Sleep City

NATHAN.

"If you're not busy, I mean." I tried to talk, because it seems like she got caught off guard. But, damn, I guess it's my fault. Even I, myself, think I came off too strong there. Telling her that, considering we don't even have any history together. But, I took the risk, so I have to learn the consequences, right? How hard can it be?

"I don't know. I don't know if I'm busy or something that time, but," Like me, it was a little hard for her to talk in this type of situation. "Yeah. I don't know."

"Yeah, okay." I paused. We both stayed quiet and we stared at each other. That's when I realized that we were already in front of her house. "You should get in, someone might be looking for you now."

"Yeah."

So I guess it didn't work out. To be honest, I was a little nervous about that, but I guess it's not meant to be.

Before she started to walk, she spoke up. "Hey, thanks for waiting for me back there."

"No problem." I smiled at her.

"And, thanks for walking with me."

"Yeah, anytime." I shrugged and smiled again. This time, she smiled back. I waited for her to go across the lawn first. She turned left, and when she reached the small steps in front of her front door, I turned around and decided to walk back on the sidewalk.

I tried to think a little. It's not bad as the rejections you see on T.V. At some point, I felt like we we're just sorry for each other. I guess, that's not a bad thing. It's not like the stories on T.V. where the girl laughs directly at your face when you ask her out. Before I crossed the street, I felt like she was still at the doorway and she was looking at me. But, I didn't stop to look, though.

"Hey, Nathan!" But that's when she spoke up... I smiled before turning around. Though, they say that it's wrong to expect things, I think she's gonna change her mind.

"Yeah?" I tried my best to make my smile fade, so it wouldn't look like I was expecting. I walked closer, just enough to not make her yell. I was standing on their lawn, my hands in my pockets, and acting all "rejected".

"You know what?" She walked down on the steps, moving close enough for her to hear me.

"What?"

"I guess Kyle could do my shift at the cafѐ."

"So, does that mean you'll go on Saturday?"

"Yeah, duh." She laughed to herself.

"Okay, cool." I smiled. And there goes our silence again. Don't get me wrong, though. I find it really nice. "Yeah, well, I gotta go." I spoke up and broke our silence.

"Yeah. Okay."

I moved closer to her, trying to give a hug, but I couldn't bring myself to do so. She looked like she was confused about it, too. Now that I'm just about inches away from her, I brought up my arms. She did, too. But, I stopped, and she did, too. I changed my position of my arms, she stayed still. I took a step closer, and tried to hug her again, but it felt like I have to stop. I thought that I'm coming off to strong again. I guess I have been since we started talking last week. Seconds later, our arms just stayed still on our sides.

"So, uh, that was," I said quietly, but she cut me off there.

"Awkward?" She said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I guess." I said, laughing, too.

"You know that hand shake me and Justin do. It's kinda' like the gangster thing?" She said.

"Yeah, with the pat on the back and the bump thing?" I asked, and she nodded. "Yeah, we do that, too."

"Okay. Well, wanna do a shake goodbye? Because a hug kinda' feels," She said, but I guess it's my turn to cut her off.

"Awkward. I know." I said. She nodded. "Yeah, okay. Let's "shake"."

And so we did the hand shake. Our hands we're still together as we pulled each other closer and patted each others back. I guess this is good. It's the closest thing to hugging, anyway.

While pulling apart from each other, I asked, "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Why not? It's a free country."

"Are you and Noel," She cut me off.

"No." She snapped. "Why do people keep on asking that?"

"Ask what? I wasn't even done yet." I said.

"Well, we're you gonna ask if we're dating, or if we're together, or an item?"

"Yeah. Maybe one of those." I shrugged.

"Well, then, there you go." She sounded like she was getting annoyed.

"Okay, then."

"Anything else you wanna ask?"

"Who asks you that, you know, the Noel thing?" I asked.

She looked away, as if she was thinking. "Nico, my brother Kyle."

"That's just two."

"I know, but, it's kinda' annoying. I mean, why would they think that I'd date someone like him."

"What do you mean, like him.?"

