Somnambulism (Jared Cameron)

//one//

    "Alright; what is your first order of business now that you passed the NCLEX?" My roommate, Lizzie, inquires as she steadily shoves a few textbooks in a cardboard box. She was packing up the last of her things out of her desk, as she was hoping to be completely moved out of our shared dorm by that night.

I had met Lizzie four years ago, when we first become roommates; at Peninsula Community College. My plan my entire life had been to attend college in the metropolitan Seattle, like most teens from the Pacific Northwestern region dream of. But life had gotten in the way of those plans.

Six years ago, when I was starting to decide which college to attend, my mother had passed away. My family took it pretty hard, my little brother Jake especially. Suddenly, going far away to college didn't seem right. My fathers diabetes had progressed to where he needed more help around the home. Suddenly, Peninsula Community College seemed like the right answer.

The tiny college town in Port Angeles was only about an hour and a half from my home; La Push. This meant, with some strategic schedule planning, I could be home every weekend to be with my father and brother. And here we were, four years later; graduated, and moving back home.

I followed suit, stuffing a few sweaters in a duffel bag, I was no where near as packed as Lizzie, but I was getting there. "My first order of business...." I thought, crinkling my eyebrows, "Probably to sleep for a week."

Moving back permanently to La Push didn't seem like a big deal to Lizzie or my family, especially since I spent 2-3 night a week there now, but it seemed massive in my mind. I had worked so hard to create a future and life at school, part of me felt like I was settling. But, my dad needed more attention as Jake had become caught up in his social life, and there was a job offer not far from home. It just made sense, even if it wasn't what I wanted completely.

Lizzie giggled, "And after your hibernation?"

"Oh... you know, work." I shrug, ho-hum. "Bothering my little brother."

"Not so little," Lizzie noted, and I rolled my eyes. Living with Lizzie for four years meant she knew everything about me; and she did not hide the fact that she thought Jacob was eye candy. Lizzie was living moving to work as a nurse at a Tacoma Hospital, while I would spend the next foreseeable future as a nurse at Forks General Hospital.

"Shut up," I roll my eyes, "He's under 18, you perv."

"I'm looking, not touching!" She defends herself, cackles, "You know I'm going to visit you all the time, I need to see what in the water in your tiny town, and if I can get myself a bottle."

I crack a smile; and it moments like these when I'd miss my best friend. She knew more about me than anyone, besides my family. We learned to put up with each other, me with her insomniac-studying and thousands of phone alarms, and her with my sleepwalking. We had been a dynamic duo; frequenting parties often, library study sessions, even navigated the awkwardness of sharing a community bathroom with 20 other

We had developed a system, since I didn't seem to sleepwalk as often unless I was super stressed. Lizzie often pulled all nighter's to study, and on the rare occasion I stumbled out of bed, she always got me back, or followed me around until I settled. She was a true friend.

"You know you can come visit anytime," I remind her, "And I mean it."

"I know, G." She smiles at me, as she tapes shut her last box. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too." I smile sadly, not regretting where we were both going; but wishing we would both be together.

"Going home is going to be good for you," She tells me, she knew that I had a duty to my family. "I can feel it."

"You know what?" I quipped, as I reached in to give her one last goodbye hug, "I can feel it too."