When Sadie made it back to her room, Meredith was already sleeping. Sadie, after swinging the door open with a loud whoosh, closed it as quietly as she could.
Sadie took the notebook out of the inside pocket of her jacket. She looked at it thoroughly – front, back, sides – but she didn't open it. There was something off about the notebook and the way Professor Hobbs had given it to her. His words spooked her and she wanted nothing to do with it.
Meredith stirred in her bed and Sadie held her breath. When Meredith's breathing went steady, Sadie tiptoed to her own bed. She lifted the bottom corner of her mattress and tucked the notebook far underneath. She put the mattress down and sat on it burying her face in her hands. Nerves shot through her whole body, but why? It was just a notebook after all.
Sadie scooted her backside to the middle of her bed and laid down flat on her back. She rested her head on her pillow staring blankly at the ceiling willing sleep to come quick.
*
Sadie blinked her eyes open, her vision blurry. She rubbed them with the backs of her hands and forced herself to sit up. She groggily gazed around the room momentarily forgetting where she was.
Then she caught sight of Meredith staring at her.
"Uh, good morning," Sadie groaned before clearing her throat.
Meredith stood at the foot of her own bed with her arms folded across her chest. She stared at Sadie with a quizzical expression. "Why are you still wearing your clothes from last night?"
Sadie opened her mouth and looked down at her body. She was so in shock last night she didn't even bother to get dressed in her pajamas.
Meredith giggled. "Did you see Professor Hobbs last night or Jake?"
Sadie jumped out of her bed defensive, nearly falling over. Her head was heavy and the room spun from getting up too fast.
"That answers that." Meredith laughed. She turned away from Sadie and picked up some books that rested on her bed. When she twisted her head to look over her shoulder she frowned. "Really, are you feeling okay? You look pale."
Sadie waved her hand dismissively and staggered over to her dresser. "I'm alright, really. I didn't sleep well."
Meredith's grin came back but she didn't say anything.
Sadie chose to ignore her roommate's lack of comment and opened the top drawer to find a new shirt for the day. She rummaged through her neatly folded clothes. She pulled out a blue blouse and gasped dropping it onto the floor.
"What's wrong?" Meredith spun around from her laptop at her desk.
Sadie turned around leaning against the drawer closing it with her back with a loud snap. "Nothing. Sorry."
Meredith narrowed her eyes in suspicion but slowly turned back around. She began typing on her laptop again.
Sadie drew in a silent breath and faced her dresser again. She opened the top drawer as quietly as she could and peeked inside. There it was, buried with her clothes, the notebook. She closed the drawer looking over at her bed. Didn't she put it under her mattress? Sadie shook her head as she bent down to pick up her blouse. She was so tired last night she must have forgotten where she put it.
There came a knock at the door.
"It's open," Meredith called still typing not giving Sadie a chance to protest.
Sadie held her blouse up to her chest covering her pajamas and stared at the door.
It opened revealing spiky dirty blonde hair and deep brown eyes on a tall, handsome, young man. He poking his head in smiling, but it quickly faded upon seeing Sadie.
"You're not even dressed yet," he stated.
Sadie let out a sigh of relief recognizing her boyfriend. She was going to get lightheaded with all her deep breathing trying to stay calm. "Sorry, I'm working on it."
Meredith turned around in her chair and hung her arm over the back. "Hey, Jake." She smirked like she knew a secret and he didn't.
Sadie quickly tossed off her shirt and threw the blouse on. She bent over all the way down to throw her long hair into a high ponytail. She didn't have time to worry about looking like a human today.
"Hey, Mer." Jake smiled at her.
"You really threw Sadie here for a loop this morning." Meredith winked at him.
Jake cracked a smile, but his eyes softened in confusion. "Well, our class this morning got canceled, so we planned last night to get breakfast."
"Ah, last night." Meredith blinked her eyes flirtingly.
Sadie grabbed her backpack and lounged at Jake to push him out into the hall.
"What is she talking about?" Jake whispered to Sadie.
"Don't worry about it," Sadie muttered pushing him out the door.
"Try not to have too much fun," Meredith waved.
Sadie, without responding, slammed the door. She started walking down the hall without waiting for Jake to catch up. He jogged behind her and took hold of her hand. He kissed the back of Sadie's hand and smiled at her.
"I get the feeling I'm missing something."
Sadie cracked a small smile at him. She loved it when he held her hand and kissed it like that. He seemed to make all of her problems go away and all they were doing was walking down the hall.
"I didn't sleep well last night," Sadie stated. He didn't need to know she was out late with a professor. A professor who brought her to a brand new room in the school and gave her a special notebook. No, that didn't sound weird at all.
"I'm sorry." Jake frowned. He let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Something bothering you?"
"No."
Yes.
Jake hesitated, but he nodded.
"I'm tired and hungry. Where do you want to get food?" Sadie asked hoping that'd be enough to change the subject.
"The cafeteria?" Jake questioned. "It's Wednesday, we're not allowed to leave campus."
"Right," Sadie sighed.
They walked the rest of the way in silence. Jake held onto her tightly and Sadie let him as long as he didn't ask any more questions. She just wanted to enjoy the morning with her boyfriend and have her life get back to normal.
The cafeteria was fairly crowded that morning, but they didn't have trouble finding a seat. Sadie recognized a lot of the kids from their class that was canceled.
"Waffles?" Jake asked. He put his backpack on the seat opposite of Sadie. She smiled and nodded. He winked at her and headed toward the kitchen.
Sadie slouched in her chair and closed her eyes. If she was able to, she could fall asleep right there. She snapped her eyes open and looked around hoping no one saw. She had to make it through the day.
She leaned over to her backpack sitting on the floor. She didn't even get the chance to brush her teeth this morning. The least she could do was check herself in the mirror.
She unzipped her backpack and blindly reached in. She always lost her mirror. Sadie knocked school textbooks and binders aside, grabbing pens and pencils, and even her calculator. She pouted in a huff wondering how she was able to fit so much in her backpack.
She touched something and paused running her fingers along it. It felt familiar. Sadie's eyes grew wide. Her heart started beating faster. She slowly turned her head to look in her bag.
There was the notebook.
Her hands shaking, Sadie zipped her backpack. She stood up and tossed it over her shoulder. She had to get rid of it.
"Where are you going?"
Sadie froze. She looked over her shoulder sadly looking at Jake.
Jake's eyes grew with concern as he put two plates of waffles down on the table. "What's wrong?"
"I," Sadie stammered, "I forgot my English essay. I need to go back to my dorm and get it."
"Oh," Jake let out a sigh of relief. "You scared me. I thought something had happened. You looked like you'd seen a ghost."
Sadie tried to smile. "I'll, um, be right back."
"I'll take a walk with you." Jake stepped forward.
"No!" Sadie snapped. She put a hand over her mouth and then shook her head. "I'm sorry... lack of sleep, remember?"
Jake frowned but nodded.
"I'm so sorry. I'll be right back... okay?" Sadie said walking backward.
"Sure," Jake said dully.
Sadie turned around but paused. She looked back over at Jake who was still watching her. She ran back over to him, pecked him on the cheek, and ran out of the cafeteria.