Adventure in a Cup

The number

I didn't sleep much that night. I kept tossing and turning thinking about why he took the book. I mean, there was a decent chance it was an accident, but I just had a feeling it was on purpose. I turned over, my antique wire bed frame creaking as I did so, to look at my digital alarm clock. It read two-thirty AM. I really needed the sleep, so I turned out my bed side lamp, and closed my eyes, hoping I could fall asleep.

I woke up to what I thought was an earth quake, but was just an out-of-tune radio station my alarm clock is permanently set to (it's the only sound that will get me out of bed). I pulled off my blush pink covers, in a rush to turn off the awful sound; I never get used to it. I went into my bathroom, where I realized wow, I really look tired. I turned on the tap to wash my face, and brush my teeth, helping me to feel more refreshed. I went down our oak floor stairs, my bare feet feeling cold against the hard wood. I was almost always alone in the morning, my parents both had to get up really early for work. Saying they worked a lot, of course was an understatement. They owned a law firm, my dad's the lawyer, and my mom's the accountant. They didn't always work that much however, my dad used to work in Vancouver, and my mom stayed home to take care of me. In the last 5 years, my mom went back to work, leaving me, an only child alone a lot of the time. It was ok though, I liked being alone, and it left a lot of time for my friends to come over. My parents law firm was the only one in town, it was right into the down town core. I put my usual cheese scone that I always had from the local bakery into the toaster, and then remembered, that I was going to have to get my book back today.

My eyes kept darting to the other side of the room. Jay was now sitting back in his usual spot, at the front of the class in the right corner. I was directly kitty-corner from him, trying to focus on balancing equations, and not what confronting him after class would be like. After what felt like my entire life the bell rang, and I instantly darted out of my seat. I was keeping my eyes on Jay, eager to make sure I didn't lose the chance to talk to him. I grabbed my canvas bag and binder of the table before dodging desks and students in order to get to Jay, whom was packing up his bag, talking to one of his friends. "Hey," I said, trying to sound polite.

"Oh, Hey," He said with a slight smile.

"I was wondering if you might have accidentally taken my notebook yesterday, I haven't been able to find it anywhere,"

"Oh yeah I think I did, sorry I totally forgot." he said as he started to rifle through his bag. He pulled out my pink five star notebook, and handed it over to me.

"You didn't, you know, look in it, did you?" I started to realize this probably was sounding dumb, I mean why would he have any reason to look in it anyway? I darted my eyes down pretending to be fascinated in fixing the books folded over corners.

"Nope" he said as I looked up, then without warning, I could have sworn I saw a slight wink, before he said "bye, see ya," leaving me alone in the classroom, slightly confused.

I kept trying to forget and ignore what happened, I mean what difference does it make he did look? He's not going to do anything about it. I walked down the main stair case, focusing on where I was going. Before escaping to the exit, I felt numerous pairs of arms pull me into a backwards hug, making my heart skip a beat.

"I've caught her, the rare Mable," my friend Sam said, squeezing me tighter

"Ah, you scared the crap out of me!" I yelled half joking, but more annoyed.

"It's been too long since we have all hung out, let's do something tonight." Aria said. It was always hard to say no to her, she was very petite, with short brown hair and big brown eyes that always seemed pitiful.

"I don't know" I said, "I have a lot of history, and chem..."

"Come on, Mable, you need to get out of your house, I swear you haven't left your room in at least a week" Katie said. Katie re-adjusted her bag on her shoulder, looking at me with a sort of longing expression instantly making me feel guilty for neglecting my friends the last few weeks. She had a thin, build, and was the second tallest in the group, me being the first. She had shoulder length light brown hair that always seemed perfectly straight.