String of Fate

Chapter Thirty Five

I rolled over in my bed again and tried to get comfy. I hated that this was a regular occurrence where I couldn't get comfy to sleep. It had been going on for roughly three weeks now, and even though I seemed to be getting some sleep, I was waking up more tired than when I went to sleep. This was getting ridiculous because I needed a good night's sleep.

I didn't even know why I had been having a lot of trouble sleeping recently. I had researched ways to sleep better but I had not succeeded yet. I thought that it may have something to do with my assignments due, but I wasn't one hundred per cent certain. I mean, I was on top of my workload in college so it shouldn't have been worrying me. There could be a number of reasons so I didn't know what to do to sleep. I just needed to figure out what I could do to sleep better.

After my third week of not sleeping well, I headed out of my house to college and I stopped at the bottom of my path to check my phone as it vibrated in my pocket. A few seconds later, my best friend, Charlotte, was standing next to me, looking way too happy and energetic for a Monday morning. "Hey, Joseph! Oh my goodness, you look rough. Are you still not sleeping well?"

"Oh, hey, Charlotte." I answered the girl that lived next door to me. Since we'd grown up together, I was close to her. She was a year younger than me, just about to turn sixteen. She was like a member of my family, like a little sister. Charlotte did notice things, too, and she didn't mind asking about it. At the end of the day, I could talk to her about anything, and know that the information was safe with her. "Oh, I'm still not sleeping well at all. I've tried different methods to get to sleep but nothing is working so far. Well, I better be heading to college. I'll see you later."

"See you later, Joseph!" Charlotte called after me as I tucked my phone back in my pocket and headed in the direction of the bus stop to college.

After what seemed to be a long day in college, I was disturbed in the evening with a knock to the door of the flat. I got up from my computer to answer it. I had to since I was the only one at home. Both my parents were still as work. I was a little surprised when I opened the door to see Charlotte standing there. "Oh, hey, Charlotte."

"Here. It's my spare MP3 player with some relaxing sounds that I downloaded for you. I thought that it might help you sleep a little better in the nights." She explained, holding out the little pink device. I was a little surprised by the thought – I had been meaning to try this method soon, but it seemed like she had thought of it first.

"Thank you. That's really nice of you. You didn't need to." I replied, taking it from her and giving her a smile. It was strange to hold something so pink, but it was actually a nice MP3 player, and I was surprised that it was her spare MP3 player. I also noticed that it was a little warm since she had been carrying it. It made me wonder how long she had been wondering about bringing it over. "Do you want to come in?"

"Oh, no, thanks. I was just going to say that mum and dad are taking me and Jake out for a meal to celebrate my sixteenth tomorrow and that you're welcome to join us if you want to. I think it would be nice if you were there, since we're close." Charlotte rambled, making me smile. I couldn't help but notice that she was nervous.

"That would be great. Thank you for the MP3 player. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow when I meet you for the meal." I told her.

"Oh, great. It's good that you're coming." Charlotte answered. We were both quiet for a little bit. "Right, well, let me know how the music goes. I'll see you tomorrow. Be ready for about half past six and we'll all head over together."

I waited until she went back into her flat just to make sure that she got home safe. Then, I headed back in to continue on with my work. I was working on an assignment that was due next week but it was a research intense one. I spent a couple of hours researching and pooling the information together to go through tomorrow before I decided that it was late enough to go to bed.