Dakota was silent. She stared at her ceiling, occasionally counting sheep and taking deep breaths. It was yet another sleepless night for the young insomniac. These nights were nothing new, and she learnt to live with it.
It was all good until strange knocking sounds came from her window. She pulled the curtains apart and leaned out of her bed to look. The sight of stones bouncing off her window made her rub her eyes in disbelief. Somebody was throwing... stones?
She grabbed her spectacles and put it on to take a closer look. Surely this wasn't another prank by Walter? He loved to play with Dakota, because she was simply so gullible.
Indeed, it was a boy- but no, it wasn't Walter.
He wore a tight lipped smile, and he wouldn't stop throwing the stones even as she looked.
"What do you want?" She shouted, pushing her window open.
"Meet me downstairs in three."
She just shut her window tight, and pulled the curtains together. He must be crazy - she had absolutely no reason to meet a stranger in the middle of the night.
She hopped into her bed and pulled the duvet up her face, wishing that she could go to sleep now. A sensible part of her told her to stay here but her curiosity was getting the best out of her. She was dying to go downstairs.
She did the latter, anyway.
That instant she swung her door open, she saw his back. Walking around in her hallway, as if it was an exhibition.
A thief, she thought.
She jumped at the chance when he wasn't looking, and quietly locked her door shut, pressing her ear firmly on the door to hear his footsteps. She didn't even realise she was biting on her knuckles in anxiety.
What was she supposed to do? Her parents were fast asleep, and nobody else would rush to her rescue in the wee hours of the night.
She heard the footsteps getting louder, and his presence began to be clear when she heard him stop in his tracks - right at her doorstep. Her body quivered in fear as the thought of the worst that could happen. There was a moment of silence as Dakota waited for him to make his move.
"Come on out, you can't even recognize your old friend?"
Undoubtedly, it was Javier's voice. Dakota knew it well, because that was the voice of the childhood friend whom she misses. She hesitated, and put her hand to her mouth when she almost blurted out his name. What if it wasn't Javier? What if it was her imagination?
"Javier?" Her voice was merely audible.
"Daks. It's me."
It's him. Only he would call her that.
The door creaked open, with Javier awaiting right in front of her.
"Hi, Javier." She smiled.
He held the keys up and threw it over to her. It dawned on her that she told him where the extra pair of keys were - under the doormat.
"Hi, Daks." He had a strange tone in his voice. Something about him was just amiss, but Dakota shrugged it off. Everyone else looks weird and tired at 2a.m.
"Do you want to come in? My parents are asleep and I don't think they'll be happy," she whispered.
"Sure," he smiled, his pupils growing darker as he entered her room. She just patted on the spot beside her, beckoning him to sit.
His presence alone simply made her feel tired. Weak, in fact.
She yawned continuously as they striked up conversations. Javier wouldn't stop talking about the past. Dakota was excited to see him, and in fact far more excited to talk to him - but she was getting extremely exhausted by now.
For the first time, she fell asleep naturally.
