You're the Reason I Can't Sleep at Night

I didn’t feel like going out with everyone tonight, especially not after yesterday. So I was home alone.
I pulled out one of my favorite books and turned my ipod on, smiling at how cozy my new room already felt….

I woke up to the sound of someone moaning. “Ugh, Vic,” I glared up at the ceiling and pulled the headphones out of my ears; my ipod was dead now. I set it on the bedside table, along with the book I had lost my page in, and fell back against the pillow.
I heard Vic moan loudly, the sound sending little shivers through me. Ugh, curse him and his hotness. “Fuck,”
I fought the urge to beat on the wall until they shut up, and covered my face with my other pillow.
The sounds didn’t stop; whoever he was with ceaselessly screaming all night.
I peeked out from under the edge of my pillow and glared at the clock on my table. 3:29 am.
“Go the fuck to sleep,” I muttered and pressed the pillow down onto myself. Maybe I could just suffocate to death.
“Stop,” I whined as Vic moaned, louder this time. “Ugh, Sadie,” I pressed the pillow down again, daring it to kill me.
“Ah, fuck!”
I hated myself for liking how hot he sounded. Him and his stupid allure.
They both screamed, and then all of the noises stopped. “Thank god,” I let the other pillow fall to the side and closed my eyes, grateful for the silence. ~

I rolled out of bed, my body refusing to sleep anymore. The whole house was quiet, probably due to the abundance of hangovers.
I went down the steps slowly, yawning widely. Vic was already in the kitchen, along with some blonde girl who was wearing his clothes.
I rolled my eyes and walked right passed them to the fridge, and poured a glass of water for myself. “Hey Kell,” Vic said, smiling at me.
“Hi,” I sounded way more annoyed than I tried to, Vic raising his eyebrows at me. “Is there a problem?” he asked smugly; the little fucker.
“Not I would’ve gotten any sleep last night,” He laughed a little and smirked at me. “Funny, I didn’t get much either,” I glared and flipped him off, heading back to my room.
“Hey Kellin,” Alex said, a bright smile on his lips. “Hi,” He made a face, smiling at my unhappy demeanor. “What crawled up your ass?” I glared at him and nodded towards the stairs. “Vic and his skank are downstairs,”
Alex laughed at me. “I see; well, maybe you should find someone to sleep with and you won’t be so crotchety,” he offered.
“I’m not crotchety,” I said defensively. “No, you’re jealous,” I groaned and leant back against my door. “Does everyone know?” I whined. “No, just me, and especially not Vic. He’s oblivious,”
I sighed softly, his words truer than he knew. “So, you should find someone to go out with. God only knows the last time you got any,” I glared at him again.
“It hasn’t been that long,” I mumbled, even though it had. “Oh really? When did you and Matty break up? January? So six months at the most?” I pouted, hating that he was always right. Especially because I was really lonely…. Vic liked random hookups, whereas I liked really long, committed relationships. Matty and I had been dating for 10 months.
“Okay, okay, we’ll see,” Alex rolled his eyes. “No we won’t. Not if you keep pining after Vic,” he said and walked off towards the kitchen. I walked into my room, noticing that my phone was vibrating. ‘Jamie’
“Hello?” I asked. The name seemed familiar, but I couldn’t figure out why. “Hey, Kellin, it’s Jamie. We met at the club the other night,” a girl said, sparking my memory.
“Oh, right, okay. Hi,” I smiled to myself, relieved that I could remember her. “Hey. Do you wanna hang out today?” she asked. “Um, sure, where?” I really needed to get out of the house. I didn’t even want to look at Vic.
Maybe I could look for a job too. “Just on the boardwalk. There are some shops I want to go to,” she said. “Okay, sure. I could meet you somewhere. I live on the beachfront,”
I walked out onto the balcony, smiling as the breeze blew my hair around. “Yeah, how about…the little gypsy boutique right in the middle?” Jamie suggested.
“Sure. Is 11 okay? I have to shower,” The wind picked up a little, carrying the sea smell with it. I smiled again. “Sure thing. I’ll see you then,” I hung up and walked back into my room after a minute.
It was such a nice day out. I grabbed some clothes to wear and left the safety of my room to get in the shower. Vic and Alex were down there (alone this time), along with Ash, who had her fluffy pink robe on and her hair piled up on her head.
“Hung over?” I asked sympathetically. She nodded and sipped her coffee, holding her head gingerly. “I have some Advil up in my room if you want it,” She gave me a little ‘thumbs up’ and then rested her head on her arm.
I smiled and ran down the steps to shower….
“Don’t you look nice,” Vic teased, leaning against the doorjamb. “Where you going?” I brushed my wet hair quickly, running a little late. “Out; I’m meeting someone,” I said and slipped my shoes on. I had made sure they matched my outfit, grey instead of black.