"Well, he's a jerk. He's friendly and all, but the way he treats his, oh, so many girlfriends," She sighed a heavy one. "I don't know."

"And because he's a football jock?"

"No. I don't know. Well, right now, I'm pretty convinced that not all jocks are jerks." She looked at me.

"Yeah. That's right. Somehow, all girls think that." I smiled.

"And I don't want them think that I'm dating Noel, because that idea will lead to making them think I'm stupid. No offense to Noel's girls." She explained, and I nodded. "Oh, do you wanna just talk right now? Because, I could be out here all night, I wouldn't care."

"Yeah, sure."

She walked over to the steps on her front door, and sat down. I followed her.

"So, what about you?" She asked.

"What about me?"

"I mean, what about you're ex-girlfriends?"

"Why?"

"Well, we are talking about dating, or something." She smiled.

"Right."

She laughed, and asked, "How many hearts have you broken?"

"Me? I guess, zero."

"Really? But, Justin said you've had girlfriends before." She paused, staring at my face, which is probably giving her a weak smile right now. "It didn't work out?"

I nodded. "It didn't work out."

"What happened?"

"Three years ago, I had my first girlfriend. She broke up with me because I didn't wanna say 'I love you' to her. In my defense, it was too early to. We we're just dating for three and a half months."

"I'm sorry, but I think it's okay that she broke up with you." She shrugged after telling her smart remark.

"How so?"

"I don't think that girl really loved you."

I looked at her, confused.

"Well, if she really did love you, she would've waited for you to love her back, and say that you love her."

"Yeah."

"Is it okay that we're talking about this?"

I'm glad that she asked that. I feel sad whenever I talk about past relationships, but I don't see why she doesn't have to know. I want her to know, anyway. I'm tired of people thinking that I broke the hearts of those girls. Because, actually, they broke mine for low reasons. I nodded as an answer to her thoughtful question.

"So, what happened then?"

"I don't know. Well, she's one of Noel's girlfriends. But, you know, it's always complicated with him."

She laughed, and I gave her a weak smile yet again.

"That girl made a big mistake. I mean, look at her now, she ended up with Noel Puckerman." She told me, laughing, and making a disgusted face. "So, what about the other one?"

"That was two years ago. She broke up with me, when it should've been the other way around." I explained. "See, we dated for a long time, I don't remember how long, 'cause I thought it wasn't worth remembering, and there was a point in our relationship where she's been weird around me, I don't know. And thanks to Justin, I found out that she's been cheating on me." I looked at her, she was looking at me with sad eyes.

"I told her about it, then she got mad. Stupid, right? I should've been the one mad then. Well, I got mad, and we were fighting, too. Then, she broke up with me."

"And?" She asked. It was obvious that she was so eager to find out what happened.

"Then the next day, mostly everyone at school was mad at me. They were mad at me for breaking up with the captain of the cheerleading team."

"Oh, my God! Skye Anderson is such a bitch." She was right. Skye was my ex-girlfriend.

"Oh, so, you know?" I asked her.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I know? I've got the hottest source on Arrows High and on Arrowsville!" She told me, grinning, as if she had something to be proud of.

At first, I was pretty clueless. But when we looked at each other, we both said, at the same time, "Jadyn Hart." We stared at each other and laughed.

"That girl knows everything, huh?" I spoke up.

"Yes, but she can keep a secret."

"She your best friend?" I looked at her.

"Mhmm." She said with a smile.

Our silence that we had before grew again. She had her eyes glued on the ground and mine on the house in front of hers. I opened my lips to speak up, but the noise that was coming from inside her house cut me off.

"What was that?" I asked with a laugh.

She giggled. "Probably Kyle with his guys trashing the house, doing their thing."

"Your parents let you trash the house?" We were laughing together while we talked.

"No. He's not actually trashing the house." She pushed me lightly on my shoulder, and laughed. "They're just gone for the night."

"Oh, so you got the hou-" I cut myself off once I heard the front door flew open behind us. And on the doorway was Kyle, looking annoyed and tired. He didn't seem to notice me, because he spoke up immediately after opening the door.

