Insomnia

Chapter 16

I woke up the next morning with the sun shining through the window. It was providing the only light in the dark hotel room. I sat up and rubbed my eyes sleepily. I noticed Cal wasn't in the bed anymore, and my face turned red. I had forgotten that we both had fallen asleep while watching The Lion King.

I got up and stretched before going to the bathroom. When I came out, I noticed a card folded on the bed. I picked it up and read it. It was just a note from Cal explaining how today was his first meeting, so Bill, Laura, Noah, and him would be gone for a few hours. He told me he left money in case I was hungry, and advised me not to leave the hotel room.

I looked around the dark hotel room in disappointment. Even with all of its fancy features, the room seemed pretty drab. Without Cal here, I realized there was no way I was going to able to spend my entire day in here. I suddenly thought back to things we had passed when we were driving to the hotel and remembered a small fair in town.

I smiled when I remembered Cal promised that we would probably visit it some time during our stay. Of course, I had no intention of waiting. I quickly changed clothing and pocketed the money before heading out the door.

When I got down to the lobby, I thought of asking for a cab. I decided I was too shy to ask and remembered the fair not being too far away. After walking around the forest for years, I figured I had a pretty good sense of direction.

I placed the sunglasses Cal bought for me over my eyes when I got outside. It wasn't as hot as yesterday, but I could definitely feel the sun's effects on me. It felt like the heat intensified as I started to walk away from the hotel. I almost felt bad for not listening to Cal and staying in the hotel room. Then I remembered that I'm practically an adult, and I really didn't need to follow Cal's every instructions.

I asked a few people along the way to point me in the right direction. It didn't take that long for me to start seeing groups of people heading in one direction down the street, so I followed them. I eventually got to a larger gate, which held many stands and attractions behind it. I only knew of these from what Cal had told me about them.

I awkwardly stood in a line behind many groups of people talking. I realized I really had no good reason to be here. Why couldn't I have just listened to Cal and stayed in the hotel? It was too late for me to turn back when I got up to the man who was selling tickets. He asked me how many tickets I wanted, and I said one. He told some random cash amount, and I awkwardly fumbled through the cash Cal let me before handing him one of the bills. The man looked a bit annoyed before handing me some of the cash back and the entry ticket.

I pocketed the money again and entered the fair. Even in the daytime, the multiple colors of flashing lights caught my attention. I just continued to walk as people around me got on the rides and bought different food items.

The scents of many different food items caught my attention. I could buy whatever I wanted here. Of course, none of the items seemed very healthy for breakfast, but Cal wasn't here to hold me back today.

I ended up ordering some sort of sweet dish that I already forgot the name of. It had a sugary powder on it and was difficult to eat while walking, so I sat down. I was about halfway through eating it when someone started to talk to me.

"Excuse me, do you mind if we sit here?" A girl about my age asked. She was accompanied by another a girl and two more boys. I nodded and scooted over so they had more room sit down. "Thank you so much, it's pretty crowded here today."

"Yeah, it's a nice day," I responded awkwardly. She gave me a kind smile and nodded in agreement. She had long curly brown hair and light brown skin that looked like it sparkled underneath the sun's rays. Her friends didn't greet me because they had already started to eat while she only had a drink.