"Okay, then allow me to offer a pact." He says, immediately making me a mixture of terrified and suspicious. "You say that I'm a jerk; a bully. So, why not change that my way?"
"I don't like where this is going-" I begin, but he cuts me off.
"Just...
(edited, please comment if there is something that I missed)
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41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47...
My butt is beyond numb. I guess sitting on a tiny little windowsill for hours can do that to somebody. I should probably go to bed, but my stubbornness gets the best of me. Perhaps I should've stopped counting after 9 PM, but where's the fun in that?
It's rude. At least, it is to me. My sister Willow and I always counted the stars at night, sometimes, we would beat a record, and other times we would fall asleep next to a window, wrapped up in each other's arms. She's three years older than me, making her 19. It was obvious too, her face was more round than mine and she already has crow feet when she smiles. I guess it comes with working so often.
After she started to take night shifts at the hospital, I wasn't able to see her very often. I guess you can say we drifted. I'm not mad, by all means. I mean, she's a freaking nurse, who wouldn't be proud? It's just that we used to be so close when we were little. She was my big sister. My warrior. And with no brothers, it's nice to have a protector. Somebody who watches out for you. Somebody to tell you where all of the cold water fountains were when you were a freshman.
Suddenly, the front door swings open and a burst of cold October air blows in, chilling the room to a good forty degrees. Willow steps in and closes the door behind her. Under her dark beige jacket with the fuzz on it, are baggy blue scrubs. She sighs in a fit of exhaustion and I can't help but feel sorry.
I try to stand up and escape upstairs before she sees me, but I'm too late.
"What are you doing up?" She takes off her jacket and hangs it up on a small rack by the door. I shrug and sit back down on the sill. "Didn't I tell you last night to not wait up?"
"Yeah, but I decided not to listen." I smirk, knowing it'll make her feel bad. She rolls her blue eyes that match my own and sits next to me on the sill.
"Why do you do this to yourself?" She looks out the window, not expecting a response. I chuckle and lean into her large shoulders. "How many this time?"
She gestures outside to the sky and I smile.
"47." Nothing close to our record (398), but enough that I had to go back and start over.
I guess living at the perimeter of Hannaton Connecticut does have its ups. I can see every star, stretched out horizon to horizon.
"I expected more." Is all she replies with, before standing back up and heading upstairs to her room. As she spins around her dark brown hair whips across her shoulder.
I scoff at her insult and follow her, close behind.
~
An alarm clock is a horrible invention. Sure, it may mean a lot to business people and those who actually like waking up, but not me. I'd much rather sleep in until 10 AM or just lay here until the batteries die.
