NOVEL NEXT 69: Dreamy Cabin Life
The cabin’s interior felt larger than its already quite expansive exterior. A common area decorated with couches, spread across the center of the first floor’s interior. Attached to it, a kitchenette equipped with a fridge, stovetop, sink, and microwave. The rest of the first floor had doors leading to various dorm rooms, doubles, triples, singles, the whole swath sat available to the students.
Warm lights hung from the ceiling, casting a gentle glow across both the first and second floor as, instead of a solid divider between the floors, the second floor consisted of gallery walkways dotted only with the doors into bathrooms and dorm rooms.
“Second floor?” Nyssa nudged Celeste on the shoulder after walking a lap around the common area. “I’m fine with anything though.”
“Me too,” Celeste tapped her chin. “Want to get adjacent rooms? Or do you want to share a double or triple?”
“... I don’t really mind either way,” Nyssa paused for a second as they began hauling their luggage up the stairs. “It would be... well, yeah.”
Celeste set her luggage down as they arrived at the top of the stairs. Raising her eyebrows, she turned to Nyssa and reached out. After cupping Nyssa’s face with her hands, she began massaging her cheeks. “You should just say it. If we’re in a relationship, I want you to be open about your wants, okay?”
Unable to speak with Celeste messing with her cheeks, Nyssa gave her a helpless glare until her cheeks regained freedom. Once free, she patted her cheeks and leaned in a little closer. “Well, I would like to live in the same room if you’re okay with it...”
“Of course I am,” Celeste smiled, covering her mouth with a sleeve before dragging Nyssa forward. “Come on, let’s choose the corner room with windows on two sides before the others take it.”
“Okay!” Nyssa broke into a smile of her own as she dragged along her suitcase while following along behind Celeste. “What about your stuff though...”
“I’ll just leave it there for now, it’s not like anyone’s going to steal it. I’ll go back for it once we choose a room,” Celeste shrugged before turning back to look at Nyssa with a wink. “And I’d rather hold your hand in the meantime.”
Nyssa froze. A couple sputters slipped out.
Unable to formulate a response as Celeste continued to pull her along, she felt her cheeks and ears warm up. Her mouth opened and closed a couple more times until she lowered her head with a small sigh. “When did you learn how to do that?”
“I’ve always known, dar~ling~,” Celeste teased before a faint tinge of embarrassment crept into her voice. “I’m not particularly used to it though...”
As she cleared her throat, she and Nyssa arrived at the corner room. After memorizing the room’s number, Celeste turned and leaned against the railing while waving her hand to catch Angelica’s attention. “Can we get the key to room 214?”
“Of course!” Angelica called back to Celeste sifting through the envelope to pull out the key. “Put your hand out!”
With her hand extended, palm facing upward, Celeste stood still. Angelica winded up and, in one clean motion, tossed the keys upward. They soared across the cabin’s interior before landing right onto Celeste’s palm.
“I’m still so jealous that she can do that,” Nyssa mumbled as they watched Angelica go on to toss keys to the other Class Zero students. Each key would land with a slight clink into each person’s palm, the serrated edge of the key sitting upright so as to not hurt the catchers’ hands.
Turning away, Nyssa followed Celeste into the room. Together, they hauled all their suitcases and bagged into the room, put on the bedding provided by the owners, and began unpacking what they considered the most important items: toiletries, some clothes, and other hygiene and makeup items.
Once unpacked, the two girls left their possessions in the room to hold down the fort. The now-open windows let in some afternoon brightness along with some fresh air to break up the stuffiness. At the same time, the chirps and squawks of birds as they swooped and dipped through the sky came peeking into the room.
After waving to Angelica as they descended back down to the first floor, Nyssa and Celeste slipped out of the cabin with tote bags slung over their shoulders. With their hands raising to shield their eyes from the sun, they turned to each other after a moment’s pause.
“... Where to then?” Celeste asked, turning to look at the cliffside view the cabin had of the ocean. “We never really set a point, did we? Would you like to just wander?”
“I’m fine with anything!” Nyssa bobbed her head. Her hand wandered to the bag, adjusting its strap. “We can wander, I’d like to get my feet wet in the ocean at some point though.”
Celeste nodded, reaching out and grasping Nyssa’s hand. As the hustling sounds of Albion, Titus, and Conrad began leaking out through the windows, she tugged on Nyssa’s hand. “Let’s get going before those three decide that their plans for the day are to join us.”
“I agree...” Nyssa half-jogged along behind Celeste. She ran her other hand along the railing as they descended the stairs running along the cliff to stabilize herself as they disappeared into the town situated around Cerbos Lake. “It’ll be nice to have some alone time.”
“But no more nap time today, okay?” Celeste countered with a laugh. “You’ve slept enough today.”
“I’ve definitely not slept enough today,” Nyssa shook her head before squeezing Celeste’s hand. “It’s okay, I won’t sleep, I want to spend my time with you awake.”
“Thank you, thank you,” Celeste smiled, returning the hand squeeze while covering her mouth with her free hand. A half-second later, she turned back forward. “There’s a convenience store up ahead, do you want to stop by there before wandering along the beach? We can get some snacks to walk along the beach with.”
Feeling her stomach quiver and mouth begin to water, Nyssa replied with a smile and “Sure!” The moment she and Celeste set their course though, they heard the shouting of Titus, Conrad, and Albion play fighting once more—along with the appearance of flames jetting into the sky.
Unwilling to have their alone time ended before it even starts, Nyssa and Celeste looked at each other, nodded, and began running forward. Their hair flowed in the wind and their bags swang in the air as they took the paved path around the beach’s sandy edge.
Not long after, they neared the doors and bolted in before they could slide closed. A blast of cold air shook both of them out of their sprint and the doors slid shut behind them with a quiet whoosh.
“Snack aisle first? Or drink aisle?”
“... Drinks.”