Night Drives

Chapter 1

It's here finally and I'm so excited! Hope you are too! dedicated to Sweetangelx for the amazing cover and awesome story The Celebrity Bodyguard! She's such an awesome person to chat with on online <3 <3 <3 <3

Chapter 1:

September

I let out a huge yawn, covering my mouth with my hand. I rubbed my eyes tiredly under my glasses as I waited for the shuttle bus. I barely slept, catching the sunrise today losing a night of rest again. I did everything right: a steamy shower, drank hot tea, read a chapter of a book until midnight and set an alarm at nine a.m. but my body wouldn't shut down.

Whenever I closed my eyes my heart began to race, forehead and palms were sweating. During the night, I watched YouTube videos hoping to fall asleep. I got drowsy around 7 a.m. Philosophy class was all the way across campus from my dorm. It was the first start of the semester and I didn't have a car.

My parents said I didn't need one since I was on campus and the family home was thirty minutes away. I could find a job, convince dad to lease a car for me. Or he could give me the old one that he wanted to sell.

Checking the time on my phone, it passed ten minutes of the schedule when the bus was supposed to come. Humming a random tune as I waited for the roar of vehicles on the road driving along to their destination. I saw the bus coming around the corner. Finally.

School I.D. was already in my hand. It halted in front of me and opened the doors with a whoosh sound. The air conditioner blasting in the vehicle stepped up. I showed the bus driver my ID, he nodded and shut the double doors behind. I found a seat up front, someone else took the window seat so I sat on the aisle one. It was mostly full, only a few seats by other students. She closed her book and placed it in her black backpack. I widened my eyes larger to stay awake, rubbing my cheeks. The blast of cold air from the conditioner helped since I was right under it.

"Rough night?" She asked me.

I just smiled and replied "something like that," I crossed my arms over my chest, leaning my back against the cold blue seat as the ride continued at a steady speed.

"You'll make it through." For some reason, the Degrassi: The Next Generation theme song came in my head when she said that, I grinned and then glanced at the window to pass the time, humming the theme song.

***

The last person entering the room right behind the professor, I pulled out my spiral journal and pen getting ready to take notes. I made it just in time.

Professor Kirby began to speak of Aristotle and how his morals affect us in modern society today, I tried so hard to stay awake but the lecture dragged on.

My palm was under my chin, elbows leaning almost off the desk for a relaxed position. Too relaxed. The room was warm, my jacket was comfy like my blanket. I closed my eyes for one second, I jumped up awake, almost falling off the seat. The whole class looked back at me confused by the noise I made.

"Everything all right?" Professor Kirby asked glasses titled on his nose and his black eyes were hard right at me.

"Mmhmm," I muttered, smiling widely for assurance.

"Ok." He went back to the whiteboard and continued the lecture. I should have skipped today and catch the notes online from this discussion to take a nap. I had a mandatory therapy session after my second class for today, English. I rubbed my hand down my face, putting my curls in a ponytail from the scrunchy off my wrist.

Looking around at the students quiet and paying attention to the professor's words, I heard light snores behind me. Glancing over my shoulder, his black hoodie hid his face, and arms were over his chest. He's smart, I should have done that.

The stink-eye the professor gave me earlier, I had to pay attention. It's only the first week, I muttered quietly, I needed to buckle down and work hard to keep my scholarship. Huffing out a sigh, I began jotting down his words before he erased them.