Sleepless Nights

That night I tossed and turned in my bed, the sheets tangling around my restless legs. It was useless, there was no way I was going to be able to sleep. I groaned and rubbed my face with my hands. I sat up in the darkness and tried to find my glasses.

Today's events kept playing in my head over and over like a broken movie projector. I could still see Neil's face as we laughed and his goofy eyebrows as he hummed. If I fell asleep I wondered if tomorrow when I woke up, all of this would have been a fairytale dream. I knew one thing, if it was, I was going to cry my eyes out. I smiled remembering the laughing fit and the way he reached over to poke and tickle me. Was it possible that Neil Clark could like a girl like me?

I rolled out of bed scratching the back of my head and yawning. I looked around and sat down in front of my computer. As I waited for the computer to boot up, I glanced over at my alarm clock. The bright green numbers read four-thirty. I groaned and rested my head on the back of my chair so I could stare at the ceiling. I watched as a desterbingly little black dot began to move slowly. There was a bug on my ceiling... I shivered in disgust and looked around to find something tall enough to squish it, but I found nothing.

“You're lucky. You shall live another day...” I whispered up at it. It was crawling away from my direction and the direction of my bed so I didn't let it freak me out too much. I was too tired to go downstairs and find the broom.

The screen of my computer came on and the light burned my eyes. I squinted as the blue screen lit up my room. I typed in my password and I sat there looking at the background image on my desktop. It was a picture of Amanda and I from our freshman year at the local pool. Andrea's face was so sunburned she had lines from where her glasses had blocked the sun's rays. In the background you could see Neil doing a back flip off the diving board into the pool. Sometimes I wished I could go back to those days. Being a senior you look back at many things you've done and wish you could change.

A loud ring interrupt my thoughts. An IM window had popped up.

Neilbobeil: Can't sleep?

I smiled and typed back a response. Well look at that! I wonder what was keeping him awake?

Katiekat: Yep, staring at the ceiling. Actually... there is a rather large bug up there and it's kinda creeping me out.

Neilbobeil: Me too. (Staring at the ceiling and sorry about the bug, throw something at it...) Every time I close my eyes all I can think about is my obnoxious eyebrows thank you very much ;)

I let out a laugh forgetting that it was almost five in the morning. He was thinking about the ride and everything we'd done together today! I felt my heart knock against my ribs excitedly.

Katiekat: They aren't that bad, it was just funny!! ;)

Neilbobeil: Ha! Thanks :)

Katiekat: You're welcome. So is that the only reason that you can't sleep?

Neilbobeil: Not the only reason, just thinking about some stuff...

Katiekat: Me too.

Neilbobeil: How mad was your mom when she got home?

Katiekat: Not much, she was already home when we got here, she was upset that I forgot my

medication and for not eating but after I told her what happened she was fine.

Neilbobeil: Perfect! Did you tell her I was picking you up from now on?

Katiekat: Yep! No problem!

Neilbobeil: Hey, I just remembered I have practice tomorrow. I can take you home after! If you want to stay and watch. It's a short practice.

Katiekat: Sure that's totally fine, I'm up for some football :P

Neilbobeil: Alright, I gotta go, my mom just woke up and caught me. Night! Erm... actually. good morning lol.

Katiekat: Good morning Neil! Hahahah! :)

Neilbobeil logged off at 4:50 am.

I wanted to jump up and down and squeal! I couldn't help but feel like this was more than friendship. I shut off my computer after checking my email. I squealed softly and ran across my room and took a flying leap onto my bed. I fell asleep with Neil making multiple appearances in my dreams.

As soon as my alarm went off I jumped out of bed. I was so tired but my excitement was overpowering my drowsiness.

Neil was going to be here in one hour. I had one hour to take a shower, pick out my clothes, do my make-up, do my hair, eat, and take my medication. I decided the best way to get all this done was to run everywhere.

I ran into the bathroom and turned the shower on. I began to wait until the warm water kicked in, but it never did. My mom had used up all the hot water once again. I couldn't wait for the tank to reheat, so I grit my teeth and jumped in. I screamed as the icy water pounded against me. I felt like I had fell through the ice at the North Pole. I took the shortest shower I had ever taken in my life.

I ran from the bathroom towel wrapped around me and hair dripping wet. I wish there was like a drying off thing you could walk through like the big driers at the car wash, that would have been so much easier than towel drying. I struggled trying to get my still damp legs and arms into my clothes. At one point I relized I had my head in the sleeve of the shirt and had to take it off and try again. Why was it that when you're in a hurry you seem to never do anything right?

I finally was fully clothed and I darted back into the bathroom knocking over my little stand of bathroom supplies. I ignored it and began putting my makeup on. I bounced around while doing my hair as if that was going to quicken the process of blow drying. I finally was finished in the bathroom and ran downstairs.

