NOVEL NEXT 38: The Hypothetical Sleep Institute
If a ‘Sleep Institute’ existed, Nyssa might’ve considered it over attending the Luminary Institute. Sure, the Luminary Institute had prestige, resources, yada yada yada, but among Nyssa’s priorities in life, sleep ranked far higher than anything the Luminary Institute could prepare her for...
Cold places, warm places, cozy places, open spaces, she didn’t mind any of it! She could sleep in them all! That being said, she was experiencing a little bit of post-nap nervousness. Her paws shook a little as she rolled around on the hourglass’s top.
How was she supposed to leave?
Earlier, she beat everyone back, allowing her to just transform and nap on the hourglass’s top. Now, she couldn’t just transform into a bird and fly away. After all, anyone seeing a cat become a bird would think of the girl who had just transformed into a zoo’s worth of animals earlier in the afternoon...
A minute of thinking later, she decided to just transform her legs to take the fall. She jumped off and scurried off into the bushes before any of the observers could run over and check on her. Transforming into a tiny sparrow, she zipped off as random Class One students ran over.
“Did you just see the cat jump off?”
“Is it okay?”
“I don’t think a cat can fall that far without breaking its bones!”
“... Wait, where is it?”
“Oh, we were too late, the Institute’s white cat is known for disappearing...”
Unbeknownst to Nyssa, who had flown off by this point, the conversation took a strange turn.
“I thought the cat had become nicer recently...”
“Ah, you saw the cuddling post?”
“Of course I did! Who hasn’t? I wanted to recreate it!”
“I think we all do.”
The forum, itself, dedicated to tracking the Institute’s white cat allowed anonymity. As an open secret, the faculty knew and contributed to it, which kept it in line; thus, it had survived until the present day.
There had been a faint uproar though, in recent days. One anonymous user had posted themselves cuddling with the cat! No one else had achieved such a feat! The cat had a reputation of running away at the mere sight of humans. Everyone wondered how someone had befriended it. Who was the rumored cat whisperer?
As for the rumored cat whisperer, she had her legs kicked up on a desk in the Class Zero classroom. Scrolling on her phone to pass the time, she listened in on Albion, Titus, and Conrad’s conversation while they played cards.
“Where’s Nyssa? Any news of her?” Albion looked over as Titus shuffled the cards. “She just disappeared after Slade allowed people to leave.”
“I mean, why would she have stayed?” Conrad ventured, resting a foot on the chair next to him.
“To spend time with friends, maybe?” Titus shrugged, dealing the cards to himself, Albion, and Conrad.
“She’s been napping on the hourglass statue near the main Class One dorm. You know the one that’s being held up by the titan?” Celeste answered, nonchalant as she kept scrolling on her phone.
“Ah, yeah, we aren’t beating napping,” Titus laughed as everyone else murmured in agreement. “Especially while we’re waiting in an autograph line to meet her older brother.”
“How did you know where Nyssa is, though?” Albion organized his hand of cards, tossing one after a second or two.
“The cat forum,” Celeste turned her head to watch the three boys play. “The institute’s mysterious cat is Nyssa after all.”
“Oh that thing?” Conrad raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know you were on the forum. How popular is it even? Sounds kinda... I don't know, weird?”
“It’s not?” Celeste furrowed her eyebrows. “I mean, you might not use it, but I think Titus does, I’m not sure about Albion though.”
“No, I don’t use it,” Albion shrugged, “Cats were never my thing. I don’t think it’s weird that you do use it though.”
“Yeah, cats are cute, I don’t know what you’re saying, Conrad,” Titus shook his head. “Also, I just eliminated you. Perhaps that’s just the heavens agreeing with me instead of you.”
“... I guess,” Conrad put his cards down with a shrug. “I apologize if that came out wrong.”
Forgiven by the other three with him, the four students continued hanging out and passing the time in Class Zero’s classroom. They didn’t have too much to do. Not until the sunset at least where they had planned to get dinner together.
Nyssa, too, had agreed to the dinner, but she was nowhere to be found. At least, not until the growling of stomachs began puncturing the conversation every few minutes.
“Sorry my nap ran a little long!” Nyssa apologized as she burst through the door.
“No you're just in time, we’re cleaning up to leave right now, anyway,” Celeste reassured, reaching over and grabbing her bag from under a desk. “We also haven’t decided where to get dinner yet either, do you have any recommendations? You’ve been at the academy for the longest after all.”
“... I don’t really know anything about the place though, other than the good napping spots,” Nyssa confessed. “I don’t even live on campus like you all.”
“That’s... true,” Celeste tapped her chin before turning to the others. “Do you all have any preferences?”
“I heard the new pasta place that opened up on the west side of campus is really good. They also have a lot of tables so there’s not a long wait,” Albion proposed with a yawn. “It’s also right next to the best ice cream place on campus.”
“And the real intentions come out,” Titus laughed. “I’m down with that though. Anyone else have any thoughts?”
After a plethora of “no”s and “I’m fine with that”s, the five of them picked up their stuff and left for the restaurant. Out of the classroom. Down the stairs. After a short pause in the lobby for people to use the restroom, they walked through the sliding double doors and out onto campus.
With a gentle breeze dancing around them, they basked in the sunset’s golden beams. Albion walked along with his bag slung over his shoulder and hands in his pockets, each breath he exhaled creating a faint cloud of mist as the temperature succumbed to the evening chill.
They dodged low-hanging tree branches as they took a few shortcuts through the institute’s campus. Stone-laden paths created by their upperclassmen from generations past marked each of these routes, and small notes decorated their sides from couples, friend groups, and classes who wanted to leave a mark.
“So, Nyssa, in the past you mentioned moving into the dorms,” Titus broke the silence as they all squinted their eyes while walking towards the sun. “Any new thoughts on that?”