"Bella! Mom's on the phone!" And with that, he slammed the door close.

She laughed. "Look at that guy, he didn't even say anything to you," She rolled her eyes at her own comment. "Rude."

"It's okay. It's not like I'd know what to say to him, anyway." I shrugged.

"Yeah. I guess I gotta go, then."

"Yeah. Okay."

She stood up, and I did, too. "So, about Saturday..." She started.

"What about it?" I asked, trying not to seem nervous.

"What time?" She smiled.

I breathed out in relief, then smiled back. "I don't know yet. Maybe I'll just tell you tomorrow. But, are you sure? I mean, you have the thing at your cafѐ."

She chuckled. "Yeah, I'm sure. I'll work something out." She said with a smile.

"Okay."

"Oh, here you go." She said, while picking up my backpack and handing it to me.

"Thanks."

"Isabella! Phone!" We both heard Kyle yell from inside the house.

"Looks like you really need to go." I told her, smiling.

"Yeah. Well, bye. I'll see you."

"Yeah, you will."

We looked stared at each other for a couple of seconds. I drifted into my own thoughts while looking at her. I was thinking about finally hugging her. There's no harm in that. Maybe we'll just try it now, since, we're going out in a few days.

"So..." She spoke up. But before she could finish, I cut her off by hugging her. And surprisingly, she hugged back. I smiled, of course. After a few seconds, we pulled away from each other.

"I'll see you tommorow." We conveniently said at the same time. I watched her make her way to the steps and open the door. While opening it, she looked back at me and smiled.

"Kyle! I need to talk to you!" She finally got to yell back at her brother while closing the door. I put my hands in the pockets of my jacket and started walking. When I reached the empty street, I looked back at her house and scanned. I smiled and sighed a heavy sigh. A heavy sigh of contentment. I took a couple of steps back, walking backwards, and I then turned around to walk normally.

***

ISABELLA.

"Yeah. Well, bye. I'll see you." I told Nathan, waiting for him to leave. It's not like I don't want him here, it's just that we've been saying our goodbyes and laters too much and he's not even leaving yet.

"Yeah, you will." I stared at his eyes for a couple of seconds, thinking. Mostly hoping. Hoping that Kyle would take my shift on Saturday. Because, man, I can't believe I'm gonna say this, I can't wait to go out with this boy! I don't even know why I've been so stubborn with Justin at school today. It's like I couldn't admit to him, and myself, that I do like him.

After seconds of staring at each other, I finally spoke up. "So..." But before I could finish what I have to say, he pulled me in for a hug. Exactly at that moment, I forgot what I was going to say, and I just hugged back, happily. We pulled apart after a couple of seconds.

"I'll see you tomorrow." We said at the same time, only my voice came out awkwardly. I climbed on the small steps of the stairs. When I reached the door, I opened it, I looked back at Nathan and flashed him a smile.

While closing the door, I yelled back at Kyle. "Kyle! I need to talk to you!" When I heard the door slammed, I immediately turned around and looked into the peephole, smiling. I saw Nathan still standing there, smiling, too. I leaned on the door, and sighed.This night ended, well, I guess I could say perfectly. Although, everything came out unexpectedly, it was fun. That hug was short, but only God knows that I almost didn't want to let go.

I walked further into the house. I looked around looking for Kyle, but he, conveniently, bumped into me on his way to the front door.

"What? What do you want?" He asked.

"Can you do me just one little favor?" I asked with pleading eyes. That usually works with guys, especially Justin.

"Hmm". He hummed, thinking. "It depends. What kind of little favor?" He asked, mocking me.

"Would you do my shift at the cafѐ this Saturday?" I asked again. Trying my best with my pleading eyes.

"Absolutely not!" He snapped at me.

"Please, Kyle! Just this Saturday?" I said, almost begging.

"Why?" He asked back, suspiciously, squinting his eyes at me. Which was a bit creepy.

"Because I have to go somewhere." I snapped at him, too.

