Mischievous Function

Later, in the middle of the afternoon...

"Oi. Wake up," Aqua grunted as she nudged Dot's arm several times.

Dot groaned and rolled around in her sheets for a bit. "What?" she muttered groggily.

"We gotta go get ready for the show tonight," Aqua told her as she walked back to the TV dresser and started shoving miscellaneous things in her backpack. "And they're not going to let a 12-year-old do anything backstage by herself, so get your adult-supervisional butt outta bed and let's go."

Dot let out another groan and rubbed her eyes as she yawned. "Why you gotta be so uptight, kid?" she muttered.

"Not uptight, just punctual," Aqua grunted back as she zipped up her pack and slung it over her shoulders. She turned around to face Dot again and scoffed, placing a hand on her hips. "What, you taking a sick day on the one day this week that actually matters or something? Get up."

"Look, kid, I'm just as excited for this thing as you are," Dot spat as she finally sat up on the side of her bed and fumbled along the nightstand for her glasses. "But I can't keep going if I get exhausted, all right? Let me have my freaking sleep."

"It's two in the afternoon, Dot. Not even college students on a weekend wake up that late."

"First of all, yes, they most definitely do. Second, I need sleep. You don't know what I do for a living."

"I know you're not doing it. And I know you haven't done it for the past week. So get up."

"All right, fine!" Dot let out an exasperated yell and threw her hands up. "Go wait outside or something. Give me, like, five minutes."

Aqua rolled her eyes and turned to walk toward the door. "Uh-huh," she called back. "You want me to get you popcorn from the movie theater after it's done?"

"Shut up!"

——————————

Meanwhile...somewhere else...

How long has it been?

Hours?

Days?

Weeks?

How long have you been here?

Running in the forest?

Away from your problems?

Away from your life?

Away from your family?

Is running all you can do?

How long have you run—

"It's been three weeks, dumbass."

...

"Where did you learn to count? Twenty-four hours in a day, three days in a—"

I know how to count, dickhead.

"Uh-huh. Sure."

Well, forgive me for trying to think of SOMETHING worthwhile while we're stuck here.