No Rules To Love

Chapter Two:

The next morning, the obnoxious high-pitched tones of my alarm clock woke me up. Rude. Blinded by sleep, I let my arm crawl out from under the covers, refusing to open my eyes. I scanned the area with my hand, trying to find the alarm clock, so I could terminate the God-awful sound. When I found the offending item, I slapped it with all my might to shut the blasted thing up.

I opened my eyes to the bright morning light, winced, and clamped my eyes shut. The intensity of the light spilling through the curtains was too much this early in the morning. I groaned. I hated getting up in the morning, but I had to do it. On a usual night, I dreamed about making my debut on the West End stage and it was such a delightful dream that I never wanted it to end. I pushed the covers down, letting the chilly air hit my body and I fell out of bed, letting gravity do most of the work. Slow from the remnants of sleep, I walked to the bathroom, yawning and stretching as I did so.

I took a quick shower, shoving my hair up before I did so. I had only recently washed my hair, and it took too long to blow-dry it. When I got out, I brushed my teeth. As I was brushing my teeth, I walked out of the bathroom and out of my room; I then faced the door that was next to my own. It was Ashley's room. I raised my fist and rapped three hard, rapid knocks on the door.

"Come on, Ash," I said around my toothbrush. "You're gonna be late!"

If I was terrible at getting up in the morning, Ashley was ten times worse. I liked to think I went to bed at a reasonable time to make sure I had enough rest for the next day. I used to think that Ashley was the same. However, about a year ago, on an excruciatingly warm summer night, I wanted a refreshing glass of water. This was a rare move for me, as I never interrupted my sleep for anything. As I was passing Ashley's room, I heard giggling coming from the other side of the door. I wondered what it could be; perhaps I had only just discovered her sleep-talking habits. So, I confronted her about it the next morning. It turns out she was talking to Michael... At 2:00. In the morning. No wonder she was always so tired in the morning.

Unfortunately, it then fell into my hands to get her up in the morning. I mean, I didn't have to do it, but she was my best friend and I didn't want her to be late for class. But it was an arduous task and one I was tiring of.

I heard mumbling from the other side of the door, and I took that as an 'okay, Talia. Whatever you say, Talia'. At least she had heard me. So, I shrugged, rolled my eyes, and went back to the bathroom to spit and put my toothbrush back in its holder. I had done the best I could do.

I then went and opened my wardrobe so that I could change. When I opened the doors and pushed them back, a sea of black, with odd bits of colour dotted through, met my eyes. As you could tell, when I wasn't in classes, I was in some form of rehearsal. Other than work, I did little else. I clearly had a very exciting life. The dress code for rehearsals and classes was 'blacks', which meant black clothing.

I had an internal debate about clothing. As we were having this guest speaker, what would be appropriate to wear? I thought back to all the other guest speakers we had visiting us over the past three years. But they all had vastly unique styles and diverse ways of dealing with us. Some of them stood there and talked to us for a good hour, almost like a lecture. Others liked everyone to get up and get involved; they sometimes conducted this in a dance class or acting workshop. While some picked random people from the audience as a sort of masterclass. So, it was always better to come prepared for any outcome.

I rolled my eyes and scoffed at myself. Why was I overthinking my clothing choice? I never put much thought into what I was going to wear. I always went with comfort over style, so I didn't know why I was worrying over something as trivial as clothing. After I pulled a pair of black leggings and a black tank top from the closet, I threw them on my bed. Then I got a pair of red converse from the bottom of the closet and placed them near my bed. I figured I would add a splash of colour to my outfit.