Briar Preparatory Academy

Friction

Kate POV

I wake up early to the buzzing of my alarm clock on my nightstand. I slide out of bed quickly and slip my feet into my house shoes. I like getting up early; it gives me a head start on the day, unlike Celeste, who would throw you out of a window if you were too loud in the morning hours. I rub the sleep out of my eyes and stand up. Sneaking past Celeste's bed, I try not to wake her. I know, I'm training to be a spy, but stealth was never really my thing. That's why I prefer to work from the safety of a base or digitally, there's no way I can mess things up. I work behind the scenes when no one else can.

I push open the door to our bathroom and close it quietly behind me. I comb my messy brown hair until it lays flat down my back and continue to brush my teeth and wash my face. Once I finish with my routine, I walk out of the bathroom to wake up Celeste. I always let her sleep and wake her up when I'm done.

"6:30 sleepy head, it's time to get up." I say over my shoulder as I root through one of the drawers in my cabinet looking for my other sock.

When there isn't a reply I walk over to her bed and pull the fluffy covers back.

She's not there.

"She probably just got up early to walk the halls." I tell myself. She does that sometimes when she has a lot on her mind. With last night's memorial she probably needs a run. Walking only helps to a certain degree. She can't leave the dorm room until 06:30 though. That's when they allow us to leave our dorms so the early birds can get a head start on the day.

I shrug it off and walk out of our dorm and into the hall. I grab my favorite jacket on the way out. I will meet up with Seth at the front door, like always. Celeste is probably with him already. I walk down the stairs, contemplating how long it will be before we get our next big snow storm.

"Good morning Kate." I hear Seth's familiar voice say. He jogs up next to me and offers a big smile. His teeth are bleach white... It's slightly irritating.

"Morning Seth."

"Where's Celeste?" He asks casually, a hint of worry at the edges of his voice. Only certain people would catch that edge.

"Not sure. She was gone when I woke up. She probably is out walking. You know her; she does that when she has a lot on her mind." I tell him. He just nods and looks away, as if something troubles him. Then again, something probably does. I leave him alone about it.

Seth and I walk down the path towards the dining hall. It's weird not being with Celeste walking her to the infirmary. That's what I've done every morning since the fire. We wake up 20 minutes early and she has to check in with the infirmary staff to make sure her lungs are regaining strength and healing fine.

"Hey Seth, do you want to go by the infirmary and see if Celeste has checked in there yet?" I ask, biting my lip.

"Nah. We're going to be late to breakfast if we do; it's all the way on the other side of campus. She's fine. Celeste is smart enough to take herself to the infirmary. Besides, a man of my stature has to eat." Seth says with a smug expression.

I roll my eyes. "That is so beneath you."

"Don't be such a narwistic nanny."

I pause and glance up at him. "It's narcissistic. And what is that?"

"You know, that phrase they use for people that are down in the dumps all the time? Narcissistic nanny, right?" Seth has to think about the pronunciation of the word before he says it. It drawls out of his mouth painfully slow.