New Horizon [Morganville]

Chapter Thirty-Six

“Sleep is important, you know?”

“So is education,” Claire replied without glancing back at Eve. The laptop screen blared in her tired eyes, but the boost from the three coffees she had drunk had started to kick in, and she was determined to finish off her assignment. Eve groaned loudly, and she dragged the pillow over her face.

“You’re already smart enough,” Eve whined. “Get out of my room.”

“If you’d let me take your laptop into my room, then I wouldn’t have been in your room in the first place,” Claire said as she typed quickly. “But no. You had to make things complicated.”

Eve sighed loudly, and before she knew it, a pillow was hurtling through the air and smacked into the back of Claire’s head. “Hey!” She exclaimed and twisted in the seat to glare at Eve. She threw the pillow back, but it didn’t even have half the power Eve’s throw had.

“Really?” Eve said tiredly as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “You could take down Morley in Blacke with a crossbow, but you can’t manage to throw a pillow stuffed with feathers a few meters away?”

“Shut up,” Claire scowled and twisted back around to face the computer. “That was like, five million years ago.”

“Seems like it,” Eve cleared her throat, and started to kick the blankets off her. Claire heard the ruffle of the silken material being shoved to the end of the bed followed by a yawn. “Seems like it’s been a few billion years before I’ve had a proper goodnights sleep.”

Claire raised her eyebrows and saved her work before maximizing the postage stamp icon and searching for her professors’ email. “Eve, you do realize that you’ve been asleep for thirteen hours?”

“What?” Eve said and sat up to look at the clock. “Ten? Well I’ll be damned. What time did I go to sleep?”

“Ten,” Claire replied simply before clicking the small send button, and her assignment was sent with a little ‘whoop’ sound. “While you were asleep I went out clubbing, started smoking and adopted a brown puppy dog. Congratulations, you’re a godmother.”

“Bite me, chirpy,” Eve replied as she slowly dragged her legs off the bed. “You’ve been hanging out with Shane too much.”

“Funny. He says the exact same thing about you.”

“Yeah, well, I’m your best friend.”

“He’s my boyfriend?”

“Dammit CB, I’m trying to make a point here?” Claire pushed herself out of the chair and stretched her legs out as she ran a hand through her hair. “Make me breakfast?”

Claire laughed and shook her head. “No. Make your own breakfast. I’m not your slave.”

Eve pouted and rubbed her eyes. It was weird seeing Eve like this, and Claire couldn’t help but stare. She looked naked without all the heavy makeup and dramatic clothing. She looked young with pale skin and wavy, black hair. Eve was spooky hot, and she hardly let anyone see her when she wasn’t done up. But behind all the Gothic bravado, the spookiness was taken away and replaced with natural beauty. Sometimes Claire thought that Eve wanted to strip away the outfits and makeup at times, but then again, she had too much fun accessorizing and mocking the vamps with her style.

With a groan, Eve pulled her hands away and she blinked at Claire.

“Can I help you?” Eve asked. “Because if you’ve suddenly realized how drop-dead sexy I am and want to kiss me, you have to warn me. I haven’t brushed my teeth.”