Sleepwalker

Chapter Twenty

"My nightmares are usually about losing you."

CLAYTON

I had almost spent that whole weekend crammed in my room painting. I was so inspired; that Thursday night with Lucy was still replaying in my head again and again. Everything did not go as planned - which was slightly irritating to me - but it turned out to be an amazing evening. She was so understanding, funny, nice. . .

Everything I already knew she already was, and then some more.

And so my parents had not questioned me locking myself away, only to go out for food and to show them finished pieces. In fact, they probably enjoyed seeing me focus on my old hobby rather than baseball. I do admit, baseball had consumed most of my time once we moved to the states. In Norway, growing up, I spent all of the time sketching, sculpting, and painting. It was my escape from reality that I could not find with anything else. Well, until baseball came into the picture.

My favorite of the weekend thus far was definitely the one I had just finished. It was a painting of Lucy with the color scheme of her favorite color, purple. It wasn't a portrait because it wasn't that realistic, but if anyone knew Lucy, they could recognize it was her immediately.

When I picked up the brush I didn't intend to paint her out. However, the moment I applied the first stroke, the girl who had my mind captured influenced my movements further.

I was about to get up and make my way to far's office, but a knock at my door seized me.

My eyes shot to the clock, and when I realized it was already two-thirty in the afternoon, I cursed softly to myself. I completely lost track of time and forgot Lucy was coming over today.

Trying my best to remain calm, I yelled out, "one second!" Carefully placing the paintings away under my bed, not yet ready to show Lucy my pieces, I wiped my hands on my shorts. Sadly some leftover purple paint smeared onto them.

I gave myself a once over in the mirror. I didn't usually wear my glasses throughout the day, but I was too lazy to put my contacts in. My hair was in need of a cut; my curly hair was starting to show with the unruly spirals poking out to and fro. I tried taming them, but to no avail. I was stuck looking like I had just woken up with the girl I want to impress right outside my door.

"Sorry, sorry." I said aloud as I changed into a clean pair of shorts then spread a little bit of gel through my head.

"I'll wait in the livingroo--" Lucy had started, but she stopped once I swung the door open. Her green eyes were wild with surprise and so many olives and jades. I could stare at them all day and paint them.

"That's not necessary." I stepped back into my room. "My dad's out there anyways. He would ask way too many questions about this sleepwalking stuff." She slowly began to nod her head. I bet she could picture far asking her a billion questions, which was why we tried to keep the conversation to ourselves. "Come on in." I waved her inside.

Lucy walked into my room very cautiously. Her eyes scanned the walls, floor, until finally meeting the bed. She gulped.

"This is the first time you've been back in here since that night, huh?"

She simply nodded, all the while taking in her surroundings more. I was kind of embarrassed - I was in desperate need of having my laundry done. Plus my trash bin was overflowing the slightest bit, but that was okay compared to Zeke's. His trash was full of used condoms.

"It feels like it was so long ago." Lucy finally seemed to fall out of her trance, and held a perky smile. She pulled her long hair to one side, combing through the ends absentmindedly. "But it's been almost three months, I think."