Blue turned to orange as the sun peeked over the horizon. The shadows in June's room melted away from the sun's warmth, filling it with a warm glow. With the gentle light, sounds of early suburban life, and the smell of pancakes cooking in the kitchen, the scene was quintessentially peaceful.
"..ne...akefas...s ready..."
Mmph... Not now, it's too early.
June was snuggled deep in her bed, in that morning state of mind where your consciousness is just starting to come back. You notice, but you want it to go away again so you can get back to sleep. Who needs fresh breakfast and sunlight when you have pillows.
June's room was well and warmly lit at this time. Her window faced east, making it easier to wake up in the mornings. June normally woke up just fine, even on weekends. That, plus the smell of her mother's cooking now wafting up to her room would have made getting out of bed easy. The sheets just felt especially soft today for some reason...
*knock* *knock* "June? Did you hear? I made breakfast."
The door creaking told June that her mother had entered her room.
"Come on honey, why are you so sleepy? You went to bed early last night, didn't you?"
Sigh... No point delaying the inevitable, she guessed. She rolled onto her back and sat up in bed to greet her mom.
"Yeah... I'll be down in just a little bit... *yeaaaaaaaawn*" June stretched her arms, greeting the dawn.
"Um... June honey, you're not...?"
"Huh?" Her mom seemed to be indicating something, briefly glancing at June's chest and gesturing towards her. Naturally, June looked around the room first, wondering what could be the matter. When she looked straight down, she saw that nothing was covering her naked chest, the bed sheets stopping at her waist.
"Ah!" June pulled her covers up out of reflex to cover her chest, now awake and flustered.
"I'm sorry mom, it's just that I-"
"No honey, it's okay, it's not a problem. You're a grown girl, and you deserve your privacy." Her mom was smiling with an empathetic look, saving June from the need to explain.
"I'll just knock next time, okay?"
June nodded, her brain a confused whirl. Where the heck had her shirt gone?! Or her jammies?!
"I have pancakes ready downstairs. Do you think you could be down in maybe, ten minutes?"
"Uh... yeah, that's fine" June managed to get out.
"Great. I'll see you then." Her mother gave her a quick smile, and closed the door behind her, leaving June still holding her sheets up. She guessed she hadn't needed to freak out, plenty of people slept in the nude. Except for her.
She racked her brain, trying to remember how she had finished her tired night. Let's see... she had trudged upstairs to her room, then she set her school stuff on the floor next to her desk, and then... she just flopped on top of her bed. While fully clothed.
She sat in bed, wondering where in there had she stripped and gotten IN bed, when her mind led her to the rest of what happened last night.
She immediately got up to dress for breakfast, as much to hide from the thought as to eat.
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Sizzzzzzzzzz... went the flipped pancake. This one also had an even tan shade. Isabel smiled in satisfaction; she was on a roll. She looked left and right, measuring the amount of batter left against the pancake stack they already had. They would probably have eight by the end of it; that's plenty.
The thud of footsteps told her that June was coming downstairs. The table was all set, she just had to bring the pancake plate over.
June rounded the corner, wearing pajama bottoms and a big sweater. Whether it was summer or winter, she always overdressed.
"Good morning, honey."
"Good morning..." June only made eye contact briefly. As she got her plate from the table, Isabel noticed that she didn't seem very focused, staring into space as she moved. Maybe there was something on her mind? Isabel decided to wait until they were eating to ask. She finished up with the pancake batter and June brought her serving back to the table. Isabel did the same.
As she sat down, she noticed that June had only gotten two pancakes. Hopefully she was eating enough; she was too young to worry about her weight. Anyways...
"I'm proud of you for working so hard this week. You told me about how much work you got." Apparently, her teachers had independently decided to have two essays and presentations due this week across her classes, without much time the previous week to prepare. They really should coordinate more.
"Thanks..." June was staring down at her pancakes, absently pushing a piece through the syrup.
"Will you be able to rest today? Take it off?"
"I think so... There isn't anything due Monday, and Tuesday is just some Math homework."
"I'm glad. Is there anything fun coming up in classes?"
"No, not really... I guess we're getting to watch a movie next week in History as a reward for the presentations..." She was still pushing the same pancake piece around. She was hardly eating anything.