Eyes on her

Chapter 3

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

~Flashback~

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[...] Black Bulls base, Noelle's room.

The human body is highly adaptive to sleeping cycles as long as it's consistent. It remembers its schedule, and as long as it is not under any inhibiting substances it is able to ignore all types of weariness in order to maintain said schedule.

The silver-haired owner of the room laid in her bed with her eyes closed but conscious.

'What time is it...' - she wondered, but she didn't attempt to find out.

She didn't want to move. Her body was too enamored by the loving hug that her bed and sheets provided.

She remained there for a moment longer. The thought of her needing to get up and face her duties crept in. She pushed it away and remained motionless for another moment until the invading thought resurfaced. She pushed it away once again.

It continued, her sense of responsibility coming on stronger each time until she could no longer ignore it.

She turned around and looked at her clock, not even able to fully open her eyes.

'5:42' - she adjusted her pillow. 'I got an hour...' - she closed her eyes and attempted to savor every second she had.

Falling asleep was difficult now, the unprocessed event of the night before and what was informed to her lingered in her subconscious. Even though she couldn't sleep, her tired body was melting from the feeling of the soft cushion beneath her. She was stuck in the tug of war that was pleasure against responsibility.

'I need to tell the captain so I can report to Nozel' - she tried to get up, she imagined applying the necessary effort for her limbs to move, but that only made her body feel heavier. She didn't move at all.

'A few hours won't matter, right...? Yeah... if I was needed today he would have told me' - her mind was desperately trying to find a convincing reason to allow what her body was asking for.

'But what if I am... I would look bad by not showing... he said as soon as possible'

She imagined scenarios in which she was embarrassed by her brother because of her late response, or worse, that he faced embarrassment because of her absence.

She remained in her bed, her body gradually edging closer to a state of slumber.

'Why is it that it feels much better to stay in bed when you know you have things to do, and not when you're free' - her mind wandered away from reality each second.

'I have an hour... someone will wake me up anyway...' - she settled on ignoring it for now.

Minutes passed, she was in a restful state while random thoughts entered her mind which she unconsciously ignored.

~You will be representing our family~ - her brother's words appeared without warning and her entire self forgot she was tired.

'I said yes without knowing anything. What if I fail...' - thoughts of her disappointing her family assailed her. The image of her standing in front of her siblings as they belittle her, this time for good reason terrified her.

'Am I ready for this?' - she thought about her imagined team as they ignore and mock her.

'No, I'm royalty, they would probably be glad I'm there' - she remembered Nozel telling her that her reputation and felt much better.