Sleepwalker

Chapter Twelve

"I want to sleep but my brain won't stop talking to itself."

CLAYTON

As time passed in the U.S., I found myself forgetting about my old friends in Norway. It wasn't purposeful; I still cared for each one of them deeply. The only person I've stayed in contact with is Grete Aalstad, but even then it wasn't very often. She was off finishing her studies while I was there still trying to start over.

"I can't believe it has been two years since you've left. . ." Grete sighed lightly. "I still remember you being only a few houses away."

It was always bittersweet when we had the chance to talk through Skype. At some point, typically the end, one of us would reminisce of the past; where we were little kids and attached to the hip. When all we had to do was run over to the other's house to have a good laugh or cry, depending on what Grete, the great actress to be, decided to act out for me.

I repressed the urge to frown. "Yeah," my eyes laid low, "--those were the times, weren't they?" I sniffled; not because I was getting emotional, but because the autumn weather was starting to take its toll on me. Grete understood that too. "Well, I gotta go. You're English sounds better and better the more we talk, by the way."

Quickly she threw her long blonde hair into a knot on her head, then gave me a sad smile. "Thanks. . . Until next time!" Her hand went to salute me, but she stopped midway. "Oh, wait - I nearly forgot. Who is this special lady you're going to ask to this fall formal thing?"

The fall formal? In my years previous I had not attended such an event and I definitely did not plan on starting to.

"What?"

"Your Instagram post from a few hours ago; you hinted at asking a girl to it," she spoke slowly as if I were a child. "Right?"

My hand roamed to my back pockets, patting for where I was sure my phone was hiding, but nothing was there.

Okay, Clayton. There is nothing to worry about. Well, other than the fact your parents will kill you for already losing your new phone.

"I never posted something like that before. I'm not even going to it." I spoke calmly, trying my best to remain relaxed.

Grete scrunched her face. "Then what is this?" She lifted her phone's screen over her webcam, sure enough revealing a post from my account.

A post I was one-hundred percent positive I never uploaded.

"Ugh, I gotta go." My eyes narrowed in on the image of a Halloween bear - the same bear mor purchased from her hospital's souvenir shop. She told me she had gotten it for decoration, but I should have known better since she was never a fan of the holiday. "I'll keep you updated."

Grete only laughed before signing off and making my screen go blank.

Her parents were like second ones to me. They wouldn't have pressured me into a relationship I wasn't interested it, yet alone go as far as taking matters in their own hands. Maybe my parents were getting a message from Lucy I wasn't getting.

Ha! Yeah, right. She is totally interested in me and I'm blind. Definitely.

If I wasn't about to reprimand my parents I might have chuckled because of how laughable that sounded. I was pretty good at reading when girls were interested in me and Lucy Walker seemed the least bit. And so I am completely, completely, completely contempt with being friends.