Lyra hadn't changed out of her pajamas in [i]days[/i].

She laid on her couch in the darkness, staring at her TV, as usual. She would watch a few minutes of a soap opera before changing the channel to some cartoon, and then a news report, yet despite all the programs she stopped on, nothing could hold her interest. 

Eventually, darkened the room with a flick of the remote and curled up into a ball. There was some stupid party at the mall tonight. People would be talking and dancing and doing all the other things people did when they were pretending they liked each other. Lyra didn't need any of it. The last thing she wanted to do was spend time surrounded by strangers, some of whom probably still wanted her dead. She would be just fine in her apartment. There was another microwavable pizza in the freezer; she had learned how to cook using the device shortly after the incident. Making food wasn't even hard. What had her family been paying all those servants for?

Lyra reached toward the coffee table and picked up the plastic cup containing her grape soda. Gone... the teapot and the cup that went with it had been shattered. Nothing was left of her old life now - not that it had been very good, anyway. She had been locked away, alone - just as she was now. It was better that way - people were just too cruel. 

As she took a sip of her soda while positioned sideways, a drop of the liquid splashed onto the surface of her white couch. Whatever; it didn't matter how that looked anyway. No one else was going to see it. 

With a sigh, Lyra pushed herself to her feet. It was looking to be another boring night...