christmas eve

t w e l v e

I didn't know what had woken me up. There were no voices around me, no distracting light in my eyes. Everything was normal-

But there was loud Christmas music.

My brows furrowed, and I pulled my blanket over my head, pressing the fabric against my ears. I didn't know what was going on. And I didn't want to figure it out.

I groaned and turned to the side. My sheets rustled and twisted around my legs.

I pulled my legs up to my chest. I wanted to sleep. But the music just continued on. I groaned and pinched my eyes close.

This just wasn't it. Whoever had decided to pull a prank on me should've just stayed in bed instead.

I wasn't up for this.

But I couldn't distract myself from the music. It kept sounding in my ears, no matter how hard I pressed the fabric against my ear. I let out a frustrated scream.

This couldn't be happening. I just wanted to sleep.

I breathed in deeply, trying to find the patience I didn't have. My face was burrowed into my pillow. I counted to ten, and then to twenty.

My hands clenched around the fabric of my blanket.

Another five seconds passed, and then I finally opened my eyes. Everything was white. My shoulders tensed. It reminded me of the snow outside that kept me in here. I slowly lifted my arm, drawing the white blanket over me up.

I blinked against the bright light in my room. It had to be the morning.

I sighed and rolled onto my back, pushing the fabric away from my face. Sheets rustled. Another night had passed in this nightmare. Good.

I licked over my dry lips. I grimaced and pushed myself up on my left arm, reaching over to my left. There on my nightstand had always been my bottle of water. I couldn't sleep without it.

Usually, I always woke up in the middle of the night, feeling as if I hadn't drunk anything in days. But today, I hadn't. It could have something to do with all that alcohol I drank... My fingers curled around the cold plastic, and I let myself fall back. Sitting up halfway, my back against the bed rest, I opened the lid and let it fall down onto my blanket.

My brows furrowed as I listened to the music, taking a sip. It wasn't coming from my room. My gaze moved to my door, to the faint echo I could hear behind it. Was someone standing outside?

I swallowed and set the bottle back onto my nightstand. I pulled my blanket to the side and placed my feet onto the ground. Only now I realized that I was still wearing my shoes.

I looked down and then cringed, searching through my bedding for dirt. I lifted up my covers. Luckily because I had only been inside these last few days, there wasn't any recess. There wasn't anything on the white fabric.

I sighed in relief. At least I didn't have to go to the washing machines...

The college had too much of my money already.

I stood up. My eyes felt swollen.

My feet were tingling as I slowly tip-toed my way to the door. It could only be Cade, right? There was no one else in here except for him and me. At least I hoped so.

I walked past my mirror that was hanging on my closet and almost cringed. My eyes were red-rimmed and puffy. I sighed. There was nothing I could do about that now...

I concentrated on the door instead. My fingers curled around the door handle. I opened the door, expecting to see someone behind it, but the hallway was empty. I could see myself reflected in the window in front of me. My brows furrowed as I looked around.