“Oh? With who?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. “Why, are you jealous?” I smirked at him and flattened the front of my shirt. “No. I was just curious. You seem to be putting a lot of effort in trying to look good,”
I shrugged lightly. “I do this every time I go out. You just don’t see it.” Vic nodded and followed me with his eyes as I walked out of the bathroom. “You never answered who you were going with,” he said, surprisingly suspicious.
“Jamie,” He looked kind of surprised by that. “Seriously? I thought you had a date or something,” I laughed and shook my head.
“When’s the last time I had a date?” I teased and walked up the steps. Vic followed after me. “You could go on dates if you wanted to,” he said.
“Not if no one wants to date me,” Vic made a face and continued to follow me around. “Vic, you can’t follow me, I’m leaving now,” he pouted a little.
“You don’t want me to come with you?” he teased. “Nope, it’s just us girls,” He rolled his eyes at me as I left.
I walked quickly, trying to get there as fast as I could. “You’re late,” Jamie said, fake scowling at me. “I know, I know, my shower went a little long,”
Jamie smirked and flicked her eyebrows. “Ew, not like that you pervert,” She laughed and shook her head. “So, where to?” She looked around, scrunching her mouth to the side.
“Um…here,” Jamie took my hand, dragging me along behind her. She pulled me into some all women’s shop, smirking as I wrinkled my nose.
“Aw, c’mon Kell, you’re gay, you’re supposed to like shopping,” she teased. “That’s a horrible stereotype. Although I do like shopping when it’s not all girls’ clothes,” Jamie laughed and let go of me to look at some scarves. I could see a flower tattoo on her shoulder blade, revealed by the top she had on, along with another part of it that disappeared into her shirt.
“You don’t know how many times I’ve heard ‘what guy hurt you?’” Jamie said, making a fake-concerned face at me. I laughed and shook my head.
“Have you ever said that a guy’s attractive, and someone was like ‘I thought you were gay’” She laughed nodded. “It’s so irritating. Like, I think this scarf is pretty. Doesn’t mean I’m sexually attracted to this scarf,” I laughed lightly.
“What do you think?” she asked and wrapped one o the longer ones around her neck. “I like the blue one,” she made that same thinking face from before and then tried the blue one on. “Why blue?” she asked.
“I don’t know, it’s a pretty shade. And it makes your eyes stand out,” She seemed satisfied with that and draped the scarf over her arm. “You know, boys do wear scarves,” Jamie offered.
“Yeah, but not those kind; I have never seen a boy wear a pink scarf with flowers on it before. Gay or not,”
Jamie laughed and tossed the scarf back onto the rack. “I tried.” I rolled my eyes at her and followed her over to the racks of shirts.
I picked up one that only had one sleeve, the other looking like it would fall of the shoulder. “What about this?” I asked.
“Hm…that’s actually cute. Where did you find that?” I pointed to the rack I was next to, kind of proud of myself; even if I had just grabbed one.
I handed it to her, watching as she held it in front of herself and stared at it in the mirror. “What do you think?” she asked, frowning when I shrugged.
“I just picked one. They do have changing rooms.” Jamie sighed and draped the shirt over her arm too. “Well then, let’s find a pair of shorts,” she said and walked over to the racks full of pants.
She skimmed though them, coming back with a pair of dark blue shorts. “These?” I nodded and smiled at her. “Go try them,” She smiled at the encouragement and walked off towards the changing rooms, picking up a pair of wedge heels on the way.
I laughed at her and sat down on the pink, funny-shaped chair to wait for her. “Excuse me? What are you doing?” someone asked. I turned and looked at the girl behind me, her face twisted up in a sneer.
“This is a girl’s boutique,” she said, popping her gum at me. “I’m waiting for my friend,” I said innocently. “Oh, really?” She didn’t sound like she believed me.
“Yeah, really. She’s trying some things on,” The girl made a face and rolled her eyes before walking away. “Who was that?” I whipped around to Jamie, startled.
“Some bitchy girl,” She nodded a little and made a face before looking back at me. “So?” She asked and twirled once. “You look good,” She had used the scarf as a belt, the ends of it brushing a few inches above her left knee. The whole outfit accentuated her curves, the shoes making her look taller than she was. She was actually kind of short.
“Really? I don’t know if I like the scarf,” I nodded and smiled up at her. “You look really nice. I like it,” Jamie smiled and looked at herself in the mirror again before heading back to change. “Is she your girlfriend?” the same girl asked, standing near me again. “Do you want something?”
She sneered and rolled her eyes. “All I did was ask a question,” she said. “So, you don’t know me, and you didn’t ask politely,” I stood up, walking towards the changing room just as Jamie was coming out.
“Hey. I’m gonna buy these, then we can go,” I nodded and stuck my tongue out at the girl childishly. Jamie laughed and shook her head, setting her stuff on the counter.
