In the past four days, sleeping peacefully wasn't a term I could relate to. Getting about an hour of sleep each night since the (actual) fight with my father, I was craving for sleeping pills and some ice cream(to remind me that there is something worth living for).

No matter how hard I shut my eyes and pried for the sleep to come knocking at my door, I couldn't manage to stop the irritating thoughts from blowing up my brain.

I couldn't manage to open that door for the sleep to come in and keep me some company. The thoughts were too much to handle.

My father almost choking me to death.

Noah's sweet escape on Monday morning and his arrival in the late evening.

The phone call with my mother later that day.

And last but certainly not least, Noah not showing up for the free period with Ms.Brown.

Twenty-five minutes after class has begun, I realized that there was no use in waiting for him, and laid my head on the cold wooden table. Aiming to block all the noises and maybe, just maybe, get some good sleep, I pulled my earphones out of my bag.

The problem was that simple.

I had my earphones, but I didn't have my phone.

I was faced with only two options.

Laughing in front of twenty-four students would be embarrassing. Yet, crying in front of twelve pairs would be humiliating. I went with the first option.

My laugh contained anger, sadness, and statements such as:

I live with a person who has no responsibility whatsoever.

Kill me now.

Call 911 in your free time, please.

I should have made a third option that would be to stay quiet and keep the weirdness and depression to myself.

I knew that the class would look at an alien less weirdly at that moment. But my lack of sleep lowered the importance of people's opinions about me, and my head came back to his cozy place on the table.

Was I on drugs?

God, I wish.

Maybe they would delete all the unimportant data which I couldn't stop thinking about for a freaking second. When we called, my mother told me that she would visit us next week because she can't handle the stressful work this week.

What if she tells us to go back home?

I don't know how I would survive there with Jacob under my watch.

And Noah.

Is it one of his habits to disappear on Mondays?

You know what, forget about Mondays.

What about now?

The three of us walked together to school today. I saw him entering the high school building with my own observant brown eyes.

I was back in Noah's house when I chose to confront him about today. I was angry, and the sleepless nights made me even more furious about the fact that he didn't show up to finish the freaking project with me.

But it was his problem to deal with.

Entering the kitchen, I saw him cutting mushrooms to little pieces at a very fast pace. He was with his back to me, and so when I talked to him, he jumped on his spot.

"Why did you skip free period today?"

He turned around to face me, watching me carefully with his bright eyes. He was wearing all black, his hair was all messy, reminding me of a person getting up from the bed after a solid amount of sleep.

"Go get some sleep. It looks like you need it," his low voice was soft and tender. I could tell that he didn't want to start any fight, but I was too tired and mad to care.

"Don't change the subject Noah, just tell me why."

"I had things to take care of."

"Don't lie to me."

"Princess, I am trying to be nice here after everything you have been through. Don't push your luck," he warned me.

"So, you are not going to tell me."

"Hell yeah."

"Since I am in your house, I wouldn't do the middle finger to you. But keep in mind that I really want to."

He grinned at me, then turned back around to cut the rest of the mushrooms.

"Jacob should come soon. Can you open the door for him when he does?"

He nodded in agreement.

"Skip this class one more time and I swear I will kill you, Noah."

"Go get some sleep, Skylar, before I break something on you."

"Ha, very funny."

"I am dead serious," he glanced at me from behind his shoulder, giving me a chance to see the expression on his face.

He really was serious.

But so was I. I was mad at him for not showing up today.

He will hear from me(and from my anger) tomorrow, that's for sure.

Right now, I am going to sleep. And no one, even my stupid thoughts, will stop me from doing it.

~~~~~~~~~

Surprisingly enough, I managed to get some sleep last night. Unfortunately, I needed so many more sleeping hours just to come back to myself, and even more sleeping hours to figure out how to make my life less difficult.

"Did you have a fun time with Daniel yesterday?"

"His mother bought him two swords, so we played with them for the whole time. It was so much fun, Landler!"

I wish I had the money to buy him a sword.

"I am glad. How was school today?"

"Are we going back home?" his blue eyes studied my reaction to his unexpected question. I tried my best to look unaffected and relaxed.

"I hope not. Do you want to go back home?"

"Hell, no."

"Hey, don't talk like that little boy, or I will cut your ears off," I joked with him(not really), and continued questioning him further.

"Did you thank Noah for letting us stay at his place?"

"I did. He told me that he is glad to spend more time with me and help me improve my soccer skills," I opened my mouth in complete shock while Jacob glanced at me weirdly.

"Is that so?"

"What is up with the questions today, Landler? I am going outside to practice the moves Noah showed me. See you later," and just like that, my little brother took the white soccer ball and ran off.

I was out of words.

Since when does he talk like that?

He used to be... nice.

Well, they say that they grow up so fast.

By saying that, do they mean that they start getting rude and impatient?

While Jacob was out in the garden, I made sure to keep some pasta for Noah before I washed the dishes and cleaned up the mess we had made.

I wanted to clean more in order to feel like I was any help, but his house was already so clean.

His house- an old basement with plain white walls covered with rock posters from the '70s. A small kitchen, a cozy living room with that black couch and a big tv in front. And lastly, two bedrooms. The garden was a floor above the basement(the only reason why I allow Jacob to play there alone sometimes).

The pasta cooled off at the corner of the kitchen by 19:00. Three hours later, I started to worry about him.

Where in the world could Noah possibly be?

~~~~~~~~~

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