LAST GAME

Chapter 3. Awakening

- Adora, what the fuck? - Glimmer didn't expect to find friend sleeping on the floor when she flung open the door to her room on an early November morning. The reason why she was in a hurry to invade someone else's dream immediately flew out of head, although it felt weighty. The awakened blonde looked dumbfounded at the uninvited guest: 

- Uh... I fell out of bed.

- Together with a neatly made bed?

- Sleepwalking.

- Really?!

- Why is everyone bursting into my bedroom without knocking? - the girl was indignant, because the best defense is an attack.

- Right now, you convinced me to do it more often. And it's your own fault - don't lock yourself up, - the pink-haired princess jumped onto the bare mattress, - What's the matter?

- You know, it's good for my back, for my scoliosis ...

- It takes many years of practice to learn the art of lying.

Mertens got out from under the blanket and went to brush teeth, but when returned, she found classmate in the same place.

- Okay! I just... Sounds really stupid, I know! Getting used to the room turned out to be more difficult than I thought. I like everything. Honestly! Everything is great. Just can't sleep... Feeling like quicksand is swallowing me up. Alive. I can hear what's happening inside my mattress.

The captain of the Princesses could barely contain herself from laughing out loud. In the end, the sincere conversation was interrupted by Bow, who appeared on the threshold. The girls flinched in surprise.

- What if I was naked? - the blonde waved hands, accidentally catching on the ceiling.

- Well, no matter how many times I've come in, you're always dressed, so...

- You both don't give me another opportunity!

- Why is your bed lying on the floor?

- Because the mattress chats to her at night, - Glimmer blurted out before her friend could think of an excuse.

***

Across the sheet of speech for the public speaking class was a huge inscription «where are YOUR thoughts?», made in red felt-tip pen. Adora has been staring at this for half an hour now, completely unaware of what the teacher wants from her. He promised he wouldn't give a "C" if the new girl rewrote the speech before Thanksgiving. Every Monday, the work returned to her with notes, depriving of hope for a favorable outcome. It seemed that the more time devoted to studying, the worse the grades became. The inexplicable correlation drove the girl crazy. It turned out to be pointless to resist Coach Weaver's hissing voice in mind, because her rightness again blocked Mertens' naive dreams - the head could not cope with the complex world outside the basketball court. In this life, she will no longer have to calculate the trajectories of comets. Pinching herself hard, she focused on a volume of «The Greatest Quotes of the 20th Century». What was there in all these pompous phrases that couldn't find for stupid homework? Did not want to believe that the failures were due to prejudice.

Most of the students to this day tried to stay away from the new kid, only girls from the basketball team ignored everyone's precautions, keeping company at lunch or in classes. Loneliness did not threaten her. But the image of the intimidating Godzilla oppressed Adora as much as the image of the saint among the cadets. Mermista, with her usual delicacy, advised to get rid of everything related to the Military Academy in order to clear the aura. After sorting through the clothes, Mertens realized that changing her image would not work - she could only choose from sportswear marked along and across with the symbols of the Horde. Don't wear everything inside out? At some point, the captain of the Princess pinned an Etheria badge on top of the Prime emblem on her friend's red sweatshirt jacket.