Pride & Prejudice | INCOMPLETE

The Fear of Falling Apart

Judy woke up at three in the morning.

After an unsuccessful half-hour attempting to fall back into a dreamless sleep, she completely gave up and ended up getting up and going to the kitchen as quietly as possible. From the other room, she could hear Pronk and Bucky snoring.

With a groan, she sat down on the couch and checked the time.

4:58, her lock screen said, glaring back at her.

Great.

And, of course, that just brought on the reminder that it was the day. The first day of detention.

Judy decided that she would force herself to sleep another hour or two. She was not ready for this day.

--

"No offense."

"No offense what?" Judy asked blearily, closing her eyes as she drained her coffee. Pronk raised a condescending eyebrow. "No offense, but you look like hell. Did you even sleep last night?"

The younger girl rolled her eyes. "I woke up really early. I've been stressed out lately, okay? Gimme a rest."

Although she sincerely hoped that her cousin-in-law-to-be was exaggerating. If she looked as bad as she felt, people at school might run screaming. Pronk snorted. "It's, like, what? The second day of school? How stressful can that be?"

Judy sighed. "Detention with a first-class asshole."

"Ah. Good luck with that, little la-a-ady. If you need a ride afterwards, just text me. But I might not respond." Judy laughed a little at that. "You'd better get going, you're going to be late."

She couldn't even think of a snarky retort before she found herself obeying his instruction. She was too damn tired for this.

--

The five-minute bell rang almost as soon as she arrived. With an unexpected weight, she slowly dragged herself to the locker. Sandra and Dawn were waiting nearby, chattering away about something-or-other. Judy felt bad as soon as irritation crept into her mind.

She liked them, she really did; they were both nice, amazing friends... but she didn't know if she could handle their bubbly, talkative energy that very day. She tried to slip into the locker without them noticing her, but unfortunately they noticed and bounded over.

"We were worried you weren't going to be here!" Sandra exclaimed, scanning Judy over for injuries. "School starts in minutes, Judy!"

Dawn nodded in agreement. "I was about to run off to English. I'm glad you're here, though. Apparently Mr. Yax is doing yoga in class, today, so your first period should be really fun." Judy just banged her head against the locker door a few times before letting out a dramatic groan.

"This- day- just- keeps- getting- better." She pronounced each word with a bang against the metal.

Sandra and Dawn looked at her in confusion.

"You girls are going to be late!" A nearby teacher called. "Get to class, hurry, hurry!"

Both of Judy's friends sent her an apologetic look before scampering off in different directions. Judy ripped her binder out and started running towards her history class with Mr. Yax. Oh, this was going to be a great day.

--

"Yoga brings you inner peace throughout the body. I feel that meditation is a great way to relieve stress and tension, and focus your mind."

Mr. Yax talked so slowly as he reached up and twisted his spine into an almost unnatural position. The class cringed as he preformed the 'art of meditation' to them. Apparently it wasn't just a study hall thing, he actually put in a grade for it.