"You seeing this weather?", Claire's phone rang up with a message from Jerry.
"No?", Claire replied. She was inside her room, perched on the edge of her bed. The window was barred and curtained, but the dark had been onset for quite a while now.
Claire was supposed to be asleep. It was midnight, all her work was finished and the next day's prep was all done too. Hopefully, at least.
But sleep didn't come to her easily this time. Her upperclassmen had an exam during the school day. The more people she had around her, the more often someone would get lucky, and she'd have to relive her past.
Add to that some stress, like that of exams, and she'd find herself living life in ten minute chunks, separated by an hour of the same old.
Going through the classes so many times had tired her enough to sleep during the classes herself. And she had apparently gotten enough sleep that it just wouldn't come to her at this point in time.
"It's so windy! I'm outside right now!", Jerry replied.
It seemed like she didn't feel like sleeping yet either.
Claire reached out to her bedside window and pulled the curtains aside. Then she tugged at the latch and threw the window open.
She was immediately greeted by a fist of wind that was just a bit too cold for her comfort. With it came a soothing rustle of tree leaves and the distinct smell that comes before the onset of rain.
Claire ducked away from the window and rubbed her arms for some warmth. She kept the window open; she liked the ambience and the smell. A moment later, she picked up her phone and typed in a reply.
"Cold! Where are you?"
"Park. Enjoying the swings", Jerry's reply was swift.
"Want me to come too?", Claire asked.
This time Jerry's reply took some time to reach her. "Nah. Kinda sleepy and it's going to rain. I'll just go back."
Claire was, admittedly, a little disappointed at that. She really liked this weather. She didn't want to make her stay awake for herself though. She had already had a good nap, but Jerry didn't.
She replied with a sad face and then followed it up with a question. "Why are you outside anyway?"
"Was hungry. Went to convenience store.", Another swift reply. "Thought you would be asleep so didn't message :("
Claire shook her head and smiled. "What did you buy?"
"Just a pack o chips"
"I want-!"
"Go buy your own!"
Claire chuckled.
"I'm going back now. Need sleep", Jerry continued.
Claire partially closed the window. The wind was still getting to her and making her shiver.
"Sleep! You need sleep!", Claire responded. "I'll make you treat me to chips if I see you online now."
Jerry replied with a laugh. "Yes, yes I'll sleep. I'm almost at home anyway. Night!"
"Good night!", Claire wished, "I'll see you tomorrow"
"See ya! You should sleep too."
"I'll sleep when I feel sleepy." Claire followed that up with a knife.
Jerry didn't see her message. Claire inferred she had gone offline and smiled.
She looked up at the time. It was a quarter past midnight. Claire put on some music, and then decided to just close her eyes and enjoy the music and the ambience.
Slowly, she found herself getting sleepy.
Her music suddenly stopped. Claire picked up her phone to check what was up. She thought the app had just crashed at first, but then her eyes fell on the clock. It was five minutes past eleven. Someone had lucked out.
She grinned. Jerry wouldn't go back til another hour. Maybe Claire could go surprise her and perhaps get herself something to eat as well?
She hopped off her bed and rummaged her closet for a coat. She donned the first one she could find and decided to sneak out of the house. She didn't want to wake up her parents, so going out the front door was a big no.
She walked back to her bed and opened her window - which was now completely closed - again and hopped out of it.
===
Claire pulled her coat closer as a gust of wind made her shiver. She was near the convenience store. She'd checked the park first, but Jerry wasn't there yet.
The park looked eerily beautiful that night. The park by itself didn't have much in the way of lighting. It was small enough that the light from the street lamp next to it was enough to give one a vague impression of it.
Even still, the park looked like it was filled with shadows. The silhouettes of the trees danced, and the sheer emptiness just gave way to the ambience of the leaves rustling in the wind. Weather like this could turn even a mundane existence like that park into a what felt like a timeless snippet of another world.
But Jerry wasn't there yet.
Claire had had to subvert the urge to plop down on the grass and enjoy the ambience to make her way over to the convenience store.
Claire squinted to look through the store's windows. The brightness of its insides took a while to get used to.
Jerry was in the store. Claire saw her picking at different products on the shelf, thinking about what she should get.
She grinned and made her way in. She gave a quick wave to the cashier, who ignored her as he was playing a game. She then weaved through the aisles quietly.
Claire couldn't come up with any way to follow up with her ninja tactics, and so just decided to give up all pretense of stealth and rushed to her side with stomping footsteps.
Jerry, a tad startled, turned to face the footsteps. A smile reigned her face as she saw who they belonged to.
"Claire!", Jerry waved.
Claire stopped in front of her and harrumphed.
"Why aren't you asleep, young lady?", Claire crossed her arms and puffed up her cheeks.
Jerry gasped and raised a hand to her heart, feigning being offended by the statement. "How dare you try and command me! You are not my mother!"
Claire furrowed her eyebrows and pointed at Jerry. "I do not need to be your mother to tell a young lady roaming the streets at night to go home and-", She gasped for air, "-and sleep! Drat, I messed that up!"
Jerry chuckled and reached for a pack of chips she'd been eyeing. She grabbed it and chucked it at Claire's face. "You take the breath before you speak idiot!"
"Af-", Claire covered her face right before the impact, after which the bag fell to the ground.
"So, when did you start stalking me?", Jerry continued.
Claire rolled her eyes and bent to pick up the bag. Holding it in one hand, she stretched out her other one and started counting on her fingers.
"One… two… about 4 minutes ago?", She replied. "You didn't tell me you were up! I'm surprised I saw you here."
Jerry grabbed the bag from her hands. "I thought you'd be asleep. You looked very tired today."
"I was, yeah. Had a biiiiig nap when I got back.", Claire lied.
Jerry tilted her head. "Huh. I swear I remember you online for the whole day."
"Details…", Claire peered at the shelves, looking for a snack for herself. Getting caught got her a little nervous, but not enough for her to show. In any case, she knew it wouldn't get her into any trouble anyway.
"Liar.", Jerry accused, then moved beside Claire to help her choose her snack.