𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒

Chapter Five

I woke up breathless, feeling as though I had run a marathon inside a sealed glass cage. I even waved around in front of myself to check that I wasn't caged up. I threw the covers off myself and sighed, turning to slide my legs over the side of the bed, feeling my toes disappear into Caleb's rich carpet.

I turned around, seeing that Caleb was still asleep. I smiled at him—he looked so blissful. I found it both comforting to watch and envying—it seems that I would never have a blissful sleep. I shook my head, switching on my phone to check the time—5:30am. Not bad; I'd had worse. The sleeping pills did kind of help—I felt less tired than I usually did and I wasn't as restless in the night. Maybe I'd just need a heavier dose.

I decided to use the time to my advantage, creeping down the stairs of Caleb's house and making a decent breakfast as quietly as I could. I ate it without feeling sick, something that I didn't experience frequently. I didn't bring my phone downstairs, and it was too early to switch on the television, so I ate in reflective silence. It was nice, actually; calming.

I finished at 6 and took a shower, hearing quiet noises from throughout the house. I knew that Caleb woke up at half six, and so it wouldn't have been him. Perhaps his parents.

Dressed in clean a school uniform and my hair up in a towel, I left the bathroom, meeting Caleb's mum in the hallway.

She smiled at me, "Did you sleep well?" She asked, adjusting her clip in her hair.

"I did, thank you," I said, smiling back and leaving walking in the direction of Caleb's room. When I walked in, he was sitting upright in his bed, gulping down water and looking as though he had just woke up.

"There you are," he said, relief in his eyes as he smiled at me. I smiled back, packing my stuff into my bag, ready to take home.

"Did the sleeping pills work?" He asked as I pulled out my makeup bag. I considered lying to him, like I did to his mum, but sighed when I saw his expression.

I dropped down onto his bed. "Kind of," I admitted, "but I don't think anything will ever work."

He hesitantly placed a palm to my back, "Maybe you could try something stronger."

I smiled, then laughed, "Careful, you might just send me on a bender."

He laughed too, before yawning and stretching. "I should get up," he said, before furrowing his eyebrows at me, taking note of my uniform and the towel on my head. "When did you wake up?" He asked.

"Half five," I admitted, seeing his eyes widen.

He got out of bed, "I'll make you a coffee to go." I smiled after him, and he disappeared out of the room.

I let my smile follow him out before I sighed, getting off his bed and drawing open his curtains. I sat on the floor opposite his floor-length mirror, using the time I had to do a proper clean-up of my face. It had been a while since I had been able to do actual, nice makeup on my face since I had always been lying in to make up for lost sleep. I now had about an hour, and I also wanted to curl my hair.

When Caleb came back into the room, it was to give me my coffee. I smiled up at him, reaching for my mascara. He returned the grin, before leaving for a shower.

Curling my hair took longer than I expected, but I managed to drop the last curl just Caleb yelled downstairs at me. He had gotten ready and packed us both some lunch, leaving me to my beautifying session.

I smiled, spritzing myself with perfume before grabbing everything I needed and running down the stairs.

"We have five minutes until the bus," Caleb announced as I stuffed some extra bits into my bag.