NOVEL NEXT 44: A Family Dinner
A pure-white cat stretched itself out across a bed, rolling over a couple times as it returned from the land of dreams. Having slept in until noon, Nyssa blinked her eyes awake as her brain began processing information once more.
It’s... the weekend!
To her, the weekend represented a blissful reprise from school. Sure, she had gotten a dorm room in the past couple weeks, but she still came home every weekend with her dad. After every week, most people didn’t do too much during the weekend. Ryker and Electra attended most parties with the Class One students. Albion, Titus, and Conrad often had time for ‘THE BOYS’ in which they stayed up all night, gamed, and worked out together. Celeste, on the other hand, often caught up with a couple of her Class One friends.
That means I have freedom to hang out with people!
... or to take more naps...
On that note...
The fluffy cat ended up yawning. Rolling over, she fell asleep once more within seconds. Hunger could wait, sleeping could not. After all, she’d curse herself if she missed out on the period where the afternoon sun flooded her room with warmth.
Another few hours passed and... before long, the clocks ticked near four in the afternoon.
Knock. Knock... Knock.
“Nyssa, you should get up,” Kaiser pushed open the door with a worried expression. He took careful steps into Nyssa’s room, careful as he’d seen her sleep in every possible location in the room—floor included. Seeing the white cat half-draped on the bed, half-draped over a heater, he couldn’t help but sigh. Once another few steps closer, he hoisted her up into the air. “Come on, come on, it's already four in the afternoon. It's not healthy to sleep this much. You’ve already skipped breakfast and lunch.”
Ignoring the half-asleep grumbles and protests, he kept holding her until she woke up. As consciousness returned to her eyes, he set her down. “I’ll leave so you can change, but I’ll be back in three minutes, okay? Once I’m back you have to leave your room.”
“But my sleep... isn’t it illegal for a parent to sleep deprive their child like this?” Nyssa splayed out onto the bed.
“You’ve slept for seventeen hours by now. I don’t think anyone, using any metric, would say you’re sleep deprived,” Kaiser shook his head. “Come on now, sit up, sit up. I’ll see you in three minutes, alright?”
“... Fine,” Nyssa assented, already beginning to plan which couch she planned on sleeping on in the living room. She raised a paw and waved as Kaiser left the room. Hearing the click of the door, she undid her transformation. A yawn left her mouth as she stumbled over to the cabinet and took a seat right in front of it. Underwear... changed. Shorts... pulled on. Shirt... pulle... pull... shir... shirt... s...
Unable to resist the call of dreams, she slumped against the cabinet. Her breathing evened out as her impressive ‘fall asleep within five-seconds’ technique showed itself once more. Though contorted with her legs twisted beneath her, the cushion she had sat on had just been... a little too soft.
A minute later, the sound of knocks filled her room once more. Knock, knock, knock... ... Knock. Knock. Knock. A loud sigh. The door creaked as Kaiser pushed it open once more. He facepalmed as he found Nyssa with her shirt half-on, her head still lost somewhere within it. “Not again...”
After helping her pull the shirt over her head, he helped her to her feet. “Wake up, you know, Roxanne and Angelica are coming over for dinner. Slade is too.”
“Hu... huh? Wh... wait what?” Nyssa snapped awake. “Wait what, I don’t remember hearing about this.”
“Because they decided earlier today. If you check your phone you’ll find all the details. Don’t you have your phone near you when you sleep?” Kaiser raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, I do, I just don’t wake up from it, even when there are notifications. I tried sleeping on it with vibrate mode on too, but that just made it more comfortable,” Nyssa recounted before patting her clothes. “It’s on my bed stand. I don’t have any pockets right now though.”
“I’ll get it for you, just stay here,” Kaiser sighed. “You’re not allowed to return to your room tonight until after they leave, okay?”
“What if they decide to stay the night?” Nyssa raised her hand as if she had come up with a science redefining theorem.
“They won’t, at least, Angelica and Roxanne won’t. They share an apartment these days,” Kaiser refuted within seconds. After returning with Nyssa’s phone, he handed it over. “Now, you can just hang out if you want. I’ll be working out. Come join if you’d like, up to you. I already started marinating some stuff, and another dish is in the oven already, but I’ll be cooking some more starting five, so if you want to join me, find me then.”
“Sounds... good,” Nyssa nodded. Her mind wandered as she began trying to visualize the couches in the house farthest from the living room. “Yeah... maybe I’ll consider training... don’t worry about me though, I’ll wake up a bit first.”
Raising his eyebrows, Kaiser pat Nyssa on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, don’t force yourself to come. By the way, Roxanne and Angelica are probably going to arrive within fifteen minutes too. I’m sure you had no intention of sleeping more, but make sure you welcome them properly, okay? Roxanne might be your older sister, but both of them are still guests.”
With her hopes dashed, Nyssa tried to avoid letting her ultra-mega-supreme depression show on her face. She nodded and forced a smile as Kaiser walked off. The moment after he turned the corner though, she fell to her knees.
The heavens have cursed me!!!
Hitting the ground a few times with her fist, she couldn’t help but lament why the Ravenstein household didn’t have carpeted floors.
---
“Oh, it says she’s read the groupchat,” Roxanne murmured as she got into the car. Pulling her seatbelt across her body, she thanked Angelica for driving before letting out a long sigh. “We have a winner! She’s awake! Congratulations.”
“I knew it,” Angelica grinned while starting the car up. “I bet it was Kaiser who woke her up.”
“I bet so too,” Roxanne laughed as she rolled down the window. She let the wind crash against her face as Angelica accelerated through the streets.
“You know, I don’t know if Kaiser mentioned this to you or not, but when he enrolled Nyssa in my class, he asked specifically to make sure I didn’t just let Nyssa sleep all day. He wanted to ensure she was awake enough to make some friends and... well... Keep the friends,” Angelica rolled down her own window too as they came to a stop at an intersection.
“I didn’t know, but I’m not surprised,” Roxanne nodded. “We’ve all... uhh... had our worries as a family over Nyssa’s sleeping habits. We all worried at first that she’d, you know, just... not wake up one day. We even had the doctors check it out, but they said she just... really liked it.”
“That’s very her,” Angelica accelerated the car as a smile danced across her lips. “She’s been very active with her friends these days, so I’m sure she’s been missing sleep.”
“Uh-huh, don’t defend the girl who just slept for seventeen hours straight,” Roxanne teased, “That’s my job. You won’t take my place as the number one Nyssa defender.”
“I wasn’t trying to,” Angelica rolled her eyes with an exasperated laugh.