Maddox Academy: Grievous Beginnings - Wattys 2022 Shortlister

Chapter Thirty-Three - Three Hours of Sleep Is Enough

"You didn't sleep last night, did you?" Katie asked.

"I did, a full three hours." I drummed my fingers against the wood of the tabletop as fast as I possibly could. My eyes darted around the room frantically, looking at the other girls and the banners that hung in the dining hall. I couldn't keep my attention on anything.

"This has to stop, Flick. It's been almost a week. You're making me agitated. There's only so long you can go on next to no sleep."

"I'm fine. In seven days, this will all be over. Six if you exclude today."

"You're taking this too far. We're sitting our O-Levels in the next few days and even we're not as wound up as you are."

Wound up seemed like a small exaggeration. Since Monday, I had spent almost every free hour working on my new project and that included every night. Every evening, Miss Jones would call lights out and when the room fell silent, I would tiptoe out of bed and sneak down to the common room. I'd be back before anyone noticed and even had time for a quick run around the grounds, but it did nothing to calm me down and I was little more energetic than usual.

Still, I had made progress with my project and was well on the way to finishing it in time. A lack of sleep wasn't going to stop me from finishing it and by the time the presentations were over and done with I promised myself I would sleep for at least a week, if not more. For not, the project was more important than everything and that included more than three hours of sleep.

"What's the plan for today?" Jo asked.

"Same as yesterday," I said.

"You need to take a break, Flick. This isn't healthy."

"What are you two doing today?"

"Studying." Katie shrugged.

"So, the same thing you've been doing every day for the past six days."

"The difference is, we're sleeping at night."

"I'm fine. Trust me."

Katie looked at me and exchanged an unreadable glance with Jo. They stared at each other for a few seconds before looking away. I continued to tap my fingers on the table, the metal charms from the bracelet hitting the wood and creating a slight clanging sound. Everyone around us stared at me, but no one said anything about it. After several days of drumming, most people had become used to it, the only person who still complained was Victoria.

After speeding my way through breakfast and spilling more cereal on myself than eating it, I left the table and returned to the common room. I threw myself down on one of the sofas and ran my eyes over the project. Katie and Jo had decided to go to the library to study, they didn't like being in the same room as me when I was working on my project. Apparently, I was a little annoying.

I spent the day building up the creative element of my project, ending up covered in more glue and paint than anything else. At one point, I ended up with my pencil stuck to the palm of my hand and almost threw it half-way across the room when I tried to get it off. I missed the lunch bell and ended up so engrossed in my work that I didn't even notice the sun setting or the supper bell.

"Come on, Flick. The supper bell just went," Katie said. She poked her head around the door and looked at me.

"In a second," I said.

"No, now. You missed lunch. Jo and I had Miss Jones on our backs earlier because of you. I get that this is important, but so is supper."

"Alright, I'm coming." I stuffed my project into a cupboard so no one would find it and wiped my hands on a damp cloth I kept by my side.