Brute.

Twenty-Four

Me: Hey...

Jimmy: What are you doing up? It's the middle of the night

Me: I can't sleep. It's pretty difficult to block out an alcoholic on a rampage, no matter how used to it I am. I had a feeling you were still awake

Jimmy: You can come over here, you'd be able to sleep.

Me: Actually, I think it would be just as hard to sleep there just for an entirely different reason

Me: What's keeping you up?

Jimmy: I'm not sure. Do you end up stuck awake at night often?

Me: Almost every night.

Me: Here...

I attached an audio file of a cover of Creep by Radiohead, sung by Kina Grannis.

Jimmy: What's this?

Me: It's one of the songs I listen to when I can't sleep

Jimmy: Is there anything I can do to help you sleep?

Me: Probably not, my mom will pass out eventually

Jimmy: Did your brother leave?

Me: Yep, he left while I was with you filming the Tesla video.

Jimmy: If the song doesn't work, what else do you do to help you fall asleep?

Me: I usually don't. I end up doing homework or watching YouTube until my alarm goes off and just hope the next night doesn't go the same way

Jimmy: That's a terrible solution. If you don't want to sleep at my place, why don't you go to the Hallows?

Me: Hannah is out of town with her church group. If I walk into their house in the middle of the night, they'll think I got caught in my mom's way again and they'll freak out. They see that enough, I don't want to freak them out if I don't have to.

Jimmy didn't text me back, instead a few minutes later my phone started to ring with a FaceTime from him.

"I'd rather see your face while we talk," Jimmy smiled at me.

"I'm okay with that," I smiled back.

"Good. So, all of the Hallows know about your mom?" Jimmy asked.

"And my brother. Hannah helped me hide it in the beginning, but it's been happening for years so they all learned eventually," I explained shyly, being cautious that my mom wouldn't be able to hear me talking.

"I can't believe Chandler kept that a secret," Jimmy shook his head in disbelief.

"He did because I asked him to," I informed Jimmy, "I love that family, and they have tried more times than I can count to get me to move out or report my mom, but she's still my mom. There are times when she snaps out of it for a little bit to be my mom again too, and I'm not okay with giving up on her."

"You're not giving up on her by moving out, Nugget. You know that, right? She's still your mom and I get that, and I would never ask you to pretend she's not your mom, but moving out would be good for you," Jimmy insisted.

"I know, and for years I've been telling myself that I only have to get through senior year because then I go to college. That's what convinced Chandler and his dad to trust me because I was going to get out of here, but now I probably won't be getting out of here very soon," I sighed.

"Nugget, you can still go to college," Jimmy smirked at me, "you are the smartest person I have ever met."

"I can't go if I can't pay for it," I reminded Jimmy, "you know you won't fall asleep if you're talking to me, right?"