"With who?" He asked. Still keeping his eyes squinted and his voice sounding a bit more suspicious.

"Kyle!" I whined.

"Okay! Okay! Fine. I'll do it." He raised his hands, giving up.

"Oh, my Gosh! Thank you, thank you, tha-" I was about to do a happy dance when he cut me off.

"No, Bella. Nuh-uh, no way. What's in it for me?" As he said his last words, my smile turned into a frown.

"What? But, you just said you'll do it."

"Yes, I did. But, I was not done yet. You have to return the favor." He said, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Fine. What do you want?" I rolled my eyes.

"Actually, I don't know yet." I was beginning to smile then, "But!" And there he goes, ruining my moment, yet again. "I'll think of something." He said, putting up an evil grin. I groaned at him. "Something that will make you regret you even said yes to whoever asked you out."

"Whatever, Kyle." I transferred the weight of my backpack to my other shoulder. "I'm sure that I can take whatever you give me. Because, I'm thinking this Saturday will be worth it." And with that, I took off, walking towards my room.

"Oh, yeah. Mom hung up! You took too long!"

As I slammed the door to my brother, I decided to get some peace and quiet for myself. I flopped down to my bed, staring at my phone. I sighed and thought that peace and quiet aren't really my thing, so I took my phone. I pressed the number one key for Jadyn. Being best friends, we were the first ones to know what's going on with each other, hence, the speed dial.

I waited for Jadyn to answer as the phone rings. Once the ringing stopped, I opened my mouth to speak, but thought that it was completely useless because she already started talking first.

"I know what you're gonna tell me! Nathan James Evans asked you out!" She yelled from the other line, followed by a shriek.

"Yeah. Like that's ever gonna happen." I lied, trying to see if she agrees with being wrong.

"Don't lie to me, Bella. It's completely useless to. Justin already told me that Nathan would ask you out. And, he did, didn't he?" I'm taking a good guess that she's smiling wherever she is right now.

"Oh, my God! How do you manage to know every little detail of my life, maintain a really good average in school, and keep a boyfriend?" I sat up on my bed.

"Because I'm awesome!"

"Of course, you are." I said, using a high pitch voice. I sighed.

"So..."

"So what?" I asked.

"What happened with you and Nathan?"

"What do you mean? Nothing. The date's on Saturday, Jadyn. I thought Justin already told you."

"Yeah, but apparently, he didn't give me enough details."

"Mhhm. So, why didn't you go to school, anyway?" I asked, changing the subject.

"I told you. I was sick. My head hurt so bad, I didn't even think of calling you or Justin. But, enough about that. I wanna know what happened at school, and with you and Nathan?" She whined from the other line.

"Okay, fine. I got detention 'cau- " I started as I laid back on my pillow.

"Oh, God. What now?" She sounded used to the idea of me getting detention. Because, occasionally she gets them, too, with me.

"I only laughed at class. It's no big deal."

"Yeah. No big deal because Ms. Williams took over after school detention?"

"Exactly."

"God! I love that teacher." She said, sounding like she had a mouth full. Out of curiosity, I asked her,

"What are you-, Are you eating?"

"Yeah."

"Well, what are you eating and why the hell won't you give me some?"

"Guess." She said, still chewing whatever food is shoved inside her mouth.

"Okay. Gummy bears?"

"Yup."

"Nice." I smiled to myself, thinking if we have gummy bears in the house, too.

"So, come on, tell me what happened!"

"Yeah. Okay. I got detention, right? And it was a really bad timing because no one would wait for me. Justin had to pick up Quinn and Brittany from a party. But, I asked him to wait for me while he played football at the field. So when I was done with detention, I went to the field and had a little gross cuddling time with Noel. And they we're like, 'Oh, you two goin' out?' and it felt embarrassing!"

"I know. Nathan was there, right? Boys are so insensitive sometimes."

"Right! And I forgot my bag at the bleachers when I was with Noel. I went back for it, but then the boys we're already gone. I asked Justin to wait for me, but then he really had to go pick up the girls. So, then I thought I was alone. Little did I know, Nathan was there, waiting for me. And I actually thought it was sweet."

