Wildlings

13: Propinquity

Judit turned over, pulling the duvet more tightly around her face.

Knock.

There it was again. She scrunched her eyes closed and ignored it.

Knock knock.

"Judit. Judit."

Ugh. Who was that? Judit's heart sank as her sleepy consciousness unfurled and brought with it memories of the previous day. It was all actually skitting real.

"Judit! It's me, Rama. Time to get up, Judit."

Judit pulled the covers completely over her head. She heard a click as the door opened.

"Judit. You've slept in. Class has started. You must have slept through the alarm."

Judit continued to ignore him, curling herself up in her duvet-burrow. She hadn't slept through the alarm. She'd ignored the alarm. She had no intention of following the rules here. Why should she? They said they wouldn't send her home, and there was no threat of methy.

"Judit? I'm coming in."

She felt a slight pressure on her shoulder through the duvet. Rama's voice was closer now, and softer too.

"Sorry leman, it's time to get up. I've brought you a tea."

Judit peeled the duvet back, just enough to show one eye, and scowled at him, even though he couldn't see her lips.

"Hooray! Good morning."

He smiled, and lifted the cup of tea into her one-eye line.

She sat up, sighing huffily for his benefit.

"Okay, okay. I'm awake. You can leave me alone now."

"Great! I'll leave you to get ready. The rest of the students are in classroom 1B. If you go to the social room I showed you last night, you'll see it. You can pick up some breakfast there and just take it with you."

He placed the tea carefully on her desk and went out, shutting the door behind him. Judit sat up in the bed. She wasn't going to rush anywhere.

After a leisurely shower, in which she endeavoured not to get her blue hair wet, Judit dressed in a pair of jogging bottoms and a black top, pulling the plimsoles straight onto her damp feet. She sat at her desk for 30 seconds just to demonstrate to herself that she wasn't rushing, then left her room and headed for the social area.

It was sunny and bright in there. Remnants of others' breakfasts were scattered over the low tables, and a buffet was set up along the long white table.

Judit had previously decided she wasn't going to eat anything, but she had to admit that the food looked good—way better than at school—and that she was starving. She took a chunky slice of bread and spread it thickly with butter and fruit jam, then stood, eating and staring out of the window.

She could see the orange-head freak-brigade in a classroom across the way, beyond the grass square with its stone pile. They were sitting at rows of desks, facing a large screen mounted on the wall. The screen had pictures of grass or something on it, and an old crone with frizzy hair was gesticulating in front of it.

Judit finished her bread and poured herself a tea, purposefully not rushing to join them. After her second cup, she was starting to get bored alone in the quiet social room, and moved toward the classroom. She went all the way around the corridors, rather than through the quad. There was no way she was going to walk across the grass while they all gaped at her through the window.

She took a deep breath, her hand on the door handle, before she went in. Despite the fact that she definitely did not care at all what any of these nyaffs thought of her, her heart was still hammering.