I was running around the house like a chicken with it's head cut off when the doorbell rang. I screeched to a halt and looked at the clock. It was eight o'clock already. I cursed to myself for not waking up earlier. I bolted to the door and let Neil in.

“Hey! Come in, I'm almost ready, I got to get my shoes on.” I said when he smiled as the door opened. He nodded and walked in and I turned to the coat closet. I was star struck by his wide sleepy eyes and wasn't watching where I was going. I felt my foot get stuck under the large area rug before I could stop myself from taking another step. I flailed out and let out a little shriek as I tried to catch myself before I face planted on the floor. Instead of my hands bracing my fall my hand landed on top of a stray sock I had found and slid out from under me. I landed on the floor with an embarrassingly loud thump. I felt my forehead stinging as Neil let out a yell. I wanted to die. I wanted to roll over and become invisible, perhaps absorb into the floorboards and never return until he left. I rolled over onto my back and stared up at the ceiling in shock.

“Oh my god! Katie are you okay?” Neil asked running over his face horrified.

“Um... I'm not sure. Is my head bleeding?” I asked holding back tears. He nodded and I groaned. Oh my god. I'm laying in the middle of my foyer, bleeding, after I face planted from tripping over the only rug we own, with Neil looking down at me like I was an idiot.

“Do you have a band-aid? It doesn't look too bad.” He asked helping me back up. I began to have the strong urge to start laughing break out in my chest, but I knew it was only because I didn't want to cry.

“Yeah I think in my bathroom.” I said. He followed me up into the bathroom. I blushed as he walked in. One of my bras was hanging of the side of my full length mirror, and on the table that I had knocked over, was an open box of tampons that covered the floor because of in my mad dash this morning. Of course things got even more embarrassing when I opened my medicine cabinet, and my birth control pills fell out.

“Sorry about the mess, I was in a rush this morning and knocked everything over.” I said and scrambled to kick tampons out of the way. I searched the cabinet for band-aids. The only box I could find was the Tinkerbell band-aids I used when I cut myself shaving.

“Oh my god... this is going to be so embarrassing.” I moaned and showed Neil. He laughed and took the box from me.

“But Kathleen!” He held the box up to his face, “they're flutterific!” He laughed. He gave me a big silly grin and a thumbs up and I smiled as he pulled a band-aid out. After tearing the paper off he used a piece of toilet paper to wipe the blood away before sticking the band-aid on my forehead.

“How do I look?” I asked after he was done. I watched him as he tried not to laugh.

“Um, Flutterific?” He smiled. I chased him out of my bathroom. I got my shoes on and we walked out of the door.

“I got coffee and breakfast in the truck. Did you take your medicine?” He asked as I climbed into the truck.

“Yes mother, I did!” I smiled, “and thank you for breakfast.” I said as he handed me a coffee and a breakfast sandwich.

“No problem!” He said as we pulled out of the driveway. We passed the sheriff's department and I seen my dad waiting for us to pass before pulling out behind us in the cruiser. I slid down in my seat hoping he didn't see me.

“Oh my god. If he pulls us over, I'm going to kill him.” I said. Neil looked over at me confused. I nodded at the cruiser. Neil glanced in his review mirror, just as the siren and the lights flashed on. “Yep, I'm gonna kill him. Don't even bother getting the license and registration. He's just being an a*s.” I sighed. Neil pulled over with a smile on his cute face. My dad got out and slowly walked up to the driver's side. Neil sighed and rolled down his window.

“Dad, I'm gonna kill you!” I yelled before he even got close to the truck. Neil chuckled softly.

“Son, are you aware you're carrying precious cargo?” My dad asked Neil once he came up to the driver side flashing his badge. I grit my teeth and glared at him.

“Yes sir, I do.” Neil Replied. My dad leaned against the window frame and looked over at me.

“Hi Princess! What's wrong with your noggin?” He asked.

“Tripped over the rug.” I mumbled.

“Again?” He asked confused. I groaned as Neil chuckled softly.

“Yes dad. Can you let us go? We're going to be late for school.” I said. Neil took a long drink of coffee.

“Fine, be careful Neil or I'll make sure to get you.” my dad said to him and winked.

“No problem sir, I'll take good care of her.” He said nodding. My dad walked away and we waited for him to pass us by.

“Your dad is... great.” Neil said.

“Yeah, he's a real charmer.” I joked.

We pulled into the school parking lot. Heads turned and watched us as we drove by. Diane Messing stood by her Malibu Barbie Car. Of course, the only parking place was right beside her. Neil groaned.

