Insomnia is terrifying,. Sometimes I can't help but wonder... What happens when I do sleep, but don't wake up? ~An Insomniac
My alarm goes off at 6:00 and I roll out of bed. Surprisingly, I manage to drag myself to the bathroom and fix my appearance. Dad was able to get a job in September so it would be everyone's first day at school.
I put on a cute summery dress. The top is white and lacy with a green bow on the shoulder, and the bottom is mint green with polka dots. There's a brown bow around the waist. I leave my hair down in it's naturally wavy state. Then I put on some chestnut colored boots and walk to the kitchen.
The chef had already made french toast and bacon for breakfast, so I help myself to one piece of toast and one piece of bacon. He encourages me to have more, but I politely refuse. It's hard going from eating nothing to eating normally. We didn't have the money for nice food.
Nick had already offered to take me to school since he passes by it going to work. We arrive a couple minutes early and I try to find the office. Some people point me in the right direction, giving me friendly smiles. Others look dead to the world and don't even respond when I ask.
When I get to the office, the receptionist gives me a polite nod. "Good morning, my name is Brooklyn Wing. I'm new here and I was wondering if I could get my schedule" I say. She hands me a piece of paper and sends me on my way.
My homeroom class is only a few steps away which is a relief. I open the door, and the teacher turns to me. "You must be Brooklyn Wing. Julia has offered to help you get your bearings around here. My name is Ms. Edwards, welcome to North Ridge"
Ms. Edwards is a pretty woman, with high cheek bones and a slightly pointed nose. Glasses are perched at the edge of her nose giving her the look of a librarian. Despite her strict appearance, her eyes are bright and happy.
The girl she called Julia looks very shy and reserved. Her auburn hair hangs around her face in messy curls, framing her grey eyes. Freckles are scattered across her nose, and she has a petite build.
"Hi, I'm Brook." I greet the small girl. "Nice to meet you, I'm Julia." she replies with a grin.
"Alright here's how our school works. Every morning we go to homeroom, it gives people some breathing room if they're running late. At 7:45 the teachers take attendance, and you go to class at 7:55." she explains pausing to say hi to some other girls that pass by.
"Sorry, after that you go through the periods like normal until lunch comes around. This is the important part." she takes my schedule, sighing in relief after she looks over it.
"Thank God you have the same lunch as my friends and I. I will make sure that you sit with us, and whatever you do- don't trust anyone." she put extreme emphasis on the word 'anyone'. "There are a lot of bitches who will try to manipulate you, and a lot of assholes who'll try to get into your pants."
I thank her and we prepare to leave. Julia and I have three periods together, Math, English, and P.E. My first period happens to be History with Mr. Owens, who is supposed to be a nice guy. I'm praying to God that he is.
Breathlessly, I open the door. The halls are incredibly crowded here, nothing like my other school. Plus I may or may not have gotten lost.
Lucky for me, Mr. Owens hadn't started class. He tells me not to be late again, and I apologize quickly. On my way to a seat at the back, a foot appears in front of me and I stumble.
My cheeks burn with embarrassment and I take a seat silently. The person who tried to trip me, turns around and sneers. And he happens to be the one and only Chase Erickson. I look down at my hands and try to concentrate on today's lesson.
"Don't worry about him, he's got it out for pretty much anyone he hasn't screwed." a male voice murmurs to my left.
"Thanks, he's been a jerk ever since I got here." I mutter, giving the guy a sideways glance. A smirk appears on his face, but I have to start taking notes if I want to keep up with the class.
The bell rings and I attempt to shoot out of the room. Someone's hand on my arm stops me though and I almost have a panic attack. "Hey, mind if I compare my schedule with yours?" he asks with a crooked grin. I shrug and hand him my agenda.
His face lights up and he slings an arm around my shoulders. "Next period is chemistry, and you'll get to spend the entire time with yours truly." he brags, the smirk coming back.
"Who are you anyway?" I ask, surveying his face. "The name's Ryder Blakenship, and you're the new girl, Brooklyn Wing." he states, leading me to our next class.
Ryder has a slight Australian accent and shaggy blonde hair with eyes the color of the ocean. He's wearing a leather jacket and dark jeans with navy high tops.
"Take a picture it'll last longer, but hurry up 'cause we've gotta go to class." he jokes, and I shove his shoulder. He laughs loudly, receiving a glare from the teacher who he promptly brushes off.
We sit through the boring hour passing notes and playing footsie. He tells me where math is and we part ways.
The rest of the day goes by smoothly until I get to lunch. Chase catches sight of me and starts walking over. I shift uncomfortably and start trying to walk away, but he easily catches up.
I see him raise his soda can and start to pour, but I never feel it. "What the hell man?" he shouts, getting to his feet and preparing to fight.
