It was 2 a.m., and as usual, I was staring at my ceiling thinking incessantly about the shrinking hours of the night encroaching on the precious time I could be asleep. Sounds of people talking loudly over each other wafted through my window. Memories of past parties flooded into my mind – a big laugh over a board game, dancing with a cup in my hand with four other girls in a circle, an awkward kiss on plastic folding chairs with blaring dubstep in the background. Just as I was going to give up and crack open my textbook in a desperate attempt to sleep, my phone rang loudly against the stillness of the air. My stomach dropped to my feet as a name I never thought I’d see again flashed across the screen: Micah Holt.
For a moment, I couldn’t do anything at all. I stared at my phone in disbelief, a harsh blue light illuminating my face and burning into my pupils. Instinct took over, and my thumb made its way across the bottom of my screen and my arm moved the device mechanically to my ear.
“Hello?” I asked tentatively.
“Sammie, it’s me.”
“Uh-huh.”
“What are you doing right now?” Their words slurred together and my brain had to run over them twice before understanding them.
“What do you mean? I was just sleeping” I lied. “What’s this about?”
Micah coughed, then sighed awkwardly. “I was just thinking, you know. It’s been a tough year.”
I felt like adrenaline was dripping through the back of my throat. I stood up and paced the room. All I could muster was a drawn-out, “Yeah… ”
“And I was sitting here, alone, when it came to my mind, I’d have to drive like five hundred miles to get to anyone who loves me right now.”
“Oh Mic, now –”
They interrupted me. “But then I thought, wait, Sammie’s here. Shit. Maybe I should give her a call.”
My heart twisted, “Mic, you’re starting to scare me.”
“No, no Sammie, it’s not like that. I promise.”
A long silence passed. My feet moved quickly, one in front of the other, and I thought of that game I used to play as a kid, trying to only step on the cracks. Ironic though, I learned just a couple of months ago you were supposed to avoid the cracks.
Finally, I opened my mouth. “Well, is there anything I can do?”
Sammie’s voice broke in a way that made me cringe. We hadn’t spoken to each other like this in years. “Could we just take a ride?”
Before I knew it, my shoes were tied, my coat was thrown over my pajamas, and my key was in the door. I looked up into the cold night sky, the sound of people laughing washing over me again. The only thing I knew for certain was it was destined to be a sleepless night.