Laura sighed as she stared out the window into the darkened streets of Hirameki. She made a point of exhaling loudly so that the condensation would begin to occur on the pane, and she began to draw shapes with her finger. Most of the shapes were random squares or circles, but sometimes she would draw a misshapen star or a heart. After a while, she got bored and simply rested one cheek against the cold glass. 

She couldn't sleep. The nerves were bubbling inside with the ferocity of a witch's cauldron, leaving her feeling both exhausted but too lively to sleep all at once. 

"I don't want to go to school," she muttered miserably to herself. She rested her forehead against the glass. 

There were a couple of gentle knocks at the door. "Laura? Are you still awake?" a gruff, male voice called.

Laura jumped, banging her head against the glass. "Errr... no!" she said. She quickly scuttled over to her bed, flicking of the bedside table and practically belly-flopping onto the bed. She turned her back on the door and tangled the bedsheets around her, resting her head down in a hope that it looked like she was settled down. Her bedroom door opened a crack, allowing light from the corridor to leak into the room. Laura shut her eyes and waited for a few moments before the door creaked shut. After that, she must have drifted off to sleep, because when she was to open her eyes again, it would be morning.