Nightly Escapades of An Insomniac

Chapter One

A/N: The picture is of their school uniform at Monroe :)

Chapter One:

It was the first day of school.

At Monroe High School, you had to wear a uniform. I, like most girls was wearing the white button up top, gray skirt and black tights, though if you wanted you could trade skirt and tights with pants. Along with this we had to wear a gray and blue tie which was accompanied with a black blazer in the winter. I had my brothers old sweater which was bulky on me but not ‘sloppily so’ as my mother would like to say.

I was meeting up with my long time best friends, Derek, his sister Jane and Jesse. Sadly we were one person short of our original gang as Vivian left for boarding school. I walked up to Jane first. You know the saying Plain Jane? If you don’t it’s usually a term used to describe someone who is normal and average and a little boring, one who fits the mould and isn’t different. Jane here is the complete opposite.

Many would agree to say her hair was the craziest thing about her; it was blonde and crimped but wild. Like me, she wore a skirt and tights but her tights were ripped, intentionally, and since the school didn’t state in their handbook that tights had to be perfectly intact; she couldn’t get in trouble for it. She gave me a great big hug as soon as I was close enough and started to jump around, with me still in her embrace. So I did the most logical thing to do in that position.

I jumped too.

Once we let go of each other, I moved onto Derek. Derek was tall, but not as tall as Jesse was at a good six foot two height. Derek had the same curly blonde hair as his sister but it was more tamed and so was his personality. He was a laidback joker, and always said the funniest though sometimes driest jokes in the world. Well, in my opinion. He was handsome, the white shirt and black pants making him look sharp and sophisticated. Of course, I saw him like James, my brother.

I gave him a hug that was less active as his sisters and then moved onto Jesse.  Jesse and I are a little more complicated then the Martin siblings. To paint a picture, I’ve known Jesse since birth really, being that his parents are a family friend. We were always hanging around each other and soon a friendship bloomed. As we grew older we both grew fonder of each other, some quicker than others. It was last year, mid-term when I told Jesse of my feelings and like a polite person he turned me down gently. Even though I knew he only did it because he wanted to keep our friendship and was afraid we would ruin what we already had, it still hurt like wrecking ball being swung at my chest.

After awhile of not talking, mainly from my side, Jesse showed up at my door, with a box of chocolates, flowers and his iPod playing, ‘Sorry’ by Sleeping With Sirens. I think I might have cried when he asked me out after the song finished. To make a long story short, we dated for a week before becoming official and we were steady for a while but then summer came and he had to leave for a month and two weeks for an elite acting boot camp. After realising four weeks into summer the distance wasn’t working we broke up and I’d been a Sad Sally for the rest of the summer.

Of course, we reconciled and there were no hard feelings but it was still a little awkward when people brought up our past relationship. I gave him a large smile which he reciprocated and gave him a hug, taking in his warmth and cologne.

“Oh my goodness, you guys!” Jane exclaimed, “School!” By this point me and Jesse weren’t hugging but rather standing next to each other giving one another bemused looks.

Her brother gave her a ridiculous look before saying, “And you’re excited because...”

“Because,” She trailed out the word like her brother did, “Look at all the people! And the cute boys,” She said the latter in hushed whisper to me and I chuckled in response. I had agree, this school wasn’t lacking in the eye candy whether it be girls or guys. I whispered back, “What happened to that never-ending crush on Jeremy Sumpter and my brother,” I wiggled my eyebrows, okay tried to.

She rolled her eyes, “You look ridiculous by the way and to answer your question my love for Jerm-Jerm is very much alive and as for your brother, well how else am I ever going to get over him,” Her expression turned puzzled, “Hey, where is the se- I mean your brother anyway, he’s usually always around,” I heard her murmur under her breath, “that’s one of the only reasons I hang out with you twits,”

~

~

The bell rang and we all went to our respective classrooms. Towards the end of August, school sends out emails to our parents giving them our schedules and a supplies list we’d need for the academic year. Apparently, I was the only one in our group who got Mr. Andres class, so I made my way to room U15 for registration alone. Once I reached the classroom, I entered going straight for the middle rows of the desk. I was never one for the back nor the front seeing as those are the ones who get picked the most. I sat at my desk and pulled out my copy of ‘Clockwork Prince’ continued from where I left off completely entranced by Will and charmed by Jem.

I heard someone clear their throat and when I looked up I saw him. His blonde hair was tousled and his eyes an enticing green. They weren’t as vibrant as mine but still captivating. I had never been this close to him before and it wasn’t something I planned on doing anytime soon. His name or really his surname was Daniels. He was different; he always kept to himself and was always wearing headphones and carrying his iPod, listening to music. I remembered when he first moved here a couple months ago. He was living down the street and across the road from us, in Ms. Mae house.

The whole neighbourhood knew that she was an alcoholic. Not much is known about her but the only reason she could afford a teenage kid and a nice house was because she happened to be a very talented artist and her paintings sold for hundreds and sometimes thousands. Being friendly and a little curious, I tried to invite him to hang out with me and my brother but he rebuked every invitation and at school he just kept to himself. If he saw you approaching, he would get up and leave before you could even make it over and if you did make it he would just turn his music up loud enough to tell you that you weren’t being listened to. I knew this from experience.

“Yes? Can I help you?” I asked looking up at him.

“You’re sitting in my seat,” He stated.

I rolled my eyes internally, “Oh I didn’t realize your name was imprinted on the seat,” I replied sarcastically, not even making an effort to move.

He turned around and pointed at the man writing on the whiteboard. He was wearing black slacks and a simple blue button up shirt with a black tie tucked under the collar. His hair was tidy and a light brown and he had a bit of stubble as well. When I looked back at Daniels, he was already looking at me, catching me by surprise and causing me to jump.

“He apparently likes assigned seating and I,” he said pointing to himself then at the desk, “was assigned this one.” I looked around, noticing that everyone was getting seated and stood up quickly to let him sit down. He gave me an artificial smile before putting back on his headphones. I walked over towards the new teacher and introduced myself.

“Mr. Andres? Hi, I’m Candace Moreno and was wondering if I you could tell me what desk I was assigned to,” I smiled politely and was told I was to sit in the third row and two seats in from the right. I followed his instruction and found myself where I was originally only I wasn’t in the same seat but the seat next to it; the seat next to Daniels.