Empathy ⌯ Stiles Stilinski

[12] the bane of existence

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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄
the bane of existence

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( the tell; pt.i )

THERE should be a unanimous agreement in the fact that mornings are the worst thing in a teenager's life— possibly in anyone's life. Maddie dubbed herself president of the Against Waking Up club, that, ironically, she formed at seven in the morning when she was twelve. Although, most days, mornings were interchangeable with her anxiety, today it was certainly mornings that are at the top of her list. While finding herself engrossed in rereading the Percy Jackson series may have seemed like a good idea last night, she's currently suffering the consequences of going to sleep at one in the morning.

Everything seems like a perfectly good idea until you realise that you actually have to wake up the next day.

She had processed her alarm going off but instantly silenced it, turning over and burying herself under her covers, trying to ignore the sunlight faintly shining through her curtains. Her mom's voice has been making its way into her ears for what might be the last ten minutes but that has gone ignored in the hopes that today is not actually a Monday and perhaps it's one of those mornings where she mistook a weekend for a school day. She's not that lucky. What's come as a surprise to her is that she hasn't come upstairs and just thrust the curtains open, possibly burning her daughter's retinas in the process.

"Maddie!" she hears her mom call again and she groans, placing her hand over her ear in hopes of blocking out the voice. "If you're not up in the next five minutes, I'm leaving you to walk to school."

The girl shrugs, too tired to process the energy it would take to actually walk, and just as she feels her mind begin to empty, the click that signals her door opening enters her ears and she whines, knowing exactly what's coming. Her bed dips quickly, making her open her eyes when she's startled but she closes them quickly, swatting her hand in the direction of her brother in the hopes of making him go away.

Connor places his hands on his hips, proceeding to place them on his sister's shoulders to try and roll her over. When he has no success, he starts shaking her. "Come on, Maddie," he pleads. "You can drown out mom's voice in the car. Please?"

"I hate you," she groggily complains, proceeding to slowly open one eye to adjust to the light, only to be showcased with her brother right by her face. She jumps up in fright, their foreheads hitting against each other and both let out pained groans as they go to rub their foreheads. "Ow, Conny," Maddie emphasises, the heel of her palm resting on her forehead. "Personal space, dude. We've talked about this."

Her brother frowns guiltily, shuffling backwards off the bed and instinctively goes to tighten his tie, ending up pulling it too tight and chokes a bit. Maddie rolls her eyes as he pouts like a lost puppy, silently begging her to fix it for him, and she throws off her covers, grabbing her glasses. She puts them on before she moves towards her brother, kneeling on her bed as she undoes his tie. Biting the inside of her cheek, Maddie moves off the bed, going behind him to redo the tie——it just makes the process easier.

She bites her tongue in concentration, looking over his shoulder as she grumbles, "Why do you insist on wearing a tie? They're stupid little sh—shtupid things."