An Other's Start to the Day

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…

I felt a warm presence radiating at my face. The unusual feeling forced my consciousness back on. Once my senses kicked in, the reality of my arms feeling like TV static began tickling my nerves with discomfort, causing my head to shoot up. This sudden burst of movement allowed me to assess my surroundings.
I have fallen asleep at my work desk. Not one inch of desk could be seen through the sea of paper laid out across the desk.
    “That’s right… studying…”
I don’t remember when I passed out. This brings into question whether I’ll remember anything that I studied.

As I asked myself this question, a letter I opened last night came into view. It’s the one Amelia Finchley gave me yesterday. As a quick test of my mental awareness, I tried to recall what the letter contained.
It was a plan detailing how the tutors want to implement a new program into the university, one that’ll allow students to broaden their views and scopes. It’ll bring around a trial month for new subjects, then these subjects would be available for continued study until the semester ends, and at the end they could be credited.
I believe that’s the basic outline of it.
    “What do I think of this?”
This is a weird question to ask. There was no detail of the subjects being trialed. Is that what she wanted input on? A few things I’d want to learn about come to mind. I’ll tell her about them next time I'm with her.

I tried to stretch out the stiffness in my body from sleeping at the desk. The blanket around me suggested James could have moved me to my bed, but chose not to.
    “Just what time is it?”
I looked over to the wall on my left, which had a large wooden analogue clock that did not match this room’s bright colours. On that clock presented the time of 09:05.
…

I felt my soul drop to hell.
    “WHAAAAAAAAAT?!”
Oh God. It’s nine. Nine. NINE!
    “You shouted?”
James burst though the door in response to my sudden outburst.
    “Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?!”
    “With all of that studying you did, I reasoned that you needed more sleep. As such, I left you be.”
    “Father will be here soon! I need to rush my preparations now now now!”
This is an emergency. My work room is in disarray. My bedroom is messy. I am freshly woken, not having made myself presentable. Compared to my now frantic movement around the room, James rather calmly begins to talk once more.
    “I’ve already taken care of all the cleaning. All you need to do is become presentable.”
    “You say that like it’s a quick and easy task! Also what did I tell you about cleaning my bedroom?!”
    “A thank you would be nice.”
    “Hell no!”
James can sometimes stick his nose where it doesn't belong, like my bedroom, but besides those few occasions he does help me out a lot. Probably too much. The thought of becoming more independent from him has occurred to me several times. If my plans were to go forward then it’ll mean I’ll have to start being independent now.
Obviously, since I am in this mess, I haven’t started yet. A shower should come first, then everything else. Father will be here in under an hour, so I don’t have much time. He’s always on time.

    “James! Please clean up this room too!”
    “Unnecessary. Your Father would be proud to see his daughter studying.”
    “You’re right!”
Those words left me as I shot out the door. I’m so out of it. I hope that shower gets me back into the zone. I NEED to be at max performance for Father’s visit.

The shower came and went, along with all the other preparations. I was neat and ready by 09:50, just in the off-chance that he came early. It never happened before, but I need to be prepared for everything when it comes to Father.
The sudden ringing of the house bell signaled Father’s arrival. He was early today. Thank God I was prepared for this specific scenario.
James offered to open the door, but I insisted on doing the honors. I had to see him first. If Father saw me hiding behind James… things would not start on a pretty note.
I opened the door for the tall and wide suited man standing in front of it. He looked down with a presently surprised expression, then tried to smile gently.

    “Hello again, Alice.”
    “Hello again, dear Father.”

I tried to put on my own smile. Despite me practicing it over and over, I get the feeling that it came out as stiff as Father’s. It certainly didn't bother him though as he paid no comment to it. A passable performance. I internally fist-pump.

Since I was his acquired daughter, he had to make a show of his new possession by not only giving me my own assistant, but also by making me live inside a fenced off neighborhood house. Mind you, a house that could easily house at least a family of five. Only me and James resided in this place.

We moved over to the main living room, as we usually do when talks happen between us. James went into the nearby kitchen to prepare us some tea.
Father sat across from me with a coffee table serving as our dividing line. We sat in silence as I waited for Father to begin. He is the one that wanted to see me, so it’s natural that he should start first.
    “I’ve been informed of how your introduction ceremony went. I’d like to hear how it happened from your perspective.”
    “The event played out as expected, aside from one element.”
    “I’m glad to hear that you also found it odd. That person, John Smyth.”
That’s right. The nobody. The outsider. The preeminent.
A look of confusion took over Father’s composed demeanor. Understandably so. No one else could have expected such an outcome.
    “Father, did you not hear about his rise from the previous year?”
    “Not at all. It must have been a matter not worth mentioning, even if he has such a great record. This makes his existence even weirder, since not even the tutors mentioned such an achieving young man to me. They must have knew about his work ethic.”

If the leader of the university is a mystery to him, then what about the noble in second place?
    “Father, do you know about the person in second place to John Smyth?”
    “Who?”
    “The person with the second best grades on campus. He was up with John during our event.”
    “....”
    Father sits in silence. There was a light terror that appeared on his face the more time he took to think.

    “I… do not know who you are talking about. No one told me about the second achiever. Is he the same?”
    “No. His name is George Brillion.”
    “Brillion… why hasn’t this been mentioned to me?”
So not only is John not the talk of the town, but the one in second place isn’t either. This is even weirder considering that George Brillion is a part of this group. His family is a group of nobles. You could see it in Father’s eyes that he knew who that man was, despite him not knowing about his accomplishments. Just what is up with this year? Nothing is going as expected. Father’s plans must be ruined a small bit with this unknown factor suddenly appearing.
    “I’ll need to look into these unknown factors. For now, continue as planned.”
    “Understood, Father. Do you want to hear about my progress?”
     “Sure. How far have you progressed within one short introduction day?”
    “I’ve started a plan on dethroning John Smyth as the top university student.”
    “...”
Silence radiated from the man once more. Not an inch of muscle moved. Only his eyes moved to refocus on me.
    “As your Father, I cannot in good conscience recommend such a plan. This is not what I meant by establishing lots of connections within the university.”
His eyes stared into my soul as he spoke his commandment. However terrifying that stare is, I refused to look away.

…

He leaned back into his seat and exhaled loudly.
    “Fine. I trust you, Alice.”
    “Thank you, Father.”
    “I expect good results."
    “Of course, Father.”
    “Good good. I’ve raised you well, my beloved daughter.”
    “Thank you for your visit, Father.”
    “You’re right. I need to take my leave. Thank you for the tea, James. Outstanding as always.”
James simply nodded as he stood by my side.

Without any other words spoken, he left. No goodbye, no hug, no good luck. He’s always been like that. It doesn’t help that mother never comes along with him, so I can’t even get any of those from her. I haven't gotten any from her for years now, which makes me wonder if she’s even around anymore. The lack of contact from her has been slightly concerning lately. It shall be brought up next time Father invades this house.

Now then.
    “With that out of the way!”
The sudden burst of vertical acceleration from me causes James to recoil slightly.
    “We have a deadline to hit James! Let’s go finish that chapter!”
Since Father isn’t around anymore, I can act as my loud and boastful self.
    “Let us depart from this room, my lady.”
    “To the room of conquest!”
The two of us ran to the work room. There is a chapter that needs to be drawn today, as demanded by my publisher. I promised them that it will come out today, and I do not break my promises.

The semester is about to start, so this comic needs to be pushed out.