Beat of Your Heart

Chapter 10 part 1: The Talk

Chapter 10 part 1

Tori's POV

          “Tori.”

 I faintly heard my name being called, but my bed was so comfortable that I just drifted back into my deep sleep. We don’t have dance rehearsals on the weekends so I should be free to sleep in.

“Tori, wake up,” the voice said, louder this time. “You already missed breakfast. You’re not going to miss lunch, too.” I could feel my body shaking slightly. I really didn’t want to get up yet, but my stomach said otherwise. It was already grumbling, and I really am very hungry. Reluctantly, I turned over, so that I could see who was waking me up. It was Winona, our maid. Her soft features staring down at me with a smile. She was already in her 30’s. She’s a really sweet lady, and she has a very motherly vibe to her. She has been with our family for a few years now.

I couldn’t help but smile back. I stretched my limbs and rubbed my eyes a little. “Morning,” I said but it was muffled by my yawn.

Winona chuckled but greeted me back, nonetheless. “Morning to you too sleepyhead. Time to get up. It’s already noon. Lunch is almost ready, so you better hurry and freshen up,” and with that, she left my room.

I checked the clock on my bedside table and it was only five minutes to twelve. Guess that’s why I was so hungry. I sat up and stretched again. Waking up is always the hardest thing for me to do, no matter how long I’ve slept.

I threw my legs over the side of the bed, and stood up. I still had my eyes closed, so I bumped into a few things before reaching the bathroom. I made my way to the sink, and blindly grabbed for my toothbrush. I put some mint toothpaste, and started brushing my teeth, just to get rid of morning breath. I rinsed the bubbles from my mouth and proceeded to washing my face to wake me up a little.

That did the trick. I grabbed a towel, and dried my face. Lifting my head from the towel, I saw myself in the mirror. I just smiled. I looked ridiculous. Today is one of the rare days when my brown hair sticks up in all directions. I never really understood how it gets that way. I must’ve moved a lot in my sleep last night.

          I just settled on using my fingers to comb through my wild mane, since I was in a hurry because of my stomach’s demands. It didn’t look very different from what it did a while ago, but at least it wasn’t sticking up. I was just going downstairs for lunch, no need to put much effort. Showering can wait until later. Right now, food is the only thing on my mind.

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          “So you finally decided that you and your bed need time apart?” my dad greeted me cheekily as I approached the table. I just rolled my eyes at his comment, but hugged him when I got to the table. I always slept in on weekends. Mornings and I just don’t work. I’m always wide awake at night and tend to sleep very, very late.

          I hugged my mom next, then messed up Travis’ hair. He just grunted. He used to complain a lot about me messing up his hair, but he eventually got used to it. I sat down in my seat, and started filling my plate with food.

          “It’s a good thing we have a lot of food, because if we didn’t, the rest of us would have already starved to death,” Travis said looking at the pile of food on my plate.

          “You’re one to talk,” I replied shrugging. He was just as much of a pig as I was.

                He was about to retort but closed his mouth, only to open it again. He looked like a fish out of water. Eventually, he just settled on “Touché,” glaring at me. I just smirked. I can see from the corner of my eye, my parents were clearly amused with our bickering. I just ignored that, and savoured in the flavours entering my mouth.