“I'm not in the mood for this today, she drives me crazy.” Neil muttered. Diane bounced over with her beauty pageant smile. Neil got out of the truck to help me down. I watched as her smile fell off her face.

“Kathleen?” She asked her face looking as if she smelled something awful. She better watch that I heard it causes wrinkles in the future.

“Hi Diane!” I said smiling as Neil stood beside me.

“Hi?” She said confused as she looked from him to me.

“Hey Diane, I'll see you in psychology.” Neil said and directed me to start walking. I could help but smile a little. Poor Diane...

Fourth period bell rang and everyone filed out of the class into the hall. Kids were joking, yelling, laughing, and of course, staring at me. In second period Diane and one of her follower clones named Debbie whispered about me all period.

“Why was she with him?” Diane asked. I could feel her piercing blue eyes stabbing me in the back.

“I don't know Diane. I don't know why he wants a girl that pees her pants. He'll for sure get rid of her soon. He's totally going to ask you to Homecoming!” Debbie whispered back. I'm not gonna lie, the pee part hurt my feelings, but I knew they were only picking me apart to help Diane's ego. I wasn't even Neil's girlfriend and I already had Diane's claws sinking in to the back of my neck.

A freshman bumped into me and I was brought back to reality. I ignored the stares and turned the corner of the hall, my heart stopped. Low and behold, Neil Clark was leaning against my locker smiling. He had his long legs crossed, and his shoulder leaning up against my locker. I couldn't help but smiling back.

“Hey! What are you doing here?” I asked as I switched my books in my locker.

“I figured we could walk to science together.” Neil said grinning. His green eyes sparkled and I felt a light headed.

“That would be great.” I replied shlyly. He grabbed my books from my arms. My mom was somehow right. He was walking next to me, inches away, carrying my books, and walking me to class. This was the dream!

“So how's your day going?” I asked. He glanced down at me after parting a large group of guys to walk down the hall. They gave him fist bumps and low fives as we walked through.

“Flutterific.” He said. I smiled and pushed him slightly and he laughed.

“How long are you going to torment me about my band-aids?” I laughed almost forgetting the embarrassment of this morning.

“I'll stop,” he laughed, “My day's been pretty good. Yours?”

“Great, but I've had a lot of stares for some reason... I think it's the band-aid. They're jealous.” I whispered shaking my head sadly. He let out a airy laugh and nodded.

“Yeah, it happens.” He said nudging me with his elbow. We reached the classroom and he even held the door open for me.

“What a gentleman.” I snickered as we sat down at the nearest lab table. Thank god Miss. Keats didn't have assigned seating. He took the seat in front of me and slid my books to me.

“Thank you!” I smiled. He winked and the bell rang signaling class had begun. Miss. Keats walked in and began class. She's my favorite teacher. My older brother was best friends with her younger brother and we seen a lot of each other over the years. She was the teacher that had labs that you blew stuff up or caught stuff on fire, which of course made her the favorite science teacher.

Neil was distracting me through class. When we took notes he let his tongue stick out while he wrote, he liked to flip the corners of our textbook as we read, and he kept stealing glancing at me when I pretended I wasn't watching him. When Miss. Keats asked him about ionic bonds he knew the answer right away.

Miss. Keats passed out lab papers and as she explained them she reached out and squeezed my shoulder giving me a wink before walking back to her desk letting us begin.

Neil opened our lab drawers and began taking out the supplies as I read them off the lab sheets. He gave me my pair of safety glasses and turned the Bunsen Burner on. He put on the most ridiculous pair of goggles he could find from the seventies. When he slipped them on over his head the band made his hair stick up and I couldn't stop chuckling to myself every time I looked at him.

“Add four ounces of hydrochloric acid.” I said. Neil carefully measured the acid while I added the other material.

“Okay,” he started, “if we did this right it should foam up and turn blue.” as he took the beaker from the burner and placing it on the table. Using the tongs again her added the acid. We waited in suspense as the liquid began to bubble. Finally it began to spew blue foam. Neil and I let out a celebratory yell and gave each other a high five. The class watched us with jealous glares, many their beakers showing no sign of bubbles or blue foam.

Miss. Keats came over and gave us an A on the lab and sat down next to me while the rest of the class finished the project. Neil offered to clean up while we talked.

“How's Dan?” She asked me.

“Pretty good, he likes New York.” I said smiling.

“New York?” Neil asked from the sink.

“My brother an her brother are going to school at Julliard. They've been best friends since they we're born so, Miss. Keats and I are like family.” I said smiling. He seemed surprised at the close relationship I had with her. Miss. Keats told us about her brother's new girlfriend. She was interrupted when a beaker exploded and the table's student scientists were covered with green foam. She rushed over and helped them clean up, luckily, no one had been hurt. Neil and I began talking abut the game on Friday.