"Ooohh. Nathan's sweet. You know what, I'm telling you right now to not blow it this Saturday."

"You're not the only one who's hoping, sister. So, anyway, we walked, right? And I keep on telling him that Justin just wanted to leave me. And, he keeps on saying he wouldn't do that. Then he was like, "I wouldn't do that to you, either"." I said, mimicking a guy voice with the last part. "I think I was blushing there, but I hope not! I don't want anything to feel awkward, right? He told me that Noel wanted him to leave with him, but he said that he told Noel he's gonna stay and wait for me. And at that point, let me tell ya', I was this close to smiling."

In between my ranting, Jadyn managed to talk and constantly say her mmhmm's after every paragraph.

"Didn't he tell you why he's waiting for you?" She asked.

"I was getting there. You just wait. I asked him why he was waiting, and he said "just 'cause" which totally annoyed me. Then he finally said it, because he wanted to, that was his reason." I stopped to let her talk.

"Did you think that maybe he really does like you?" Once Jadyn asked that, I sighed a heavy one.

"Why? You think he does?" I closed my eyes and sighed again.

"Well, you're his type, you know." She paused to chew more. "His kind of girl. And, being your best friend, I kinda' think he might be your type, too."

"Are you serious?" I asked.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"He's not my type." I defended.

"Yes, he is. If he isn't, would you really blush like that?"

"Like what?" I asked.

"Oh, please. I know you're blushing like crazy right now."

"How can you tell if he's my type? I don't even know and it's me, myself! Gosh!"

"Well, you like guys who can play guitar, right? And, you know that he plays. You like guys who can sing. And, did you know he can?"

"Oh, my God! No. I didn't know that!" I said, sarcastically. I actually do know that. I saw him audition for the school's talent show when I was auditioning, too. Unfortunately, the show was cancelled.

"Whatever! Oh, and Justin says he's a good dancer. I don't know! He doesn't look like one." Jadyn added, and I agreed.

"So?" I asked her.

"So, you like all those things!"

"Yeah. Well... well, anybody can do those things! Like, well, like Justin Bieber!" I tried to convince her that I didn't really like Nathan.

"I know! But, you know the difference? Nathan likes you, and Justin Bieber doesn't even know you! Okay!?" She yelled.

"Fine! Okay! Fine, I get it!" I yelled back.

"You like guys who have cute smiles in their faces when you talk to them!"

"I get it! Stop!" I practically begged.

"And, you like it if they talk to you sincerely!"

"Stop!" I yelled.

"You like it when guys look in your eyes, despite the fact that you're on full tank!" She yelled, laughing. What she meant by tank was "big boobs." I don't really agree, though.

"Fine, fine! Okay! I like him! There, I said it!" I gave up.

"Finally!" She laughed to herself. "It took you long enough. Anyway, what happened next?"

"We just sat down for a while and talked."

"What did you talk about?" She asked, still chewing.

"His past relationships."

"Oh, Skye and that other demanding bimbo." She grunted.

"Yeah. Then, Kyle opened the door while we're sitting at the porch, ruining the moment." I laughed. "He was like, "Mom's on the phone!" and didn't even notice Nathan. So, we we're like saying bye to each other. Then, oh, my God! He hugged me!"

"He did not!" Jadyn asked, shocked.

"He did!"

"Oh, God! Are you serious?"

"Yes!"

"Well, did you hug back?"

"Yeah." I felt myself blush.

"Cute. I wish I saw that."

"If you did, you'd be laughing your guts out, Jadyn. You do that all the time! When there's something cute or sweet, you laugh and you blush like crazy." I told her.

"Really? I didn't know that." She said.

"Okay. Fine. You can stop the sarcasm now." I said, thinking that maybe she was mocking me from before.

"What? I'm not being sarcastic. I really didn't notice that I do that." She said, with a laugh.

"Oh. Okay, then."

