I can't sleep.
I am on my bed with my eyes wide open and my arms and legs spread.
I'm bored. Is it obvious?
I wanted to eat my gummy worms, but I left them downstairs. Sigh...
I can't go out because if I do, Norvyn will see that I'm still awake and he will scold me.
'Why are you still awake young master? You should go to your bed.' At least that's what I imagined him to say.
I look at my phone. Riri stopped messaging me after I didn't reply. She sent me Cal's phone number and said goodnight.
What am I going to do with it?
Papa shouldn't have said that he would come home early if he couldn't keep his promise. I looked forward to nothing.
I closed my eyes. One... Two... Three... Still can't sleep. What time is it anyway?
It's 9:25 p.m.. Now what?
I look at Cal's phone number. Should I message him? What if I bother him? He's at work, right? I mean, he said that he's working until ten...
I pursed my lips. My thumbs hovered above my phone. I can say hi. It doesn't matter if he ignores it because he's busy.
.
.
.
I'm nervous. If I really text him, what will be the content of my message?
~
Cooper: Hi Cal! It's me, Cooper!
~
I frowned. Erase, erase, erase.
I rolled to the left side of my bed. I bit my bottom lip and started typing on my phone.
~
Cooper: Good evening Cal! This is Cooper. Riri sent me your phone number. I'm sorry for texting you at this hour. I just want you to know that if you're bored, you can text me! (p＾ｪ＾q)
~
I read the message thrice for good measure. Should I send this? I hope it isn't that obvious that I want to receive a reply because, you know, he always looks bored. Maybe he will ignore it if it comes from an unknown number.
Uuuu... Aish! I'll just send it before I regret it!
I hit the send button. The message was delivered but not seen.
Welp, I'll wait for him to reply or just go to sleep. Whichever of these two happens first.
I glanced at the clock. 9:37 p.m..
Why is it that I can't fall asleep tonight? I didn't eat nor drink something energizing. Is it because of the gummy worms? I think it's because of the gummy worms.
My phone suddenly rings. It's a message from Cal! I hurriedly clicked on it.
~
Cal: Ok.
~
. . .
Really? One word? Even through text he's not a talkative guy.
Do I reply to it? What do I even respond to an 'ok'?
~
Cooper: Where are you? Are you still at the store?
~
There, I sent it!
He texted back after a minute.
~
Cal: Yes.
~
. . .
. . .
. . .
Cal is the opposite of Riri. Riri sent me a long message as her reply but for Cal, one word is enough.
I think he doesn't want to talk to me... I should say goodnight to him and not text him anymore.
~
Cooper: So, umm, good night Cal.
Cal: You're sleeping?
~
Oh! I didn't expect him to send two words.
~
Cooper: Not really. I just thought that maybe you didn't want to be disturbed, so... yeah.
Cal: There are no customers right now and my shift will end soon. Keep me company.
~
Does that mean he's bored?
~
Cooper: You want me to keep texting you?
Cal: Yes.
Cooper: Oh ok!
~
He should have said that sooner. He really wants me to doubt whether he likes me or not.
I smiled.
~
Cooper: So what do you want to talk about?
Cal: Anything.
~
I frowned. Well that's a hard topic. I don't know where to start. Correction: he didn't give me any topic to start.
~
Cooper: How is work? Is it tiring?
Cal: it's ok and yes.
~
I waited for a few minutes, waiting for him to ask me a question. I didn't receive any.
How is this a conversation if I am the only one who is talking?!
This conversation is dead!
~
Cooper: Are you not asking about my day?
~
Of course I didn't send it. It felt fake.
Geez, Cal is not a brilliant talker, but he said to keep him company and I really like to chat with him.
~
Cooper: Soooo
What's your favorite genre of music? You always have your earphones in your ear and I figured that it's because you're listening to good music.
Cal: Classic.
Cooper: Classic?
Cal: I enjoy listening to piano pieces. It makes me feel calm and sleepy.
Cooper: Ohhhh
I enjoy listening to anything I find good. Oh! Do you know about the song X? It's fantastic!
Cal: I know that song. It's good.
There's a customer. Brb.
Cooper: Brb? What's that?
Cooper: Hello?
~
He didn't reply. Is he asleep? I need to know what brb means. Mr. Evighle, I need your help.
I pressed home and clicked on an app that looks like a rainbow colored globe.
After typing what I want to know, which is brb, it gets the result in less than a second.
'Brb means be right back'. Oh, so that's what it means. Then that means that I just need to wait for Cal. I can do that.
I watched some funny cat videos while waiting for Cal. It only took half of the video before Cal messaged me.
~
Cal: Sorry to keep you waiting.
Cooper: No, it's okay. I have nothing to do but watch cat videos anyway. Besides, cat videos are always there to accompany me.
Cal: Oh.
Why are you still awake?
Cooper: Because I'm not asleep.
Cal: ...
Cooper: hahaha!
Cal: ...
Cooper: Ok, it's because I can't sleep. I think it's because I ate too much gummy worms.
Cal: Then stop eating.
Cooper: I can't do that. I will die from starvation.
Cal: ... You know, that's not what I meant.
Cooper: I know, I just love annoying you.
It's also my revenge for all the teasing that you've done. Eye for an Eye, as they say.
Cal: Ok.
Cooper: ...
You're not gonna tease me for a payback?
Cal: I am not that petty.
Cooper: QAQ... Meany!