Not So Normal

Chapter 12 ~ Welcome

   I wake up at 3am, hyperventilating and drenched in sweat. Lovely. The nightmare seriously messes with my sleeping habits. It sucks. I know I'm not going to be able fall back asleep, so I get out of bed and walk around my room, not knowing what else to do. I've never been able to fall back asleep after the nightmare wakes me up. I don't know why.

   I get in the shower and stand in the stream of steaming hot water for almost an hour. I think about life. I mean, who doesn't think about life when they're in the shower? Why did I have to live almost 19 years of my life the way I did? Why did I get stuck with the family I got stuck with? I was (and still am) so different from all of them, that I honestly thought for a few years that I had been adopted. When I was a little girl I dreamed that my real mommy was a princess somewhere, and that she loved me very much, but she had to give me to a different mommy. My childhood and earlier teenage years weren't the greatest.

   When I get out of the shower I wrap a towel around me and go sit on my bed. I feel like today would normally be a really lazy day, but since Niall's going to be here in a few hours I can't be lazy. I put on a tank top and sweats and go back to the bathroom to do my hair. I dry it and then put it in a ponytail- part of this day can be lazy. I put on a little bit of makeup, but not much. It's seriously too much work for me right now. That's how lazy I feel.

   Around 5:15 I make my way to the kitchen and pour myself a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, my favorite cereal. I empty the box, so I make a mental note to stop at the store and get more later. When I'm done with that I go into the living room and sit on the couch. I randomly space out for a few minutes, staring at the giant clock on the wall, but when I come back to reality I get my laptop out and surf the web.

   Singer Elissa Andersen could be snogging our little Irish snowflake. I click on the article, figuring it couldn't hurt. I read through the short article and it's pretty much just a summary of what I saw on the TV yesterday about me and Niall. Can no one be original these days? 

   At 6:45 I hear Lindsey in the kitchen. She brings her cereal into the living room and shrieks when she sees me.

   "You're wearing that to pick up Niall?" she asks, horrified.

   "Calm down, geez. I just didn't want to be in dress if I was just going to be hanging here for hours before I left," I tell her. She visibly relaxes and then a sad expression peeks out on her face.

   "Okay good." She pauses. "What time did you get up?"

   "Three," I say with a sigh. 

   "The nightmare is back, isn't it?" she asks, sympathetic. I nod. "Are you sure you're okay with me leaving for a few days?"

   "Yes. I know you haven't been to Disneyland in forever, and I don't want to ruin that for you. I'll be fine. As long as I just wake up like I did this morning for the next few days, Niall won't even find out about it. It'll be okay."

   "Okay. I'm going to go get ready. Isabelle just texted me and said she's coming early. She'll be here in like twenty minutes, so I've got to get dressed and finish packing," Lindsey informs me. She leaves me alone in the living room and I sigh. What am I going to do without Lindsey here? I hope Niall's good at dealing with awkwardness.

   Twenty minutes later the doorbell rings. It's Isabelle.

   "Lazy day?" she asks, looking over my attire. I shake my head.

   "Unfortunately not. I've got to leave to go pick up a friend at the airport in like half an hour," I tell her. We talk for a few minutes while Lindsey finishes getting ready, and they leave.