I wouldn't really call this part silence. No one was talking, but I could definitely hear her chewing those Gummy Bears. And, with that, I stood up from my soft bed and walked over to the pantry of the kitchen, my phone still in my hand and pressed against my ear. I tried to look for the chewy, rainbow-colored treat, but there was none stored in our house. I may not have the deliciousness of Gummy Bears right now, but I found Sour Patch Kids and I am planning on chewing on them while talking to Jadyn.

"Oh, Bells?" She finally spoke up, still chewing.

"Yeah?" I jumped back to my bed with a bag of candies. I opened it and was about to get and eat one, but Jadyn stopped me.

"When you guys hugged, how did you feel?" She asked. I paused for a moment.

"You know, if I tell you, you wouldn't have anything left in your laugh box." I said, giving her a clue about how I felt.

"Ooh! It was that cute? If only someone was video taping you! I swear!" She said with a piercing high-pitched voice. She does that when she thinks something's sweet.

"Cute? Yeah, okay." I rolled my eyes, but my smile still wouldn't leave me.

"You know you liked it." She told me.

"Uhh." That was all I said.

"Ha! Oh, shit!" I heard something that sounded like a plastic bowl fall somewhere on the other line. "I know you liked it!"

"Well, yeah! Of course, I did!" I yelled.

"I know you did. So, okay, tell me more." She said.

"I don't know. There's nothing more to say." I thought.

"Okay, then. Do you really think you might really like him?" She asked.

"Yeah, I might. I really might." I blushed.

"Why?"

"I don't know. I mean, there's something. Remember the thing with the red crayon? The one Justin broke." I asked, referring to when we were five.

"Oh, and the 'I like you pigtails' boy! What about- Wait, don't tell me that was him." I didn't answer her. "That was Nathan!?"

"Yes! You didn't know!?"

"No!"

"How could you not know?" I asked her, laughing.

"Well, Bella, there are alot of Nathans on that school when we were five."

"Yeah, I know that. But, didn't I tell you last year that it was the Evans one?"

"No, no you didn't."

"Oh." I paused. "Well, I told you now."

"Shut up. So, that something when we were five is still there? Until now?" I kept chewing, not knowing what to say. "What!? Dude, that long? You have been crushing on him, liking him, for years!?"

"What!? No! Jadyn! That's... That's crazy! I'm not psychotic or anything." I said.

"I didn't say you were. But, how could you remember that!?"

"I don't know, Jadyn. Okay? I just do. I don't know why." I asked, suddenly annoyed.

"Maybe, you were suppose to remember." Jadyn gasped. "Like, it's destined or something."

"What? Come on. There's no su-" I paused because of the beeping sound I heard from my phone. "Wait, I got a text." I put Jadyn on speaker to check.

"Who is it? Is it Nathan?" She asked.

"Uh, yeah." I answered. "He said, 'Hi. :)'. "

"Go! Answer! Text him back! Now!" Jadyn yelled from the other line.

"No. He might think I'm too clingy or something. Plus, he might not be expecting me to text back! Or, it's not me whom he's wanting to text back!"

"You idiot. Would he text you if he doesn't want you to text him back?" I can already picture Jadyn making a face at me. "Geez, just type already!"

"What if it's a group message, and it's not me he's waiting for?" I asked, stalling.

"Was there a group message thingy written on the text?"

"No."

"Then, it's only for you. Isabella! Stop stalling and just text the damn guy back!"

"Fine, I will! Just stop yelling, okay!?"

"Whatever. Text him. Okay, I'm getting off now."

"Oh, okay. Bye."

"Text him. Okay? Promise me." She said.

"Yes, I will. I promise."

"Good girl. Tell me everything at school tomorrow."

And so, we said our goodbyes and I did what she asked me to do. I texted Nathan. Our little chat did not last long, though. But, I swear, I was blushing the whole time. We were talking about our "date" or hang-out this Saturday. I asked him what time, and where, but he still haven't decided yet.

An hour later, I finished all my homework and went to bed. Before I turned off my lamp, I wished for something. I wished that I will dream about him. I know, it's kind of stupid and clichѐ. But, I'm a girl. I have needs.