Love Arrows

Sleepless Nights

Chapter 22: Sleepless nights

            I really wasn’t looking forward to Lena helping me with my math today. When she sees me she’ll immediately see that something wrong, and then press me for answers that i can only partly give. She always knows when I lie, although she pretends that she doesn’t notice which then in cosequance hurts her. I don’t even have to read her emotions to know that.

Yesterday had left a mark on me. I had dark circles around my eyes because of all the nightmares I had last night. I kept on dreaming about a pair of blue eyes chasing me around and around, and Calvin’s heart broken face kept on blocking me from getting away from the eyes.

I also had pain in my chest. Not as strong as yesterday, since it faded slightly, but it was still there, reminding me that I was a failure. I couldn’t stand knowing that I could have prevented this, and that right now Mia and Calvin could have been a happy couple.

I had tried to eat breakfast earlier, but I only managed to swallow a couple of bites. The guilt was constricting my throat.

Now I was sitting listlessly on my bed waiting for Lena to come. When the door bell rang I slowly got up, and trudged down the stairs to open the door.  I found Lena on my porch carrying two huge books. She gave me a bright smile, and I weakly returned it, which made her frown in worry.

“What’s wrong, Will?” Was the first thing she said.

“Not even a hello, how are you doing?” I said joking half-heartedly.

She stared me down until I spoke.

“I didn’t get much sleep last night. Come on in. We’ll go up to my room.”

I could see from her face that she knew I was only telling the half truth, but she still let me usher her in, and we walked up the stairs towards my room. Lena was studying the house as she followed me, since it was the first time she ever set foot in it. We got to my room, and immediately she went towards the bed on which she bounced a couple of times.

“Hmmm… I approve. Your bed is bouncy enough.” She said seriously.

That got a smile out of me. “I’m glad it fits your standard.”

She got off the bed and started walking around my room. I nervously watched her snoop through all my stuff hoping she wouldn’t find anything strange. It’s not like I’m hiding dead bodies or anything in my closet, but I’m not sure she would appreciate the dirty clothes I quickly shoved under my bed, before she arrived. She picked up a picture frame, with a picture of Kim and I. Kim was a Asian-American, with hazel eyes and a pixie styled face that was surrounded by short dark black hair with a fringe.

“Who’s this?” Lena asked curiously.

“That’s Kim. She’ll be arriving Friday morning.” I said with a happy smile.

Lena studied me for a second and said, “You really miss her don’t you?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Yeah, I guess. We’ve been friends for so long, I can barely remember life without her.”

Lena nodded and put the frame down. “Did anything ever happen between you to?” She asked nonchalantly.

“What do you mean?” I asked confusedly.

“You know. Romantically.”

“No, Kim and I are just best friends, just like you and me. No romance involved.” I explained.

For some reason Lena scowled at that, but didn’t say a thing. She glanced around the room one more time before she turned to me. “So ready to study?” She asked, the scowl completely gone from her face.