This ain't a diary, this is a - mirror?

Chapter 12: Emotional? Who, me?

Samantha rolled over and groaned as the insistent beeping of her alarm pierced her peaceful veil of sleep. She opened one eye and slapped her paw on to the 'off' button.

"Why do I have to wake up so early again...?" She mumbled aloud, turning over again. Suddenly, her eyes flashed open and she leaped out of bed with a yelp. "School! Right!"

She checked the clock on the wall. Thankfully, she had set her alarm early and it was only 6:30 - school started at 8:15 and it was practically next door, which was quite convenient. Another plus to going to boarding school.

She half contemplated sliding under her covers again, but she decided against it and padded into the bathroom to wash up. She could still hear Elena blissfully snoring under her covers - lucky her - and briefly recalled yesterday morning, when she'd been forced to wake her friend and had nearly gotten a concussion. Good times.

She exited the bathroom and sat down on her bed. "Well, it's not like I have anything to do," she murmured, "Might as well..."

She reached for the little blue book on her bedside and opened it. She stared at the still-vibrant dark blue ink across the page - most of it was in her scratchy handwriting, with a few lines in between in something between a neat print and large, rounded letters.

She pressed her pen to the page. Finally, she scrawled out an 'H'.

{{ Hey. Are you there? }}

She gazed down at the blank, empty page.

{{ Are you... awake? }} She added beneath the line of text.

She continued watching her page, waiting for any sign of her mysterious... friend to show up. Finally, she added a few more words to the end of her sentence.

{{ Author... are you real? }}

From the bed opposite hers, Elena snuffled and buried under the covers.

{{ ... Did you want something? }}

Samantha breathed a sigh of relief as the familiar words slowly scrawled themselves onto the page.

{{ I... just wanted to talk.

Talk?  You? I didn't think you, out of all people, would want to... talk.

Are you real? How am I supposed to know if... well, if my power's actually just writing stuff that's just in my imagination? Or worse, that I'm hallucinating and I don't actually have a power?

Feeling all sad and emotional in the early morning, huh? I see.

Sad and emotional?! Of course not, I'm just... asking.

Hm. Well, then. I'm... real. That's for sure. But, well... I won't say anything more.

I see... so, you won't say anything more? Not you 'can't', but you 'won't'?

...

Alright. Fine. I'm just... going to go prepare for school.

Wait.

What do you want?

If... if you want... help, I suppose, you... you'll know what to do.

What do you mean?

Samantha... you'll know what to do. I don't know if I should, I don't know if I even can... but...

But...? }}

No more words came after that. Samantha quickly scribbled a message.

{{ But what? }}

Again, no reply. Samantha sighed and added one more line.

{{ Well... thanks for the... support, I guess. Goodbye. }}

She put down the book and her pen back on the table and stared out the window. The sun, in all its warmth and glory, shone through the window and danced on the floor. The sound of birdsong fluttered through the half-opened window.

Somewhere out there, a being gazed out their window out into the sky - a sky not at all different from the skies of Esbia - and looked back at their work.

The gentle 'tap tap tap' of fingers on a keyboard filled the air as they continued to type.

---

Samantha didn't know how long she'd sat - she just watched the sky brighten from grey to blue. She checked her clock again and pulled herself to her paws.

"Wake up, Elena, it's time for school," she called, glancing over at Elena's bedside to check her alarm. "You should set your alarm earlier if you know you're such a deep sleeper," she added.

She shook her friend a few times, but to no response. "Don't make me pour water on you," she warned, glancing towards the bathroom.

"Mmph, no thanks..." Elena opened an eye to peer at Samantha. "What is it?"

"School," Samantha simply replied, turning back to her packed bag lying at the side of her bed. "Don't fall asleep again - I'm not going to wake you up."

Elena sat up and stretched. "Alright, alright," she yawned. "If we're early, we can get breakfast..."

---

Two dogs trotted down the quiet corridor - one dressed in a grey hoodie and one in a cream sweater. They walked down the stairs, chatting cheerfully, past the Training Block and into the Canteen.

There were already a few early birds hanging about, poking at their meals or just sitting. Elena waved at Kate, who nodded back but said nothing, as they collected their meals and sat down.

"Huh. It's so... quiet." Samantha whispered. "I wonder if the canteen is like this every morning."

Elena shrugged and stabbed a piece of fish with her fork. "Dunno. Maybe it's because we're early."

"Or maybe because the... noisy people aren't here," Samantha added. Elena chuckled softly and took a bite of fish. "Yeah, probably that." She coughed behind a paw and mouthed, "Abbey," which also earned her a giggle from Samantha.

"What do we have first?" Samantha asked, already pulling out her phone. Elena shrugged and gestured at her mouth, then back at Samantha. Samantha scrolled through and found the image of her timetable that she had saved. "Hmm... English. Not bad."

"We're in the same class for that," Elena pointed out. "This should be fun."

Samantha smiled and took a bite of her fish. "Yeah," she said through a full mouth. "Definitely will be." She reached into her bag and ran a paw over the smooth, blue cover of her diary.

"I wonder what they meant by I would know what they'd mean," Samantha murmured to herself.

"What did you say?" Elena asked, cocking her head to the side in confusion.

Samantha jumped. "Ah, nothing. I just have a habit of talking to myself... since, you know, home stuff."

"I see," Elena said with a smile. "I guess I see where you're getting at. Anyways, we should leave in five minutes - class starts at 8:15, and it's already 8:05. Luckily for us, we've already checked out the classroom! Illegally, of course."

Samantha chuckled and closed her backpack. "Alright, then. Five minutes it is."