Puppets in Uniform ~~ An Apply Fic

𝕃𝕚𝕒𝕟𝕒

I sat up quickly out of bed, looking around franticly. What? Where am I? I could feel beads of sweat rolling down my face. Or is that water? Am I drowning?

I shook my head. No, Liana you're not drowning. Just breathe. I sucked in a big breath, held it, and then let it out. You're fine.

My eyes adjusted to the darkness; I could see the outlines of the girl's twin beds sat orderly against the walls. You're at St. McCrawly's remember? See? All safe in your bed.

I let out another breath and laid my head back on my pillow. It must have been a nightmare; it was frequent for me to get those. Some of the time they even escalated into night terrors, at least I didn't wake up screaming. That would have been quite the spectacle for my first night here.

A dim light was starting to peek in through the window, it must be dawn. I rolled over and grabbed my phone off the nightstand.

4:30 am, It read at the top of the screen. I continued to stare at my phone, my lock screen was of two baby bunnies. One brown, one black. It had been one of my plans to get two bunnies like this when I went off to college. My dad refused to have any animals in the house, saying that they would make the place smell.

He's all alone...In that big house. Maybe he is enjoying it, not having to worry about pesky me and whether he'll have to wait up at the door to make sure his nuisance of a daughter gets home by 2 am without bringing a boy home, or girl for that matter.

I squeeze my phone in my hand, before flipping it face down back on the nightstand. I can't fall back asleep now, I feel wide awake. Probably the jet lag screwing with my brain.

"Liana?" I hear a small, sleepy voice whisper.

"What?" I whisper back.

"Why in the hell are you up so early?" Valerie chides me, her annoyance peeking through the sleepiness.

"Jet lag." I mumble, and then put a finger over my mouth to make a small "Shh" sound, telling her to stay quiet as to not wake the others. She grumbles.

"Americans" She flops back around on her bed, facing away from me and I rolled my eyes.

I eventually fell into a light sleep again, but all to wake up an hour later to Andy getting dressed. They didn't seem to notice I was awake and went straight to the bathroom, I sighed and closed my eyes again. Maybe I had enough time to get half an hour of sleep in before class...

~~~

I had Biology first thing in the day with Andy, it seemed a lot of our schedule was with each other. But she seemed distant, getting up out of classes quickly only for me to run after her.

Why are you so clingy? Maybe she wants to be alone right now. She probably finds you annoying.

These thoughts rang through my head every time I ran to catch up with them, but it didn't stop me. I still ran to walk next to her and spouted some airy ramble to full the silence. Like a damn puppy running after their owner. Why did I care so much?

I told myself I would keep my distance after lunch, we didn't have any classes together then anyway.

I did run into Zaynab in History though, and I got to know her better. She was a little...odd, but I wasn't going to judge her. She seemed very sweet overall.

It was weird, seeing everyone in a school uniform. I was used to public schools, and to be honest we all looked like one big cult.

At least it was kind of cute, but the skirt was annoying. And scratchy.

The second half of the day went by fast and before I knew it, it was time for dinner. The dinner hall was spacious, kids piled around the buffet grabbing chicken and roasted veggies along with pouring themselves glasses of juice.

At least no one could complain about the food. I sat at a table with Anya, Valerie, and Zaynab, strangely Andy was not here. Maybe she just wasn't hungry.

"Did you guys have Mr. Harris?" Anya asks us, taking a bite of asparagus. "I had him for mathematics, and he has the weirdest way of teaching Calculus! I mean it's not weird, it actually makes it easier, but I've never seen it before."

"I wouldn't know" Valerie states, sounding disinterested. "I had Ms. Colin for math."

They continue to talk about their classes for the day, and I listen silently. Anya is so peppy, not in a bad way. But it makes me wonder if she ever had real friends to talk to before.

Dinner starts to wrap up and students clear their plates into the garbage before filing out of the dinning hall. I stand up with my roommates and we're the last ones to leave, I grab a spare bread bun from a basket to bring to Andy just in case.

We walk through the twisted maze of staircases and hallways.

"Wasn't it...a right turn here?" I question, looking down the hallway.

"I thought it was left." Zaynab says, looking equally as confused. Neither of the other two girls are any help either, looking towards us to lead.

"Uhm, okay. I'm probably wrong, let's go left." I take the left hand turn and we walk down the hallway. Only to be met by a dead end.

"Oh," Zaynab crinkles her brow. "Maybe it was right?" I laugh.

"That's okay, this place is so big I swear it's probably haunted." Valerie and Zaynab laugh along with me, but Anya chuckles nervously and I can't help but notice as we turn around that she sticks closer to my side than before.

We finally make it back to our dorm room and I can hear the sound of running water, Andy must be in the shower. Anya pouts, I guess she had plans to take a shower too. She runs up to the door and knocks,

"Hurry up! We need to shower also Andy!" Anya smiled and walked away from the doors, grabbing her pajama's.

I walked into the bathroom, knocking lightly first before creaking the door open. I needed to brush my teeth, but I wanted to get some fresh air first. I walked over to the window intending to crack it open, but someone was sitting on the ledge.

It was Andy, I guess she needed some fresh air too. Maybe the first day was a lot for her, and not liked I helped. Acting like a leech stuck to her side. I watched her for a while, her eyes seeming distant as she stared into the garden below.

She was whispering something to herself and I stepped forward, my curiosity getting the best of me.

"...changed my mind on wanting to live." I heard her say softly, it surprised me making me trip into the window. I managed to catch myself but the window softly creaked open.

"What?" I stared at her and she looked back at me. Fear and embarrassment flooding through her eyes.