“Nervous?” I asked spinning my pencil between my fingers.

“Not really. I know most of the guys are, we might actually have a turn out for the game.” He laughed.

“That's good though!” I smiled and he shrugged.

“It's hard to focus when everyone's screaming at you. It's bad enough Cramer's been on them. Apparently he doesn't approve of the tutoring I've been doing.” He replied as he played with the tongs and picking up things around us.

“Why would Cramer be pissed off about that? You're doing him a favor!” I said.

“I think he's mad I'm undermining his authority. By the way are you coming?”

“I wouldn't miss it for the world. My parents are coming too, you know how much my dad loves football.” I laughed.

“Good at least I'll have someone cheering me on.” He laughed.

“People love you. If you weren't on the team, no one would show up! But yeah, I'll make sure to scream extra loud.” I laughed. We talked until class ended.

“Lunch?” He asked.

“Yep!” I said smiling. We stopped at our lockers leaving our books behind.

“Hey, do you mind if I eat with you?” He asked.

“I don't mind, I was planning on eating in the courtyard today though since Andrea won't be here till after lunch.” I said.

“No problem, that sounds great.”

We went through the lunch line together, and pondered over which of the school food would kill us faster if we ate it. I picked our spot underneath the shade of one of the trees in the courtyard. Neil looked around smiling.

“It's pretty nice out here. The guys are always sit in that back table in the corner.” He said as he ate his fries.

“Why aren't you sitting with them? Not that I'm complaining or anything, but just being nosy.” I said taking a bite of my hamburger.

“Well, because, I like you.” He said, his ears turning pink. I was taken aback by his bluntness. I knew he might have liked me, but he liked me enough to actually say it out loud. I watched as Diane walked over to us, killing our moment, and not letting me respond.

“Neil! You're eating out here? It's so... dirty!” Diane said looking me up and down. I stopped chewing my food, hurt by her words.

“Hmm.... then you should feel right at home then!” Neil said. I clapped my hand over my mouth, but let out a snort of laughter.

“What do you mean Neil? All the guys want you inside! The girls and I are sitting with you today!” Diane said ignoring my snort and Neil's remark.

“I'm fine, I'm gonna eat out here today. I'm sure the guys understand.” Neil said rolling his eyes.

“But Neil!” Diane shuddered.

“No! I don't want to! I'm trying to eat! Please just leave me alone for once in my life.” Neil groaned. I tried to stay out of the fight but Diane glared at me and I glared back. She huffed and walked away. She kept looking back at us as she wobbled across the grass in her heels. I think she expected Neil to get off the ground and come running.

“Anyway, like I was saying,” Neil began, “I like you, and I can't really explain what kept me from talking to you before. I didn't have the balls to do it until I seen what you go through, and something just clicked. I had no idea how nice, and incredibly funny you were.” Neil said pushing fries around on his tray. I couldn't believe the words that had just come from him.

“But... I'm not popular. I'm not a Diane Messing. I'm the girl that faints and people laugh at.... the one that they scare thinking I'm like those goats that just fall over....” I rambled.

“Katie?! Are you kidding me?! I like you because of the person you are. You could be a huge b***h at the people who laugh at you, but somehow you stay the beautiful person you are. I like you because you aren't Diane Messing. We've gone to school together since first grade, I know you more than you think I do.” He said lying in the grass, using his elbow to prop himself up. There was a soft wind that spun into the courtyard ruffling his hair and made him squint.

“I'm just surprised. I never thought I'd be sitting here and having this conversation to the guy I've had a crush on since second grade.” I whispered not meeting Neil's eyes. My heart pounded as I took the leap off the cliff called friendzone.

The only sounds were the tree leaves ruffling above us, and a couple of Freshman singing a Broadway show tune across the yard. I struggled to find words to say to fix what I had just blurted out.

“So...” he began, “second grade?” He asked smiling. I laughed and covered my blushing face.

“I fell of the monkey bars at the park, and you were the only one to help me up. You dusted my knees off, and ran off to go play pirates with Billy Cohen. After that... you became my no way in hell crush. You know, the person you crush on, but know that there's no way in hell they'd ever like you back.” I said struggling to get my confession out. I buried my red face into my hands. Neil smiled and pulled my hands down revealing my blushing face.

“You want to go out tonight? Head into Toledo and catch a movie or something?” He asked.

“I'd love to.” I smiled. He leaned back and tossed a grape at me. I laughed and tossed it back at him and he caught it in his mouth. He yelled and put his arms up in a touch down signal, and we tossed grapes at each other until the bell rang.

And that was the day all my dreams came true.