You know what? In celebration of Deltarune Chapter 5, here's a little sneak peek at A New Dawn, Chapter 3 - Friends, Family and Feelings~
Noelle had never been much of a morning person.
Well, okay, perhaps that was a bit of a lie. She’d always been rather punctual and organised, and one couldn’t really, you know, be sleeping till noon in a world that revolved around being up with the sun. Not unless you were alright with being judged as lazy and unmotivated and a slobbish slacker who would never amount to anythin-
Nope. Not going there!
… Anyway, despite all that, if left to her own devices, free from the ever oppressive force that was Carol Holiday, Noelle would have happily slept through her alarms. The mayor’s office was closed on the weekends, a blessing she was ever thankful for. Just thinking of having to work there for more than her scheduled five days a week… it made the ever present thought of diving head first from her bedroom window an awfully tempting delight.
N-Not that she’d actually do it! Gosh, no! There was no way she could put her dad through that, especially not after losing… after she had…
No, he couldn’t take that kind of loss right now. Not with how-
“NOELLE HOLIDAY!”
Ah. There it was. As reliable as a heartbeat, and just as likely to cease its ever racing thrum. What kind of Saturday would it be without her dearest mother screaming at her only remaining daughter? Over what, she had no idea… yet.
Tempting as it was to roll over and try to ignore her, Noelle knew better than to leave Carol’s screeching unanswered. Thus, despite the exhaustion that clung to her aching bones, the still groggy deer peeled back her crinkled, paisley sheets, grumbling as she forced herself up. On unsteady hooves she shuffled across the room, rubbing the sleep from her bleary eyes as she approached the dreaded divide between her gloomy little cave and the frigid, blinding expanse otherwise known as the Holiday Manor.
She’d call it home, but… who was she kidding? Berdly’s couch was more of a home than that place had been for a LONG time. And at least he didn’t make her feel like a gosh darned criminal for the horrifying crime of sleeping in five minutes past her alarm!
“If you don’t open this door right now-”
Noelle rolled her eyes, fingertips stalling just shy of her door handle. Tempting as it was to just shrug and walk away, and believe her, it was TEMPTING, she forced her hand to fall upon the well worn brass, its paint long since rubbed away under her anxious clutch. Carefully, with a grip like death, she popped the lock before taking a step back, breath purposefully steady as, with one swift motion, she shattered the barrier between them.
And with her bedroom door open, there was nothing left to shield her from Carol’s ever judgemental gaze.
