4 a.m. // Jeggy

Chapter 3

My sisters and I sneak into the house at 11 pm, an hour past curfew, hoping our dad won't notice.

"Girls?" We hear him say. Crap. We all share a look and run as fast as we can to our rooms, diving into our beds and pretending to be asleep. I hear Dad open Angie and Eliza's doors and talking to them. I continue to fake sleep, hoping he'll think I really am.

I hear him flip the light switch on and walk to the foot of my bed.

"Peggy, I know you aren't asleep. You have insomnia for God's sake." He says. I sigh and sit up, looking at him with my signature little smirk. He groans and rubs his temples.

"Three girls.... how do I live with you guys?" He walks out of the room and I giggle a little, hearing my sisters do the same. I stand up and close my door, getting everything ready for school tomorrow. My pale yellow sundress and leather sandals, dark brown backpack with sunflower patches, and makeup all set out.

I scroll through my phone for a while, checking Instagram and Twitter and Snapchat. I eventually realize it's 1 A.M. I feel like I could be awake for nine more hours. Wonderful.

I sneak out of my room, dressed in a light nightgown, over to Angelica's room. Her dark grey walls and pink decor are welcoming and something I've become very used to over the years of not being able to sleep.

She's still sitting awake on her phone, but I can tell she's tired. Eliza is probably the only one out of the three of us who goes to bed at a reasonable hour. Angelica looks up as I creep quietly into the room.

"Can't sleep?" She mutters quietly. I nod and smirk a bit.

"When can I ever?" I said playfully. She just rolled her eyes and plugged her phone in, setting it on her dresser and curling into her blankets.

"That lavender spray is in my bathroom and Dad bought that sleep tea stuff today so try those things first. If they don't work... I dunno." She mumbles with her eyes shut, already beginning to fall asleep.

"Thanks." I whisper, taking the spray from her attached bathroom before walking silently into the kitchen downstairs. I make the tea as quiet as I possibly can, but I guess I wasn't quiet enough. My father comes down the stairs, an exhausted expression on his face.

"Peggy, this is really going to become a problem soon. I don't know what to do about all this anymore. Nothing seems to be working..." He said quietly, walking over to the counter where I was making my tea. I sighed softly, nodding in silent apology.

"I know. I try all this stuff over and over every night, expecting it to work, and it never does." I reply. He shakes his head and hugs my gently.

"Well, we might have some options but for tonight, just try the tea and stuff again, and we'll figure this out at a reasonable hour, ok?" He says, stroking my hair comfortingly. My father didn't always show his affection, but when he does, my sisters and I cherish it.

"Alright." I pulled away from him to grab the mug of tea and we walked up the stairs together, parting to go to our separate rooms.

Downing the tea while I sprayed my pillow with the lavender scent, I suddenly remembered Mr Hottie from earlier today.

I swear, if I don't see him at school like Angie said I would, she's going to have hell to pay... I thought to myself. It would be nice to have a boyfriend. Angelica has Laf and Eliza has Alex, but who do I have? Nobody. And maybe if I had someone to talk to at 4 A.M. when I couldn't sleep, it could help me out a little bit.

After a while of getting nowhere with sleeping, I decided to just force myself to. I buried myself under the covers and closed my eyes, wondering why I was the one who had to go through this stupid cycle every night.

I flipped around all night, not being able to sleep until 4 A.M. Two hours later, my alarm went off and I dragged myself out of bed. How was I supposed to face the world after 2 hours of sleep, you may wonder? Like I do every other day.

I sigh as I run a brush gently through my hair. I quickly did it in double French braids like the day before and pulled my dress on while I check my backpack to make sure I had everything.

Plopping down in the chair in front of my mirror, I tapped soft gold eyeshadow on my eyelids and put in mascara. I didn't really need foundation, luckily, so I just put on a light lipstick and tossed it with my mascara into my backpack.

Angie and Eliza, like usual, we're already downstairs waiting. I only took 30 minutes, how can they already be done?

"Did you ever fall asleep last night?" Angelica asks, turning to look at me from her seat in the kitchen.

"Yeah, at 4 in the morning." I said, rolling my eyes in annoyance at my own inability to sleep.

"Peggy, this is really getting to be a problem." Eliza said in concern, her dark eyes wide and worried. I waved her off.

"It's fine. I'll be okay. Hey, have either of you found anything out about that hot guys from the beach yesterday?" I asked, changing the topic to the only other thing I could think of. My sisters shared a look.

"Well..."