R i l e y

T W O: S L E E P L E S S

© Amber Lee 2020

Song: "Sick Child" By Siouxsie and The Banshees

T W O: S L E E P L E S S

"...And now we add the coconut into the mix," An overly cheerful voice informed the audience, "You really have to use fresh coconut. It really just adds so much to the flavor."

"It really does!" Another voice chimed in.

With a simple twitch of my finger, the channel changed off the cooking show to some 70's horror flick that I didn't recognize. Some girl was screaming as she ran through the woods with some guy with an axe chasing after her. I think she was even in a bikini. To be honest, my eyesight was too blurry to even see her clearly. I really just wanted to sleep but I was pretty sure that option was becoming less and less possible with each passing hour.

My eyelids were getting heavy but every time I actually managed to fall asleep, I would jerk myself awake only minutes later. It was nearing four in the morning now and in three hours I would have to be up and getting ready for school. I shuddered at the idea of school. It was becoming increasingly difficult to even find the will to get out of a lying position, let alone actually go to another place. Oh god, and the people. I would have to talk to people there. I hated that.

The piercing scream of the bikini girl filled the room and my whole body jerked. I realized that without my even being aware I had fallen asleep for a few seconds. I sat up and ran a hand down my sweaty face and grimaced. I was already down to just a pair of sweat shorts and a sports bra but I was still sweating like a pig. I squinted at the nearby rotating fan with annoyance. Why was it not cooling me down? Wasn't that its whole purpose in the first place?

Pushing my sluggish body upright, I let out a groan when everything along my spine cracked. I sunk down into the couch and felt a sleeping grin slip across my face. I needed that. I hadn't been able to sleep in my bed for a few days now and the couch was killing me. Though at least I wasn't subjected to nightmares on my short naps on the couch. Reaching up, I tightened the bun on the top of my head and smacked my dry lips together as my mind already drifted towards a different subject.

Brent came to mind and I grimaced. He still hadn't gotten the idea to leave me alone. In fact, all of the week before he had kept showing up to give me a ride to school. I didn't take the rides but I was certain that with it being Monday again, he would be outside waiting again. I had escaped him over the weekend but that's because I refused to leave the house. I was also pretty sure Lynn would be on me about how I was feeling. I had been dealing with a migraine all week and she was starting to get worried.

The idea of begging my mom for a ride to school and then hiding in the library during lunch came to mind but I quickly pushed it away. Half of the yearbook committee met in the library during lunch most days and the last thing I wanted was to listen to Othello Reed try to talk to me about joining said committee.

I'd rather lobotomize myself in the eyeball with a pencil.

Turning my attention back to the TV, I watched the axe murderer pull his axe from the bikini girl's mutilated corpse with the same apathy he had. I wasn't a fan of horror movies. It wasn't that gore grossed me out. It was the fact that they seemed so repetitious. Group of teens go to a lake or summer camp. People have sex. Mysterious and usually masked murder shows up and kills them one by one until only the girl who can scream the loudest leaves to carry on the franchise. I just didn't see the appeal but it was mind-numbing enough for me to maybe fall asleep to.

Once the movie was over though I knew it just wasn't going to work. It was nearing four in the morning and sleep was being as elusive as ever. I closed my eyes and tried to count sheep but my mind was so fried I only got to twenty before I started thinking about my physics homework. I slapped my hands onto my face and let out a sting of muttered swears before opening my eyes again. This just wasn't going to work.