17 Nights {c.h.}

+eight+

The Eighth Day

“Another day, another pot of coffee.” I murmured to myself as I brewed a pot of coffee I would drink during the entirety of my exam, hoping to fight off the effects of yet another sleepless night. Maybe it was because I was still used to my regular Maryland time zone and would wake up extremely early here; no matter what time I would go to sleep the night or morning before.

“That’s the spirit; drown your sorrows in a non-alcoholic beverage.” Cynthia sarcastically applauded, making her own cup, ignoring my protests as she poured a small amount of the brown liquid into her own plain white mug.

“That’s the only way I’ll survive.” I shrugged, adding more sugar and milk than necessary as Cynthia cringed at the amount of sweetener I was mixing into the possibly-deadly-if-I-drank-it-everyday beverage.

“Hey swing by the diner this afternoon, yeah? I have an exam tomorrow so this might be one of the last Diner Talk Tuesdays.” The corner of her mouth tugged up in a sad smile as we both realized that I’m supposed to be on the other side of America once again by Friday.

“Of course, but I’ve got to go.” I sighed, glancing at the clock once again before taking a swig of the hot beverage and swallowing the small pill I had grabbed off the counter.

“Guess I don’t need to remind you to take your medicine, huh?”

“Guess not,” I yawned, the caffeine still making its way through my veins slowly, “but I’ll meet you at the diner later.” I promised before we exchanged goodbyes, the door closing softly behind me.

+|+|+

I yawned for probably the millionth time as I exited the lecture hall; by this point keeping my eyes open was more than a struggle. I vowed that as soon as my exams were over I would sleep for at least twenty-four hours straight, along with the rest of peers suffering from Post Exam Exhaustion after not sleeping in a few weeks while cramming in hopes of passing.

I stuffed my, now empty, thermos into my backpack even though I knew Cynthia would make fun of me for lugging it all over the campus. I didn’t see why she always teased me about it considering it was only big enough to hold my laptop and a few notebooks if necessary unlike some of my fellow students who carried around a backpack half their size.

I wrapped my arms tighter around my waist, trying to avoid physical contact from my peers as much as I possibly could. It wasn’t that I detested physical contact, it was just one of the days where I didn’t want to be touched unless I initiated it, but maybe that was just my introverted tendencies coming into play. It wouldn’t be the first time; that was how my life played out before Calum inserted himself into it.

It didn’t take long for me to make it to the diner, my short legs pumping faster in order to get to the small business. The crowd of students gradually thinned before disappearing altogether as I opened the door, the bell overhead  dinging as I entered, causing the few workers to turn their head before going back to work, knowing Cynthia would take care of me.

It wasn’t long until that happened, the woman herself sat across from me with a cup of coffee in her hand. She slid the cup across the small booth into my waiting hands, to which I eagerly sipped it. While it wasn’t cold outside, it was a whole other story inside.

“How ya feeling, champ?” She ruffled my hair, smirking as I scowled and hastily tugged the hairs back in place.

“Tired and annoyed.” I huffed, angrily sipping my coffee.

“Tell you what, that cup’s on me, yeah?” Cynthia smiled, knowing the bribery would win me over. I nodded my head, my mouth still preoccupied with the hot beverage. “But how is everything with your exams?”

“It’s alright,” I shrugged, “I mean, I still have one more night of cramming to do but then I leave on Friday, so hopefully I’ll find some time to sleep at some point.” I yawned into my hand, wiping my eyes as they watered due to allergies. Of course they would be allergies, what else would they be? Okay, maybe I was a little bit sad about leaving in about three days but who could tell. Apparently Cynthia could.

“Aw, Bella,” she cooed, “I’ll miss you too, you little munchkin.”

“I’m not a munchkin,” I grumbled, “maybe everyone else is just unnaturally tall.”

“Yeah, just keep telling yourself that- ouch!” I smirked into the cup, a little playful violence never hurt anybody. Badly.

+|+|+

“Bella? I’m home!” Cynthia called, closing the door behind her as she walked through our small-ish dorm in order to find me.

“In here,” I mumbled, aware of how miserable I sounded and looked.

“Aw, Bella, what’s wrong?” She questioned, taking a seat next to me and wrapping her arms around my shoulders, clinging like a koala. It wasn’t the first time we had found ourselves in this position, but never for this reason.

“I can’t go home.”

“What do you mean you ‘can’t go home.’ Of course you can go home.” She was obviously confused at my nearly-emotionless voice.

“I mean I went over my parents’ school budget, they won’t pay for anything else for two months.” My voice cached at the end, showing how distressed I truly was.

“You have a bank account, right? Don’t you have enough money in that to get home?” Cynthia attempted to calm me down.

“The bank account held the school money, something happened earlier this year and I had to switch and my old card got deactivated and nobody shipped me my new card.” I was close to tears at this point.

“We’ll figure this out.” She promised, holding me tighter.

“How do you know?”

“Because we always figure this stuff out.”

_____

guys i'm back and i swear i have a reason for why i haven't updated

1) if you didn't know I rescued a cat and she had to get spayed and it's been hard trying to get her to tolerate my dog on top of having her uterus removed

2) my aunt had surgery and i was helping to take care of her

3) I actually have a job this summer (weird, right?) and it takes up some time but i'm at the beach until the 8th and then i'm back to work (i assume, i'm not sure the days i'm working yet)

so all in all its been a busy time but i've also managed to become happier and it's really important because i wrote 16 days when i was in a not-so-good place and i'm starting to like writing this book again because it's giving me closure for the time being and all that shit (if you ever need to talk i'm here)

BUT BESIDES THAT how have you guys been? do you need a snack, maybe some warm milk?

QUESTION: WHO THINKS CALUM WILL WAKE UP WITH AMNESIA SINCE THE AMNESIA VIDEO IS ALMOST HERE?

okay that's all nanite guys love you, thanks for sticking with me through all of this stuff

Em xx