[color=6ecff6][u]Emily Dawson[/u][/color]

7:00 AM

	[i]"I let the beast in too soon
I don't know how to live without my hand on his throat
I fight him always and still
O darling, it's so sweet
You think you know how crazy
How crazy I am"[/i]

	The radio alarm blared to life.

	Emily's bunk bed was an absolute mess. Her pajama'd form had practically flipped the matress over as she tossed and turned in her actually quite restful sleep. Somehow her pillow had ended up on the ground and she had flipped poles, but, whatever. Her eyes cracked open. [color=6ecff6]"Oh, wow, that was an interesting dream."[/color] She remarked immediately to herself.

	[color=6ecff6]"Oh, oops, I forgot it. Oh well. Isn't that weird how that works? I wonder why people can't remember their own dreams? Or only sometimes? Maybe I should look that up. I would love to be a vivid dreamer- that'd be so cool. I could do whatever I wanted and..."[/color] and so it began. 

	"Ooohhhh my God...seriously? Immediately?" Kayla bemoaned, her voice muffled by her pillow. 

	[color=6ecff6]"Huh? What? Me?"[/color] Emily peaked her head over her top bunk and stared down at her dormmate. [color=6ecff6]"Are you talking to me?"[/color]

	"...No, obviously I'm talking to-"

	[color=6ecff6]"Hold on this is the good part [i]Fast as you can baby run free yourself of me fast as yoooou can. Fast as you can baby scratch me and free yourself fast as yooou can WOOH,[/i] sing it, girl! Okay what?" [/color] 

	"You, dumbass! I'm talking to you! I just can't believe that you seriously start talking right as you wake up. That's...that's crazy." Kayla finally turned from her pillow, looking up at Emily. "Uh, no offense. That's not-"

	Emily laughed. [color=6ecff6]"Don't worry, it's fine. This time I just had a particularly interesting dream that I forgot."[/color] She rolled out of bed and landed shakily on her feet, almost falling over. Quickly she through on a baggy blue hoodie, skinny jeans and sneakers. [color=6ecff6]"I like blue."[/color] She commented to herself.

	[color=6ecff6]"Come on, Kay, get outta bed! You're gonna be late for science class. Science class is super important. Breakfast is also super important- the most important meal of the day! Or so they say. Haha, that rhymed. But actually all three meals are equally important. American portion sizes are actually pretty screwed up compared to the rest of the world which is why most of us are so overweight hey have you seen my medicine anywhere?"[/color] Emily rambled as she got dressed and brushed her hair. 

	"Uh..." Kay said, not even close to out of bed yet. "I think it's in your purse." She indicated the cheap but effective bag sitting discarded under a pile of clothes.

	[color=6ecff6]"So it is! I remember now. Thanks a million billion kajillion, Kay."[/color] Emily rushed over and began digging through the pile she had inside.

	"At this point you've singlehandedly inflated the gratitude market beyond repair." She replied. 

	Emily paused, turning over her shoulder. [color=6ecff6]"You think so?"[/color]

	"Yeah. You thank me so much. You should really consider just saying 'thank you' once instead of one million billion trillion times or whatever. Otherwise you're gonna have to keep upping it so much, your gratitude will never mean anything to anyone ever again."

	[color=6ecff6]"...Really?"[/color] Emily asked, her eyes widening.

	Kayla just let her head fall back onto her pillow. "...No, Emily. Not really."

	[color=6ecff6]"Oh, cool! Thanks a zillion."[/color] Emily said. She gathered two bottles of pills in a zip lock back and shook them around a bit. Anti-pyschotics and anti-tremor medicine. A perfect way to start the day. [color=6ecff6]"I definitely don't want to forget to take these today. Because gueeessss what that's right,"[/color] Emily shot straight up. 

	[color=6ecff6]"I'm going to my government-mandated therapist meeting again today!"[/color] She squeed in excitement. [color=6ecff6]"Oh, the joys of being marked a potential danger to yourself or others! It's basically free!"[/color]

	"...Right." Kay frowned. "You know, sometimes you're really creepy?"

	[color=6ecff6]"Am I? Sorry."[/color] Emily looked in the mirror, straightening out her wavy hair as best she could, wincing as she got caught on a particularly tight clump. [color=6ecff6]"Oops. Haven't showered in a couple days. Gotta take care of that. Especially for the meeting."[/color]

	[color=6ecff6]"...Oh, but I already put all my clothes on."[/color] Emily whined.

