Bzzt.
Bzzt, bzzt.
Bzzt, bzzt, bzzt.
Her phone buzzed for what seemed like the fiftieth time that hour, vibrating against the hard grain of her antique Victorian-styled vanity. The incessant droning echoed even in her dreams, getting louder and louder until she could no longer ignore it. Finally, she woke. Heavy eyelids fluttered open, fighting against the tug of sleep that weighed it down, as she helplessly reached out for the phone across the room. She willed it to come, but it mocked her instead, buzzing one… two… three more times. When her sleep addled-mind finally accepted that she didn't have The Force, she dropped her arm in surrender and huffily turned to her clock.
4:32 AM.
For a dizzying moment, Wren thought she was back in her on-set trailer, due for an early morning call time. Her eyes shot open then, and any trace of sleepiness she had remaining turned into panic. She scrambled out of bed, nearly tripping on her bedroom slippers in her haste, and ran to her phone, fully expecting to see a long list of missed calls and a couple of angry voice mails from her manager. What she saw instead was a barrage of twitter notifications, and she laughed, half in relief, half in incredulousness at her folly. Right. She had it on last night for her Q&A session, but she must have forgotten to turn it back off after she got distracted with last minute school preparations.
Wren crawled back in bed to try and get another hour of sleep, but after a minute of restless tossing and turning, she knew it would be no use. Might as well make use of the extra time then, she thought, suddenly invigorated at the prospect of being productive. Humming happily to herself, she grabbed her worn copy of Graceling and reread a couple of passages to check whether she'd gotten the right emotions across. They wrapped up filming for the movie adaptation two weeks ago, but the perfectionist in her still couldn't be quelled. She racked up a lot of 'should've done this and that' within the first few post-production days alone, and she was sure the list would only keep growing until the film's finally released.
Around forty minutes of excessive worrying later, Wren finally got ready for her morning run. She changed into her shorts and top, slipped on her pink running shoes, and quietly trekked across the living room so she wouldn't wake her number one roommate. Jules + mornings – coffee was always funny, but she didn't want to have her bestie walking around like a zombie on the first day back. She laughed out loud as she remembered a particularly zombified Jules blurting funny but inappropriate things, then immediately clasped her hands against her mouth—whoops!
To avoid getting caught up in the large expanse that is the Caelbury school grounds, and becoming tardy for the morning assembly in the process, Wren opted for running laps around the dormitory instead of circling the whole campus. It wasn't ideal, but it would have to do for now. After a couple of stretching exercises, she put on her headphones and started her first circuit, reveling in the feeling of the cool morning air against her skin. Morning runs were always so relaxing, especially when she gets to watch the sunrise. Wren ran laps until light broke over the horizon, turning the gloomy gray sky golden and enveloping the sleepy academy with a warm glow. The only thing that made the sunrise better was the beautiful sound of Silas' violin—thank god her music stopped when it did, or she would have missed such gentle-sounding piece!
Wren finished the rest of her morning routine at exactly 7AM. As she waited for Julie—who was currently having a row with her books—she glanced at her reflection on the mirror for one last check. Hair was neatly curled and pinned to one side, makeup not too heavy, nails a bright red. Uniform was just… blah (since it's the first day, she didn't want to risk altering the uniform too much) but not uniform-approved red wedges were good; she wanted to see how long she'd get away wearing them. Wren smiled as she found nothing amiss with her appearance, but allowed Julie to drag her away to auditorium before she decided to change her hairstyle just for the hell of it.
The assembly was over far too quickly for her liking. First off, she didn't get to talk to a lot of people. Acacaia and the others were too busy with Student Council duties, and everyone else was lost in the sea of people that have already gathered. She thought she made eye contact with Alena and was about to approach her, but the athlete didn't greet her with her usual exuberance, so she must've been mistaken. Second—and more importantly—Principal Aldrin didn't get to speak all that much. He was really adorable, though! All nervous like that, how sweet was he? And his notes! Holy crap, if that wasn't the most precious thing you've ever seen a principal do… but that's beside the point.
Anyway.
Wren parted with Julie after the assembly and headed straight for Jayjay's—er, Mr. Pierce's classroom. She heard other students—mostly the freshmen—whispering about her as she passed through a crowded hallway, but years of experience had made her immune to such things. Keeping her head high, she simply smiled at anyone who looked her way, and marched to her homeroom with an unfalteringly poised gait. Once there, she took the empty seat beside the dark haired boy with hipster glasses.
She remembered seeing him at the picnic—the boy trying really hard not to bump into other people. He must be new, she thought, and asked him just that.
"New kid, right?" she asked, smiling amicably. "How's your first day going?"