insomnia [✔]

scene. iv

Heart pounding, Madeleine pushed open the door of her room and... bumped into Jason who was waiting for her precisely in front of the door. He cursed in surprise and pain, and then his eyes widened when he realized the girl had fallen on top of him. He froze, stammering, cursed in a low voice as he was embarrassed. At the same time, Madeleine came to her senses, and when she realized that she was slumped over Jason, and that the boy had caught her by the waist, she felt like banging her forehead against the wall. She moved away immediately, tore herself away from the embrace of the young man involuntarily.

When both of them were up, they awkwardly tried to explain themselves, then agreed on the resolution never to talk about what had just happened again. At the time, Madeleine even considered erasing these memories from Jason's memory, then she scolded herself, telling herself that it wasn't fair. And then, she reassured herself by thinking that she could always do it later, if it became too annoying. Finally, Jason told her that Gar had instructed him to accompany her to the great hall where the three of them would have dinner.

The dark-haired girl nodded, and without further ado, Jason set off in order to lead her to the appointed place. As they walked side by side, making sure to maintain some distance, Madeleine noticed that Jason was wearing a rather classy black shirt. She smiled softly thinking that it must have been Gar's influence that had led her to dress that way. The green haired boy seemed to be trying so hard ever since she met him. Or maybe he was just a cheerful, strong-willed person, attentive to others, according to the quality he had attributed to him.

Jason and Gar seemed, to Madeleine, complete opposites. Gar was sweet and friendly, where Jason seemed cheeky and impulsive. But if they both lived here, it could not be ruled out that sooner or later they would end up influencing each other beyond their expectations.

Finally, the two young people entered a large room in the middle of which stood a majestic long table surrounded by magnificent armchairs. The table had been decorated, and Madeleine frowned slightly when she noticed this. Was it Gar who had done all this? She felt a bit sorry for being the cause of such an investment. The young man had taken so much trouble! Jason, meanwhile, had no such scruples. He pulled out a chair and with a nod of his head invited Madeleine to sit on it, then he went to sit on the other side of the table, opposite her. The seat at the end of the table would go to Gar, the girl supposed. She smiled at Jason, but Jason turned his face away so that Madeleine couldn't see that he was blushing.

Gar finally appeared, carrying a cast of Italian-style grilled vegetables at arm's length. His appearance lasted barely a minute, as he immediately returned to where he had come from after placing the dish on the table. Jason coughed, then declared out loud that he would go help his buddy. Madeleine wanted to join them, but Jason protested by replying that she was their guest. Madeleine smiled politely, though she would have found it less awkward to participate in the effort. She waited for a quarter of an hour and when the two young men finally returned, they were bringing pizzas. She immediately got down to making room on the table, and Gar thanked her with a smile. He finally saw her, and when he took the time to observe her, his smile disappeared: the boy was captivated. Perplexed by his reaction, Madeleine wanted to break the ice by complimenting him on the beautiful white linen shirt he was wearing.

"Thank you" Gar hastened to reply "your...your dress isn't bad either... I mean..."

"I feel like it's too much..." laughed Madeleine, embarrassed.

"No way!" the two boys replied at the same time, then they exchanged bewildered looks.

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"Wow! It's really good" exclaimed Madeleine who had just tasted a portion of grilled vegetables "Bravo, Gar!"

"Oh no, it's not that's good..." the boy smiled humbly, both embarrassed and touched by the compliment she had just paid him.

Meanwhile, Jason was eating quietly, but was nonetheless attentive to what others were saying. The green-haired boy was chatting happily with their guest. The atmosphere was warm, despite the storm. Besides, the storm seemed to have died down. The roar of thunder became less violent, only rain poured down in torrents. But Madeleine paid no more attention to it, she was in such good company!

"So...what are you doing in San Francisco these days?" asked Gar during a conversation, there was time for questions he wanted to ask Madeleine. He knew full well that she wouldn't tell him about her problems, but he still wanted to welcome the little she would confide in him.

"Well...I work in a small vegan cafe. We also make great plant-based almond milk drinks!" declared Madeleine.

"Sounds great" smiled Gar.

"Isn't it! There's always a lot of people. But... you're a vegetarian, aren't you? to make you a friend's price" answered Madeleine.

"That would be really nice, thanks" said Gar "do you make oat milk cortado too?"

"It's our specialty!" replied Madeleine with a wink.

"Then that might be cool. I'll remember that," Gar promised with a smug little smile that Jason quickly noticed.

"The offer also applies to you" offered Madeleine, seeing that Jason was showing signs of a bad mood.

"Thanks, but no thanks. Not really my thing," the boy replied.

"As you wish" smiled Madeleine, shrugging her shoulders.

While eating, the dark haired girl resisted the urge to explore the thoughts of her potential new friends. It would have been simpler, but surely less sympathetic. She preferred to discover them little by little, gradually getting to know them. On the other hand, she felt a stronger interest in Gar. He reminded her of things she knew, and caused feelings of deja vu. Then she thought maybe it was because the current was going pretty well between them. A natural complicity seemed to creep in over their discussions.

"So, you and Madeleine are friends?" Jason asked, addressing Gar.

"Of course!" the green-haired boy assured himself that it wasn't really a lie since he and Madeleine had known each other for much longer than that.

"Are you leaving tomorrow?" Jason said, this time to the young woman.

"That's right. If the elements don't have the idea to go wild as we saw today. Are you in a hurry to see me go?" Madeleine smiled.

"Sorry, Jason isn't very…" Gar interjected, afraid there was a misunderstanding.

"No way !" Jason interrupted "I just thought it was too bad your friend wasn't staying longer"

"Oh that's...she's not like that," Gar answered, smiling nervously.

"Yes, that's it! I wouldn't want to disturb. And then on Monday, I'm going back to work so..." said Madeleine, contaminated by Gar's stress.

"You two have things to hide...you lie very badly. Seriously, stop." Jason said.

"But, we're not lying to you." Gar promised.

"Never mind. I don't care..." Jason declared and left the table, without explaining himself.