[ the first book in the drops of sunshine series ]
For some, being a hero means saving a life. For others, it means making your mark on the world. For AJ Hood, it means being sarcastic and fighting monsters while illegally skipping out on your cult...
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~ ☼ ~
45 minutes out from D.C., and I still hadn't fallen asleep.
I couldn't tell if it was the growl of the engine, or the sound of Alec humming gently beside me, or maybe just the fact that I was in an unfamiliar truck in an unfamiliar part of Virginia with two kids who were just barely familiar to me, but I couldn't get my eyes to stay shut.
I propped myself up from the disheveled position I'd been sitting in, glancing to the backseat to make sure Riley was still sound asleep. When we'd all boarded the truck, Alec had been delighted to find the drachmas Demeter promised us waiting in the cup holder; he'd turned to tell our sister, but she was already too drowsy to form a coherent response. Now, she was laying across the back row, facing the seats, seemingly content with her surroundings (unlike me).
Outside, we were passing over a river, and the moon was high in the sky. Inside, the dusty cloth seats were doing nothing for my sun-burnt, bug-bitten skin, and the cold temperature of the cab was the closest thing I had to aloe vera.
"I thought I was. But I don't know, I just can't fall asleep."
I shifted to look at him. He looked positively dead, even as he alertly scanned the roadways and kept his hands firm on the wheel. From the way his shoulders were slumping, his Camp Half-Blood shirt folding along with them, I could tell he was just as fruitlessly tired as me.
Still, ever helpful, he advised me, "Well, many people suffer from sleep issues after a concussion, especially at night."
I blinked. Concussion?! How did I forget I had a concussion?!
"Shoot," I breathed. "I honestly forgot I had a concussion."
Alec chuckled gently. "I figured. Are you just used to having a near-constant headache, or something?"
"I guess so. I'm always blasting music. I already think I might have mild tinnitus."
With the thought of music, my eyes flickered longingly towards the dashboard radio. The only light it emitted at the moment was the dim time display, reading 11:20 pm.
I frowned. In summers previous, I've always stayed up this late, though I was usually cuddled up in bed, surfing through MySpace and listening to Fall Out Boy as my dog slept peacefully beside me. Life seemed so much more boring then. Little did I know the trouble 2006 would bring me.
Alec noticed my stare, and said, "You can turn it on if you want. Maybe it'll help you sleep."
