21.
GIRL TALK
I COULD FEEL IT WAS TOO EARLY—AGAIN—WHEN I WOKE, and I knew I was getting the schedule of my days and nights slowly reversed. I lay in my bed and listened to the quiet voices of Alice and Jasper in the other room. It was strange that they were loud enough for me to hear at all. I rolled across the bed until my feet touched the floor and then staggered to the living room. The clock channel on the TV said it was just after two in the morning. Alice and Jasper were sitting together on the sofa, Alice sketching again while Jasper looked over her shoulder. They didn't look up when I entered, too engrossed in what Alice was drawing to notice me. I crept to Jasper's side for a peek.