Staying Up [Judeva // Lost & Found Music Studios]

Chapter 1: Midnight City

The dark was not Eva's friend. 

As a child, she would spend most nights in her parents' bed until she got to the age where they decided it was best she learned to sleep in her own bed, by herself. Still, even now, Eva would spend most nights curled up in a ball in bed until her fearful thoughts knocked her unconscious.

This night was not unlike those nights. It was Summer, but the only thing her open window was doing for her was inviting the heat in. She was consumed by sweat, yet too scared to unwrap herself from her blanket. Who knew what could be lurking beneath her bed?

From the second storey up, Eva gazed out her bedroom window and sighed. She watched as the family across the road from her kept their lights on, quiet laughter emitting from their house. She checked her alarm clock which read ten to twelve. 

What Eva would give for a family that spent time together past eight o'clock. You'd think for a homeschooled girl, she would see her family a lot, but the reality was her father was always "at work" (but probably having affair) and her mother was so hard to talk to, always full of ideas and opinions it was almost impossible to get a word in with her.

Her parents were practically strangers.

As she stared at the envied family from across the road, her head fell onto the glass of the window. She needed to get out. 

With a glance back at her closed door, she slid her window open a crack more, making sure not to wake her parents in the process. She stuck her head out, observing her area, before climbing out and onto the roof. Her pulse was racing, heart beating so fast she thought she was going into cardiac arrest. She had never done anything like this before. Snuck out or faced her fears. But there she was, climbing down the drainage pipe, going against unspoken rules her mother would have expected her to know and entering the dark, mysterious, terrifying night.

She had no idea where she was going, but she and her mother had walked to the city multiple times on shopping trips, so she figured that was the safest, most familiar place to go.

As she wandered through the silent streets, she realised "facing her fear" may have just created more fears. Never had she been scared of murderers or rapists until that moment. 

As she turned a corner and entered the centre of the city, she was suddenly aware of the fact that she was still in her pyjamas. She hadn't even bothered to throw on shoes, a jacket, or even a bra. So there she was, free-boobing it through the city. 

There were a lot more people around than she thought, which made her feel safer but more self conscious. There were a lot more homeless people than she thought there would be, too. She wondered if she sat with them, whether people would think she was homeless, too.

So, now I'm here . . . What to do?

This was not how Eva expected this night to go. In all honesty, she had no idea what she was expecting, but this certainly wasn't it. It was so very anticlimactic. 

Maybe I should turn around and head home, Eva thought, entirely disappointed with this whole experience.

She sighed in defeat and spun on her heel, barging right into a leather jacket, head-butting a breast.

"Oh, fuck!" Eva looked up, eyes manifesting her newfound fear of murder and rape. She was only a little relieved to find that it was a girl. 

"Sorry," Eva squeaked out, embarrassed by how small she sounded. You may as well just tell her she's terrifying you.

However, the girl with short, brunette hair did not take advantage of this vulnerability she was seeing in Eva, thank God. Instead, she giggled. "It's okay, that was totally my fault. I was kind of chasing you," the girl admitted.

Eva gulped. Chasing me?

"I just wanted to see your pyjamas because I thought we had the same pair." The girl scanned Eva's outfit and grinned. "No way, it's the same pair!" She turned to a group of kids behind them which Eva had not noticed until then. "I told you it's the same pair!"

The only other girl rolled her large brown eyes and Eva remembered thinking how pretty she was. How pretty both girls were.

"Sorry about her," the friend said, stepping forward. "Maggie's had a bit too many pre-drinks."

Eva couldn't help it. "Isn't it a little late to be pre-drinking?"

They all laughed. Eva's face went hot.

She looked over the boys loitering behind their friends, all admittedly attractive. One was blonde with a cute button nose and large-framed glasses. He was cute in a dorky kind of way, but since Eva herself was dorky, she found it less charming than most girls probably would have. The next boy was brunette and one of those people you looked at and just knew was hot. There was no question about it, no need to look closely or justify your decision in deciding that they were hot. They just were.

The last boy, however, was something else. With dark skin and even darker eyes, Eva was instantly captivated. Everything about him - his stance, his clothes, his expression - screamed stay away from my daughter. Eva wanted nothing more than to be near him.

"You're funny," the first girl - Maggie - said, reaching out to flick a strand of hair that had escaped Eva's ponytail. "You should come party with us."

Eva laughed a nervous laugh. She had never been invited to a party, and as much as she wanted to say yes, she was also terrified at what this party might involve.

"Uh, I can't," Eva replied, carefully choosing her words. "I have . . . School tomorrow."

Maggie, incredibly drunk, tried to hold in a laugh but she was a lot worse at it than she probably thought.

Eva coughed, awkwardly. "Maybe next time," she lied. She knew she was never going to see them again.

The other girl - the unnamed girl - shrugged. "Oh well, see you another time, pyjama girl."

Eva gave her a polite smile and then snuck a quick glance up at the dark boy, one last time. He was staring back at her and her heart stopped for a moment. She wasn't sure whether it was shock that he was staring back at her, or the fact that he had caught her staring at him. Either way, it lasted a second before she was able to tear her eyes away and head home.

That next morning, she awoke without her blankets wrapped around her body, having crashed as soon as she entered through her bedroom. She stared out the window which provided a beautiful morning sky and smiled, thinking about a boy she didn't say two words to.