Hamilton Academy: He's Always Watching

Part Three ~ Chapter Twelve

"Well I guess I now know the real Andrew Farrell."

-Amy

------------

I tried to get myself comfortable by switching the side I was sleeping on, but it didn't help. Sleep just felt impossible inside the small, cramped tent. Next to me, Julia seemed to be sleeping soundly. I didn't want to wake her up and bother her with my mindless problems, but I couldn't stay in the tent any longer. It was just too suffocating.

Managing to jump over Julia in hopes to get to the door in the dark, I found the zipper and unzipped the tent. Leaving my shoes behind, I stepped out onto the grass and observed my surroundings. Up in the sky, there was a full moon that shone brightly in the night. Its light was so bright that my eyes hurt just looking up at too long. In the distance, shadows of mountains could vaguely be seen. As I took another step, I noticed that I wasn't alone.

"Couldn't sleep?" I asked Andrew, as I laid down next to him.

"Not a bit. You?"

"Same." I paused for a bit. "Truce?" I asked. "For a day?"

"Truce."

He was silent for a bit. I looked up and saw millions and millions of stars. It was hard to see that back at school because of how many trees there usually were. But out here, it was like a whole new world. The number of stars were endless. It was all just so beautiful.

"The stars make you realize how small you really are in this world," Andrew stated randomly. It was so true. Outside, here on the mountain, the sky was so vast that it seemed to just swallow me up into the world.

"Why couldn't you sleep?" I asked him after a while.

"Insomnia."

"Really?" I asked, surprised I hadn't known that.

"Yeah," he sighed. "Don't make staying up all night with anxiety a habit. Because that's what it leads to. And all it causes is thousands of torturous and sleepless nights in the dark."

I didn't really know how to respond. A certain part of me was curious as to know what exactly had been bothering him so much, but another part of me knew not to ask. It was just too soon.

"So why can't you sleep?" he asked me.

"Memories," I mumbled. "Of Mrs. Grey. That night. The cabin."

"You should try not to think about that night," he told me.

"I know. But it's hard. That whole night, it haunts me. I was so scared, for all of us. And it was all just too much to handle..." I felt myself choking up and stopped trying to explain myself. Andrew knew exactly what I was talking about.

"I still think about it too," he admitted. "Heck, I do every night. How stupid we were, that lady had no bullets. Yet I let myself get scared by her and her threats."

I turned to face Andrew, propping myself up on my elbow. "I don't know what Mr. Grey is capable of."

He turns, now looking at me. "I don't know either. But I don't want to know."

"Tell me about yourself."

"What's there to tell?"

"Everything."

"Shoot."

"Favorite food?"

"Pizza. Pepperoni and green peppers."