“Is that all?” an older woman asked and moved the clothes closer to her.
“Mhm,” She smiled at both of us and rang everything up. “You two make such a cute couple,” she said.
Jamie and I looked at each other, reigning in a few giggles. “Thank you,” Jamie said and took my hand. She twined our fingers together cutely and then handed the woman her debit card.
“Thank you,” I picked up the bag for her and waited until she had her wallet back in her purse. We walked out of the shop, hand-in-hand and the turned out of view before busting up laughing.
“Oh my god, she thought—ahaha,” We both bent over laughing, people looking at us funny. We tried to stop, giggling still as we walked. “That was great. I kinda whished we had told her we were gay. Could you imagine the look on her face?”
I laughed and shook my head.
“I wonder if anyone’s hiring,” I mused, looking at all of the little shops we passed. “Are you looking for a job?” Jamie asked. “Mhm, I have to help pay bills somehow,” She nodded a little, thinking again.
“I could maybe get you a job,” she said. “Seriously, where?” She took my hand again and started walking in the other direction. “My friend owns this little coffee/bakery thing. I don’t think he’d mind hiring you,” I chewed my lip lightly.
“But what if he’s not hiring?” She rolled her eyes. “Then it gives him an excuse to fire Karen. She literally does no work, if she even shows up,”
That was kind of reassuring, although I’d feel bad if I took someone else’s job.
“Here,” Jamie said and led me into a little bakery. “Jamie,” Some very attractive boy walked over to us, a smile on his lips.
“Hey, hey,” I stood beside her awkwardly as they kissed each other’s cheeks.
“Aus, this is Kellin,” Jamie said, a smile on her lips. He held his hand out to me, a welcoming smile on his lips. “Hi Kellin, I’m Austin. I own this,” he said and gestured around him.
I smiled back and shook his hand gently. He was really tall and lanky with sides-wept brown hair and matching eyes. He was cute too, and smelled like cinnamon.
“So, what’s up?” Jamie smiled and then looked at me. “I was wondering if you had a job open,” Austin looked at her warily. “No way am I hiring you back. Don’t you remember nearly burning the place down?” Jamie gave him a sheepish grin. “Not for me. Kellin just moved here, and he’s too chicken to ask you,” she said.
“I am not,” I glared at her, pouting a little. “Oh, whatever. Could you maybe hire him?” she asked, batting her long eyelashes. “Don’t do that at me,” Austin said and looked me over.
“Are you going to burn the shop down?” he asked. “I would hope not. I don’t really know a lot about baking though.” Austin shrugged and waved it off.
“That’s what training’s for. But you two are so lucky ‘cause Carson quit like a week ago.” Jamie grinned and hugged him tightly. “Thanks,” I said softly. Austin nodded and little and tried to pry himself out of Jamie’s arms.
“Can you start next week? I’ll give you a copy of the manual and shit and you can learn up? I’ll need to hire someone by then,” I nodded and grinned.
“I would love to,” Austin smiled and held up a finger before walking behind the counter and disappearing into the kitchen. “Thanks Jamie,”
She grinned and nodded. “You got me a new outfit, so I got you a job,” I laughed lightly as Austin came back.
“Here you are,” he handed me a paper bag with two little handles at the top, laughing as I nearly dropped it. “There’s like three books in there,” he said.
“Okay. Um, thank you,” That was a lot simpler than I thought it would be. “Believe me; you’re helping me more than I am you. Just skim through those. You won’t start off baking anything, so it’ll give you more time to learn. You’ll mostly just be serving and working the register—you can do that, right?” I nodded simply. I had worked at a book store all though collage.
“Alright, cool. Now you,” he said to Jamie. “I want you to come visit me more.” Jamie saluted him, laughing when he rolled his eyes. “Get out,” he said, grinning and waved us away.
I smiled and tugged Jamie out of the bakery. “So, that settles that. Let’s go get ice cream,” I nodded and followed her down the boardwalk towards my house.
She led me to a small ice cream stand, insisting that I get mint-cookie dough. “Mint and cookie dough?” I asked. I liked both of them, but they sounded kind of funny together.
“Yes, it’s delicious,” she said back and looked at the guy scooping it for us.
“Thanks,” We had both paid for our own, and walked over to one of the tables set up across from it. “Okay, I wanna see your face when you try it. And honestly, it’s not weird. It’s like mint-chocolate cookies, but as ice cream,”
I sighed and took a bite, pleasantly surprised. It was actually really good and not overpowering the way I had expected.
“You like it, don’t you? Admit it,”
I grinned and nodded. “Okay, it’s really good,” She grinned in triumph and took a bite of her own. “It’s so pretty out today.” I nodded my agreement and looked out at the waves.
They were a very crisp color blue today, the tide a bit higher than before. “So, what have you been up to?” Jamie asked randomly.