	"No, just do it. Just go down there and do it. It's not your therapist's fault your morning routine is all out of order."

	[color=6ecff6]"You're right, Kay. I don't know what I'd do without you. Probably have a different dormmate, actually."[/color] Emily reasoned. [color=6ecff6]"Okay. I'm gonna go down, take a shower, and come back with poptarts. How does that sound? I think it sounds pretty good. Did you want cinammon poptarts? How about this, if you're not out of bed by the time I get back, I'm eating your poptarts infront of you. Sound good? Okay, here I go bye bye Kay see you in a little bye..."[/color] The door was open and closed behind her. Kay fell flat onto her back with a huff.

	Not even ten seconds later the door opened. Kayla startled, gathering up her blanket to protect herself. [color=6ecff6]"Forgot to take my pills, haha, oops."[/color] Emily re-entered the room and grabbed a water bottle from her purse. She removed the bottle from the plastic bag. Unscrewed the cap, took out two little red pills and placed them in her mouth. She chugged them down with a swig of water.

	[color=6ecff6]"Yummy. I wonder if this water really is from a mountain aquifer."[/color] That was the anti-tremors down. Now for the anti-pyschotics. Put the red ones back, take the blue ones out. Uncrew the cap and [color=6ecff6]"Shake 'em all about."[/color] She put her hand on the top of the cap and rattled the bottle with a giggle. 

	She took them, and blinked.[color=6ecff6] "Phoo. Y'know, I take these every day before the effects of the previous ones wear off. Makes sense, right? Obviously. But sometimes I feel like if I don't take them really fast, something really terrible will happen." [/color]She made eye contact with Kayla.

	[color=6ecff6]"But that feeling didn't go away just now. Something really bad is gonna happen today. Can you feel it, Kayla? Somewhere, a flower knows it's about to wilt, and it's having it's last chat with a little bumblebee."[/color] Emily rolled her shoulders, placed everything back in her purse. 

	The song had long since come to an end, and only commercials from the radio filled the silence. Or at least as close to silence as one could get- Emily's mouth silently outlined whatever it was she was talking to herself about now. 

	"Uh...huh..." Kayla said, slowly receding beneath her blanket.

	[color=6ecff6]"Speaking of flowers, the rose is the state flower of New York. That's like, the number one flower. It's also the official flower of the United States. Not sure if it fits, though. I agree with Everett Dirksen- I think the native marigold makes a much better national flower. Maybe they'll change it someday?"[/color] Emily said as she left the room and closed the door behind her.

	[hr]

That evening.

	A baggy hoodie, all puffy and adorable and blue, was the first thing one would notice about Emily as she practically skipped down the street. A white scarf covered her mouth and nose, and a blue hat kept her frazzled hair a little close to her head, smooshing it down so it better framed her face. Besides that she was wearing a pair of jeans, boots, and gloves. A heavy purse was slung over her left shoulder.

	[color=6ecff6]"...tea made from hibiscus flowers has a lotta names around the world and is served both hot and cold. I like it, hot, though. People like it 'cause red colour, tart flavour, and vitamin C content. Vitamin C. I wonder how hard it is to not get all your vitamins just from eating normal food? That's called scurvy, right? Pirates are awesome."[/color] Emily mumbled quietly to herself. She saw the group gathering and waved over to everyone, briefly picking up into a jog.

	[color=6ecff6]"Hello Miss Hopkins!"[/color] She waved. [color=6ecff6]"Hey Mister Bernard. Hey Keandre, hi Russel, hi Alex, hey Valerian. Hi. Hi hi hi."[/color] She turned and waved to everyone nearby in turn. 

	[color=6ecff6]"Guess who brought cookies? It's me! Store bought, I dunno how to bake."[/color] She reached into her purse and tugged on a plastic container full of sugar cookies. [color=6ecff6]"They were cheap and definitely an impulse buy and they're really bad for you. There's enough for everyone!"[/color] She let the plastic container fall back into her purse, where it clanked against something else. [color=6ecff6]"Kinda hard to eat 'em out here, though. So we'll wait until we get inside. So, are we locked out, or what?"[/color] Emily turned and looked up at the building.