6.2

“How do you know I like to read?” Cass couldn’t hide her confusion.
      “We may have taken a peak through your window a few times when we walked back from the vending machine to see what you were doing. None of us could imagine you sleeping with the lights on, so we were curious. Sorry for impeding on the tiny bit of privacy you thought you had,” Norah replied with a sheepish laugh.
      “It’s not fine, but I can’t really blame you. There’s barely anything resembling curtains and everyone can just look inside. I was just hoping people would mind their own business instead of looking inside someone’s private room.”
      “We’re genuinely sorry, we didn’t really mean to stalk or keep an eye on you. We were just really curious what someone of our age was doing on her own every single evening. And then we saw you were reading.”
      “I think it’s time for me to go to my room. The noise is becoming too much,” Cass brought up as an excuse to leave.
      “No, please stay! I really didn’t mean to sneak into your privacy. It was only a few times we checked it and it was never like “Hey guys, we should stealthily stare through the window of room 1519 to see what she’s doing for fifteen minutes straight!” five times a week, we just happened to walk back from a vending machine and took a peak when we walked past your window. Please, I apologize,” Norah tried, but Cass didn’t really hear it.
      “I’ll be able to forgive you all, Norah. But right now, I’d really like to go to my room and get some sleep. It’s been a long evening for someone who’s not used to community events in a small space and I really need some time to think on how I feel about you lurking through my window, even though you didn’t intend any harm. I could’ve been undressing myself!” Cass stood up from the floor and emptied her can of lemonade, before saying her goodbyes and immediately leaving. Norah tried to stop her once, but figured out she shouldn’t and just let Cass go.
      Once out the door, she could hear her name a few times through the door. Norah was either telling them what a bitch she was or how they were the assholes and honestly, she couldn’t care less right now which of the two it was. She felt violated, and in dire need of a shower right now, but she could see it was already late and the enforcers would surely come looking if she’d take a shower now.
      In the dark, she made her way to her room. Luckily, she only hit her toe once, because she had forgotten where she’d left her chair in her room. A few curse words left her mouth when she did, but she managed to find her night clothes – a plain t-shirt and a loose, soft pair of pants that she had cut till right above the knee. Before changing, she scanned her surroundings through the window to see if any enforcers – or other workers apparently – were nearby. She saw a few of the lights in the far distance, near another bunker, so she quickly swapped outfits and went to bed. She wasn’t tired yet though, her thoughts were on overdrive after what Norah told her.
      They did not have the right to peak through my window, right? But they were just curious who I was and what I was doing. And anyone can just look into my room at all times, because we don’t have actual curtains since those would block the enforcers’ gaze.
      But why do I feel so bad about them checking? They only wanted to know what I was doing all by myself. Did I overreact? Am I in the wrong now? She couldn’t wrap her head around what a normal response to this would be. Most people probably wouldn’t care at all, but was that a normal response? She didn’t believe so. Maybe her dreams would give her some clarity on the matter at hand, so she forced herself to calm down and tried to fall asleep while her thoughts were still somewhat racing through her mind.