"Sorry mate, I tripped." Ryder says in a monotone voice. "And it's fuckin' rude to pour a perfectly good soda on a perfectly good girl." Chase just scoffs and walks away, shooting Ryder an icy cold glare.
Ryder comes over to me, a worried look on his face. "You okay Brook?" he asks, checking me to make sure none of the soda had gotten on me.
"Yeah I'm fine, thanks for shoving him." I say, wrapping my arms around his torso. He chuckles, the sound vibrating through his chest.
"Think nothing of it Chickadee." he laughs. "Who the hell calls a girl 'Chickadee'? I ask, raising an eyebrow.
"Your last name is Wing, and ever since I heard that, I've been imagining you as a bird." he explains with a sheepish grin. I just laugh and we walk over to Julia's group.
Ryder breaks away to say hello to some of his friends, one of which has an arm around Julia. "Aye! Brook has arrived." she shouts, surprisingly no one looks up. They're probably used to it. Scrap my first impression of her being shy, I was far off.
"Here's my posse," she goes on to introduce everyone.
Ryder- Dorky, single, hot and super sweet.
Logan- Tall with long black hair, smells very strongly of cigarettes. He literally reeks of lung cancer. He doesn't say much, I couldn't get much of a reading on the guy.
Arial- BRIGHT RED HAIR yeah that's kinda all. She's also very loud, worse than Julia by a long shot.
Aaron- Dark brown hair, upper average in the height category. He's also dating Julia, seems nice enough.
"So this is your new friend group!" she says, spreading her arms wide. I say a quick hello and eat my lunch rapidly.
Arial starts making gagging noises, causing the rest of the gang to laugh. "Get a room people." She screams across the cafeteria, earning some chuckles. I look behind me and nearly join her in gagging. Chase and Blake are both sucking face with two blonde bimbos.
After the whole lunch thing, nothing else happens. Other than the several humiliations I'm forced to endure, courtesy to the Erickson triplets. I hate them all, and I genuinely hope that they all get into a car crash. Except I don't mean that because that would be terrible.
Nick is the first person to greet me when I get home, handing me a small box. "Here's a phone for you, your dad mentioned that you didn't have one. I put in my number along with Ella's and the triplets.
"Oh, you really shouldn't have. I bet it was really expensive" I say, feeling guilty that he spent money on me. "Brook, we have more than enough of that, it's no secret. And you might need it for emergencies." he says, already walking away.
I stare up at the ceiling, letting my mind roam. Even though the Blake had said the words over a week ago, they were still stuck in my head. Maybe my dad just didn't feel like taking care of me anymore and so he dumped me here.
Turning onto my side, I realize that it's 2:04 in the morning. Dad had this rule that I couldn't go downstairs until two. It was a way of making sure I had really tried to fall asleep before I went downstairs and consumed a bunch of caramel.
"Why are you down here again?" Blake asks, holding a jar. My jar. My empty jar. That was filled with my God damned caramel. That he had eaten.
"That was mine." I whimper pathetically. This causes him to laugh sardonically. "And now it's mine, sucks to be you." he replies, putting it by the sink. I hadn't found the time to get more, so I guess it's going to be a late night for me.
I sit on a stool and tap out a beat, ignoring Blake's annoying presence. "Why do you guys hate me so much?" I whisper, willing my voice not to shake. He just scoffs and walks back to his room.
The three boys come down the next morning, laughing together. Blake sees me still sitting on the stool tapping the counter and his eyes widen, but he corrects himself and smirks.
After he had left, I gave myself a panic attack. I wasn't able to sleep after that, thinking about my family stressed me out beyond belief. The only time I had moved was when I went to grab Caleb. He had kept me company and helped me calm down.
Ella walks into the room with a glorious smile on her face until she sees me with my head down on the counter. "Brook, what are you doing down here?" she asks. I lift my head, and I see everyone in the room flinch.
Shaking my head, I make my way upstairs without a word. When I see myself in the mirror, I flinch as well. My hair is tangled and unruly, and my eyes are red and puffy. With a sigh, I hop in the shower and collect my thoughts.
I dry my hair and apply some makeup to help hide my exhaustion. My outfit consists of a light sweater and faded blue jeans. Once again, I leave my hair down. I'm too tired to bother doing anything with it.
Every other day our periods are reversed, so I have P.E. in the morning with Julia and Logan. Logan doesn't even show up though, he's probably off somewhere getting high.
The teacher tells us to run a mile, and we set off. Blake runs beside me, then kicks my ankle, sending me sprawling forward. I cry out in pain, curling up into a ball.
Suddenly the ground seems like a wonderful place to sleep, and I find myself drifting off. I hear someone shouting, it almost sounds like Chase. Ignoring them, I let myself have some well-deserved rest. The life of an insomniac, right?