Life Finds a Way

Chapter 32

Clarissa woke with a start. She was disoriented so it took her a few moments to think straight enough to check the clock beside her. It was still half an hour before the alarm she set was supposed to go off. Seeing the time made weariness drag her back into the bed. She was thinking of trying to go back to sleep when she reached up to rub the grittiness from her eyes. It was at that point she found her eyes were gritty from the tears she had been crying in her sleep again. That realization brought on another one. She hadn't noticed because there was a weight in her chest that refused to budge. It had been there since the day before and it had quickly become normal.

She recognized there would be no getting back to sleep now and turned to look at her roommate. It looked as if Cissnei was still sleeping, but her breathing seemed too regular and deep. It partially amazed Clarissa that she could hear it so clearly. She knew it was likely the girl was pretending so that she would let her guard down. It was almost comical since it wasn't up in the first place.

She shook her head before quietly getting up. If, for some reason, Cissnei really was asleep, she didn't want to wake her. The first thing she did was reach out and turn off the alarm. She always hated how it made her jump if she was already awake. She set it back down as quietly as possible before moving to the trunk at the end of her bed. She managed to get dressed with very little sound. After she dressed, she tried to remake the bed. It wasn't an easy task while trying to not make noise. Once she was finished she looked at the time to find it was five minutes past the hour. At that she moved to 'wake' Cissnei. She would need to leave to find breakfast and get to the training room soon and it would cause problems if the Turk assigned to her thought she was trying to sneak out.

She lightly shook Cissnei's shoulder. The girl immediately opened her eyes and sat up. If Clarissa had believed she was actually sleeping before, this would have disproven it. There was no way she would be that alert, even with Turk training. She didn't say anything about it though. "I apologize for waking you, but I shut the alarm off earlier. I had woken up and couldn't go back to sleep. I am pretty sure you will be monitoring me until I get to class, right? If so, I will need to get going soon and get breakfast."

Cissnei gave her an evaluating look. "You knew I was awake already."

It wasn't an actual question, but Clarissa treated it like it was. "Yes, but I tried to be quiet anyway, just in case."

The girl shook her head with a smile at Clarissa's answer. "If you are ready to go then we can head out."

Both women stood to leave but Clarissa paused with the door open as she realized something. "Would you happen to know if there is somewhere I can... take care of stuff, you know, like brushing my teeth?"

"I believe the only option available to you around here is the bathroom at the end of the hall."

Clarissa groaned at that. Of course, that would be what she was stuck with, and here she had been thinking she had been able to avoid it. Thinking about it had her looking through the chest again. Genesis had said she should have all the necessities. There was a small drawer in the bottom of the chest that she had not previously noticed. She was relieved to find everything she would need. She grabbed a few things and headed out. Cissnei was waiting in the hall. "Well, do you feel like a trip to the boy's bathroom? I would really like to brush my teeth at least."

She was surprised to see the younger woman give her a grin. "This should be interesting."

"That's not the wording I would have chosen, but let's go." Clarissa took a deep breath before walking down the hall. The door they were looking for was clearly marked. She paused for a moment before pushing it open and quickly walking in, not giving herself a chance to second guess her actions.