Stark had not slept since Sunday night. Stark was exhausted. His eye was red. His shoulders were slumped. He hadn’t shaved in days. Sleeping poorly was nothing new but a complete lack of sleep like this for days was not something he’d had to deal with before. Stark was still standing in front of the cupcake students in the home ec classroom. Perhaps standing was too strong of a word. Stark was upright but leaning heavily against the wall and looking blearily at the assembled students.

“I haven’t slept,” he said, sounding just as exhausted as he knew he looked. “No sleep all week. Not at all. I…I can’t. I know I’m not the only one but that doesn’t make it better. I hope some of you have slept. Maybe all of you. Have you? No. It doesn’t matter. I…we’re not baking today. Not a good idea. Next week. If we’re still functioning then. Am I even really functioning now?” Yes, Stark was talking mostly to himself there.

He shook his head then as if trying to clear his thoughts. “I brought coffee. I brought lots of coffee. If you want that. And coffee cupcakes. If you want them. And…chocolate covered espresso beans. It might help. A little. It might not. I don’t know. At least it all tastes good. Or I think it does. I don’t know what you all think.” If anyone didn’t think coffee or cupcakes tasted good, hopefully they wouldn’t tell Stark that today. He might not be able to take it in his current sleep-deprived state.