my cup, which feels like it’s getting lighter too fast. His eyes fall to the cup in my hand, glancing to find out its contents. “What drink is that?”
“Coffee. Plain black coffee,” I tell him, unsatisfied even myself. Black coffee isn’t the best choice, but it is certainly most efficient at boosting my energy levels when I'm dragging my feet to school.
“What are you doing drinking black coffee at eight in the morning?” he inquires, his brows raised in mild surprise as he leans against a locker.
“I don’t know, trust me,” I reply shortly, my voice indicating enough how miserable I am right now just sitting here. I should’ve taken the day off. But if I did that, I’d have to continue working through the tasksand wouldn’t get any sleep anyway. So, really there is no escape. At least here I don’t have to worry.
Another set of footsteps sound, echoing the hall again. Lorenzo, his black hair not dangling over his eyes for once, comes closer and closer. If anything, we’re matching. His sweatpants are black, and he wears a brown hoodie. But that’s Lorenzo’s usual choice of clothes, especially when he’s on vacation. He takes more care when modeling or working.
He looks at me with confusion, and I prepare myself to answer repeated questions.
“Hey Elias. Violet. You’re here early,” he says. I blink at him, pressing my lips into a thin line.
“I have been here for fifteen minutes, I’m more than early. Don’t ask me why because I don’t know why,” I tell him. Lorenzocan probably guess it had something to do with work, but he wouldn’t think it was to the extent I didn’t get any sleep since he doesn’t know about the meeting I had. I’d rather he not know anyway. He’ll get angry at me for doing too much again, then try and stop me and I’ll get behind on everything. I know he just wants the best for me, but choosing a career as a celebrity isn’t as easygoing as working for a company. Especially for me. I have to do a lot of things myself.
He frowns, then looks down at my cup. Why is it suddenly a source of attraction? “Is that black? The coffee.” he asks. I turn my head to Elias.
“Can’t you just answer his questions, since they’re identical to yours?” I plead, and he smiles before switching to Lorenzo.
“Yes, it’s black,” Elias tells him. I raise the cup to my lips, taking another sip. Almost nothing comes out. I prop off the lid to reveal it’s empty. Dammit. They judged the coffee so much it finished. Well, I guess that’s what I have to stay awake on for the rest of the day.
I stand up, steadying my feet before walking to the garbage can in front of me. My hands release the cup and let it drop into the stash as I say farewell to my last hope of survival. Then, I walk back to Lorenzo and Elias. “Come on, let’s go deal with another day of school.”
The second I get home, I rush to my room and drop onto the bed. God, I used to live without sleep, I’ve become so spoiled now. I can barely keep my eyes open, and it’s still the afternoon. I relax my muscles and close my eyes, cautious as to not fall asleep. I’m so tired, but I still need to continue. I did a lot yesterday, but barely anything at the same time. I have someplanning left for the trip, and some more planning for post-trip events and releases. I guess one year is too long of a break from releasing songs. I also need to work harder on my social and online appearances. I cannot afford to sleep right now. I can get up and do this. I’ve got this.
As I try to hype myself up, a voice yells my name. My body jumps up, and my eyes fly open. I’m up. I’m not asleep. I look at the edge of the bed and spot Ellie standing there, practically paralyzed. She’s scaring me. That could just be my fatigue, though.
“Hey Ellie. Thanks for waking me up. What do you want?” I moan, rubbing my eyes. I know Ellie didn’t wake me up for my benefit, but I’ll take it. If I had fallen asleep, I wouldn’t have woken up for ages. I cannot afford that to happen again.
“Well, Mom said you were working, and I came to ask why you’re working already,” she states. I’m not surprised Mom said that. I push my hands down onto the bed to get up, then walk to my chair.
“I am working, and it’s because I have a lot to do,” I reply, settling on my spinning chair and pulling it closer to the desk. My desk is organized, luckily. I can’t work in an unorganized space; my head just doesn’t work.
A pen and supply organizer are set next to a small paper rack, both white metal. In the middle is my computer stand, which I use if I need to write and use a screen at the same time. On the other side is a small stack of notebooks, all in the theme of purple and white, as well as flowers. I do revolve my life around flowers and the color purple, which is why I love the name Violet so much. Then there’s a soft purple keyboard in front of me, accompanied by an identical colored mouse. On the wall behind the table, fake flowers hang.
“But you never start this early. I didn’t get to annoy you at the door,” she complains, making me chuckle. I open my rose goldcomputer and turn it on. The chair spins with my small push, and I let it spin until I’m facing her.
“I’m sorry, but I really need to finish more things. You’ll get to annoy me next time, okay? And I’ll try my best to find an hour to do what you want.”
However, she pouts at my response, and I feel sorry for her. I don’t have much time to hang out or spend time with her, let alone take her anywhere. Then again, I barely have time to spend alone. A sigh leaves my lips. I should really find some time to spend with her. If not out, then at home. It’s risky for her to go anywhere in the case someone sees her with me. Even in disguise, the park was risky. Unless there was some other known connection. If she was with me for a known reason, they can’t really suspect anything.
The trip. I can’t make her a full winner, she’s too young, but she can be a guest. Aurora is my first winner. If I can convince her to take Elaina, and the other winner doesn’t plan on taking a guest, I can take her without consequence. She has always wanted to go on one of my tours or concerts anyway, so she’d have an excuse now. Oh my God, I’m a genius.
My face lights up slightly. “Hey, how about this. If you let me finish enough without interruption, I’ll try and arrange a way to take you with me to New York.”
Her mood transforms, a big grin forming on her face. She beams with excitement before even saying a word, making me smile.
