Blue

Her eyes were starting to water as she yawned yet again. Her mouth stretched open so wide she thought her cheeks may crack. This was hour 28 that she had been awake. The grasp on the blue raspberry energy drink in her hand grew even tighter as she shook the can to get every last drop into her mouth. This was nectar of the gods to her during exam time. There was no way she’d survive the next week without it. Why do I leave things to the last minute? She would think to herself as she read through highlighted notes, textbooks and powerpoint printouts. This must have been the fourth time she’d read through the paragraph in front of her. I’ve got this down, get some sleep, she would argue against the thoughts that she knew nothing over again and again but to no avail. She would just keep on flipping the pages and reading the sentences and point forms again.

“You realize they’ve proved cramming for an exam doesn’t work right?” She looked up to try and find who was talking but besides the light from her desk lamp the room was dark. She looked around the room maybe the voice was her roommates. No, Beth was fast asleep on the other side of the room. That’s when she caught her own reflection in the mirror and saw she was speaking. “Your best off to go to sleep.”

“I know that I do but…” She trailed off, was she actually verbally arguing with herself now? She was used to having these conversations inside her head, her internal voice had always been strong but she had never heard the voice outside her mind as if her image in the mirror was talking. “Ok i’m going crazy. I get it I’m tired, too much caffeine.” She rubbed her eyes hard, so hard it hurt and she saw stars when she opened them again.

“Then you finally agree. Go to bed!” The voice practically shouted from the mirror across the room. She held her breath and looked over to Beth, who hadn’t moved.

“Ok, Ok…” She slowly stood up and turned off her lamp. She felt around in the dark until she found and collapsed into her bed. “Sleep, I need sleep.”

“Good choice.” The voice whispered from the dark. She was so freaked out now that she just laid there, her eyes wide open, staring into the dark, half expecting the voice to somehow grow form.

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