𝙢𝙮 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨, 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨 ( 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙡 )

𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙧

CHAPTER FOUR

all eyes on us

i couldn't sleep that night. all i did was squirm around in my bed like i was struggling to escape the blanket's grip, and for hours on end. i attempted many tactics: of course daydreaming, then when that didn't work, deep breathing, playing rain sounds, and i even started to count sheep. something was nagging at my subconscious mind, gluing my eyes open and taping the light switch in my brain on.

i knew on some level it was about the... unique day i had just experienced. walker hadn't left my thoughts. i kept repeating our conversations over and over. i wanted to stop, but my mind wouldn't let me. it was almost like it needed to memorize each and every word before it would let me sleep.

it probably took around two hours for me to finally get some shut-eye. and when i opened my eyes to my alarm screaming at me, the only motivation i had to go to school was the fact that i had a cute outfit picked out. i dragged myself out of bed and struggled to walk to the bathroom with the small amount of hours i got.

once i was all set, i shut off my "getting ready for school" playlist, which was basically all metal rock that would make me feel both awake and like i'm in one of those movie montages where the main character is having a glow up, and headed into my parents room. my dad was always in an alarmingly deep sleep where he wouldn't even wake up if the whole roof caved in on him. so it was always up to my mom to drive me to school.

"i cannot wait until you get your driver's license. getting up at seven every day is rough," said mom as she turned into the school's campus.

"i know what you mean..." my voice trailed off. as more of the main building was revealed, so was more and more of the bustling crowd of paparazzi in front of it. "oh my."

"what's going on here?" my mom made an impromptu decision to make a sharp turn left to the back parking lot, where there were usually more spots, because there was no way she could have found one if she stayed there.

"it's a long story," i told her with equivocation.

"well that explains it." she rolled her eyes. "what, was there another kid with the singing voice of a mountain goat that went viral?"

"no! have you heard about the child actor that moved back here?"

"i haven't! that's quite the story."

"yea. i sit next to him in chem. he's actually really nice."

she pulled into an open spot, which was actually pretty hard to come across. i guess everyone had the same idea as us. "why would he be going here," mom questioned me.

"i've been wondering that myself." i looked at the clock. twenty minutes until i was forced to hear mrs fennel's raucous voice. turning to my mom, i said, "alright. love you," and let myself out of the car.