Before Everything

Chapter 13

But then I woke up. I heard a terrifying scream right in front of our house. I instantly had chills going through my body. I knew something wasn't right.

~~

I ran to my window and looked outside. Someone was standing in the middle of the road. I recognized that it was a woman. She just stood there and screamed. I walked downstairs and noticed that mom and dad also had woken up.

"What the heck is that?!" Dad said and sounded really pissed off.
"I'm going to see what's wrong with her. Call the police when I show a sign." I said and wrapped my bathrobe tighter around me.

I went outside and walked slowly towards her. As I was walking, she didn't see me. That was super weird because she was standing right in front of me.

When I went closer to her, I saw that her eyes looked weird. And that's when I realized it.

She was sleepwalking. Nia sometimes sleepwalks so that's why I know how to react in a situation like this.

I clapped my hands very loudly a couple of times and I was ready to catch her.
When I clapped my hands, she flinched, shook her head and almost lost balance. I caught her and smiled at her.

"You were sleepwalking but you are fine now. Are you the new neighbor?" I said with a clear articulation because I knew she was still a little bit in sleep.

When she realized the situation, she said:
"Oh my goodness! Not this again!! Did I scream?"
"Yeah, it sounded like someone was murdering you"
"I didn't wake up the whole neighborhood, did I?"
"Well I don't know, most of them," I grinned.
"Oh, I feel so embarrassed... I haven't sleepwalked in ages but I guess I started it again because I had some stress about the moving here and my new job and everything... Well, I guess I have to put the child locks on again everywhere inside my house!"
"It's fine. Luckily I came, God knows how long you would've walked!"
"Yep, thank you. I'm Sarah by the way."
"I'm Madeline but you can call me Maddie!"

We shook hands and talked for a while, she told me about her new job. She works as a journalist at New York Times and she moved here from Los Angeles about a week ago.

Finally, I asked if she will be alright and wished her good luck with her job. We also agreed that we would grab some cup of coffee sometimes. She seemed like a super nice young woman. Maybe 25 years old.

I went back inside and told the story short to mom and dad. We all went back to sleep and I realized that I would only get about 5-6 hours of sleep before I had to wake up. I just love school mornings.

The next day

We were walking through the hallway to the cafeteria while talking about some stuff and I decided to ask for help from Nia.

"Nia, I need your help."
Nia was scrolling through her phone and didn't even lift her gaze.
"Mmmhh...what do you need?" She asked me in a little bored.
"Well... I'm going trick or treating with Mike and his little sister tonight and I have no idea what to wear." I mumbled awkwardly. Nia dropped her phone and her jaw literally dropped to the ground.

"WHAT!! No way!! Mike asked you trick or treating with him?" She exclaimed and started squealing loudly and jumping around me like a little kid.

"Yeah, he did. Don't you remember? I told you about it."
"Oh right. I guess I forgot about that. Anyway, is it a date?"
"I don't think it is. After all, we're babysitting his little sister."
"Okay, but did you wish it had been a date?"
I didn't say anything and started playing with my hair and my cheeks started to get hot. And unfortunately, Nia noticed that.