Hey, Celia? | ✔️

Chapter Three

Hey.

You again?

Me again.

May I ask you a question?

There's not much I can do to stop you from asking it.

You can choose to not answer it, though.

True. Go ahead and ask.

Why is it that you're unable to sleep?

Insomnia.

Oh.

Yeah.

...you still there?

I am.

That's nice to know.

Why?

It's grounding. Makes me remember something I often forget.

What's that?

I don't know. I'm bad at explaining myself.

Don't do that. Tell me. What does it make you remember?

Makes me remember that I'm not the only one awake, that no matter how alone I may feel, it's just that. A feeling, not reality. Of course we're not close, and physically, I am alone. But I'm not the only one in the world at 4:02am unable to sleep, not tired, but exhausted. It's grounding. It's comforting.

It's weird. I don't know. Nevermind.

No, it's not. It makes sense.

I thought we established that I don't make any sense, though.

That we did. But there are exceptions to every rule.

Yes, there are...

Well, goodnight, stranger.

James*

What?

My name is James.

Really?

She set her phone down onto her chest, effectively taking away the only glow of light within her room. She whispered one word into the dark emptiness of her room, "James."

She felt her lips pulling up into a small, soft smile. She liked it, it was a great name, and in many ways, it seemed to fit the personality of the new friend, or, acquaintance, she'd made by accident.

James.

She liked it and it fit, but in her mind, she found that he was more suited for a nickname, rather than his full name. She picked her phone up again.

Okay, Jamie.

I regret telling you my name now.

My name... is Thanos.

Oh, God. What am I going to do with you?

That I can't answer, but I can answer what you should do with yourself.

And what's that?

Sleep. Even if you can't, it can't hurt to try, right?

Wrong. It can.

What do you mean by that?

Once you put down your phone or shut off your tv, you're stopping the one thing distracting you from your thoughts. Once you're left in the dark, with nothing but a hope for sleep and your mind, it can hurt. It does hurt.

Yes, I suppose that's true. Insomnia has a way of replacing rest with rumination.

That's strange.

What is?

In my seventeen years of existence, no one I know or love has understood that concept or me, but someone I've known for only a few days, a stranger, has described it perfectly.

Sometimes, the people you're closest to are actually the ones you're most distant from. What defines a stranger and what defines a friend is not length of time, but capacity to understand.

...If that makes any sense, whatsoever.

It does.

You have no idea how much it does.

It makes a lot of sense then?

Yes.

Like a wishing well? A lot of... cents.

I can't believe you just said that.

You really shouldn't be surprised, my sweetest sweetums.

I know. I'm honestly surprised I was surprised.