“Nothing really. Apparently I kissed Vic after you left,” She raised her eyebrows, swallowing her ice cream.
“And that’s just coming up now?” I nodded guiltily. “I don’t even remember doing it. He told me the next morning,” Jamie made a face, playing with her spoon.
“Did he say anything about it?” I shook my head. “Only that I kissed him. What about you? Did you find someone to go home with?” I asked.
“Yeah, actually, but it wasn’t very good. I talked to my girlfriend too, who was apparently cheating on me,” I frowned around a bite of ice cream.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “Eh, oh well. We hadn’t really been dating long anyways,” she said. “Hm…what do you want to do?” I asked, glancing at the time on my phone.
“It’s only 2,” Jamie shrugged and pushed her hair out of face. “We could go to your place. I wouldn’t mind getting a tan,” I laughed at her.
“Okay then, my house it is. I think Ash would let you borrow a bathing suit,” I said. “Who’s Ash?” she asked. “One of my housemates. I live with five other people. Vic included,” She nodded slowly.
“Come on,” I followed after her, the two of us finishing our ice cream as we walked. “Which one’s yours?” she asked as we walked past some houses.
“Near the end,” I took her hand and led her he way that I had come. “This one,” Jamie looked it over, an impressed expression on her face. “Damn, how do you afford this?” I laughed and led her around the back to the kitchen.
“I don’t. We all share it. That’s why I needed to get a job,” I explained and slid the door open.
“Hey Kellin, who’s this?” Ash asked, dressed now. “Jamie, I met her at the club the other night. Jamie this is Ash,” she smiled and waved at her.
“Could she borrow one of your swim suits?” Ash nodded and waved for Jamie to follow her. “Who was that?” I rolled my eyes at Mike.
“That was Jamie; a friend of mine,” He nodded a little and got a soda from the fridge. “Vic’s looking for you. Poor idiot didn’t know what to do with himself,”
I laughed and shook my head lightly as I walked into the living room. “Kellin,” I smiled and Vic and fell onto the couch next to him. “Heard you couldn’t live without me,” I teased.
“That’s not what I said,” Mike shrugged and fell into the armchair. “You were still being all whiny ‘cause he wasn’t here,” I smiled to myself, kind of pleased to hear that.
“Well you can come swim with Jamie and I. Ash is letting her borrow a bathing suit,”
Mike looked over then. “Jamie is going swimming? Do you mind if I join you?” he asked, Vic rolling his eyes.
“Down boy,” he teased. “Sure, I don’t think she’ll mind,” I giggled a little, thinking of how funny it would be to see Mike hit on Jamie.
“What?” Vic asked, looking at me. “Nothing,” He must’ve forgotten that Jamie was gay. “Hey, are you ready?” Ash leaned into the room, smiling at us.
She and Jamie both had bikinis on, so I guessed she had talked Ash into sunbathing with her. “Well then go get changed,” I smiled and walked passed them, Vic and Mike following like little lost puppies.
They both glanced at Jamie, the pervs. Neither of them would dare look at Ash that way or she’d beat their heads in.
“Hurry up Kellin,” Mike whined as he followed me up the steps. “Oh, you want me to walk slower?”
He groaned and poked my back. “Come on Kell,” I rolled my eyes and moved out of the way to let him walk to my room. “I’m kind of excited to see Jamie ruin his day. Is that bad?” Vic asked, smiling as I laughed and shook my head.
“You’re not the only one.” We both walked into our rooms and changed quickly, Vic rolling his eyes when he saw the tank top I had on.
“What? I burn easily. Not everyone can have a natural tan,” He grinned and waved me towards the stairs. “’S not my fault you’re clear,” I flipped him off and grabbed a bottle of water before heading out to the beach.
The girls were already laid out on blankets, their eyes closed as they talked. “Hey,” I fell down beside Ash so that I wouldn’t block the sun from Jamie.
“Hi,” She opened her eyes and smiled at me. “Did you want some sunscreen?” I shook my head lightly. I didn’t burn that easily, plus I was planning to do more than just sit.
Mike walked out then, a little smug look on his face. “Hi,” he sat down by Jamie, who opened her eyes and looked him over. “Hi,” He smiled at her.
“So—“You do have a dick, right?” Jamie cut him off. Mike nodded confusedly, Vic, Ash, and I all giggling. “Then I’m not interested,” We all started laughing, Mike glaring at me specifically.
“You guys suck. Why didn’t you tell me?” he whined. “B-because-se you didn’t give m-e a chance.” He rolled his eyes and sat back in the sand.
“Where are Alex and Jack?” I asked. “They went shopping too. I think Alex was kinda bummed you didn’t invite him along,” I grimaced, having not even thought of that.
“He can go next time. Besides, I had to get to know Jamie better,” She smiled brightly at me.
“So, who wants to go swimming?” ~