Glowing numbers on the clock reminded her of the time.
She had been staring at it all night, as if it was suddenly going to put her to sleep.
When she had initially rested her head on her pillow, she could have sworn her eyelids felt heavy enough to close and she’d just simply drift off to sleep. Except, when she finally got comfortable under the covers, suddenly that exhaustion had vanished.
With a sigh she shoves off the covers, quickly changing out of her pj’s as she stuffs notes, tools, and whatever she was working on in her bag before leaving her dorm. Yeah, she was well aware that technically she shouldn’t be going anywhere without someone else but, it would be a quick jog to the cafe and it was open 24 hours. She’d be fine.
She muttered a quick hello and her usual order to the barista working, eyes down. She didn’t want to admit it, but this was probably the third time she’s been here this week, at this time. The person behind the counter was starting to look awful familiar now and she hoped that they didn’t recognize her face yet.
As she waited, her eyes wandered around the cafe, seeing who else was here. A few sparse bodies, but not at all as busy as it would be during the day. No one really came here at this time of the night to socialize. Some probably came here to study, and she did too, but she was sure that some of the others here were just as sleepless as her.
With her drink in hand and a small snack she settled at one of the tables, spreading out her blueprints, tools and her latest project. It was a small mechanical clock, broken and tossed aside. She put in some earphones and got set to working at it, quickly stripping it down to it’s bones. It was a nice distraction at least, but it was too ... engaging. Her mind was too active now to possibly sleep, the opposite of what she wanted to achieve, but it was something to do.
The coffee probably wasn’t helping either, but if she was gonna stay up the rest of the night, might as well. She pouted as she finished the last few drops. She could have sworn that would last her at least another half hour, but in her haste to chase away any bits of exhaustion, she probably downed it too fast. Sheepishly, she went back up to the counter, empty cup in hand.
“Can I get a refill? Same thing. Oh, and a glass of water, please.”