Sleepless November (Sleepless November Saga Book 1) Read online

  My jaw drops in surprise and I feel like I can’t move.

  “Fantastic.” Holden scoffs. Clearly, he is just as excited to work with me as I am to work with him.

  The two of us return to our seats. When I make no move to get back up after I sit down, Holden gathers his things and moves to the seat next to me. While I would rather visit a gynecologist than work with him on this project, it is worth 30% of our grade, so I need to suck it up.

  “Can you go get the project summary or do you want me to?” I ask him. He shakes his head lightly as he puts his things down and walks to the front of the class to get the handout. When he comes back, he hands me one of the two papers and sits down. The two of us read over it in silence.

  Objective: Observe people in two abnormal situations.

  Details: Create two abnormal social situations. One of the situations needs to be positive while the other needs to be negative. For example, as a positive situation, you can pay for something for others. However, you must be able to fully observe the subject in the situation. One person may observe if he/she takes detailed notes. An example of a negative situation would be accusing someone of something they didn’t do.

  NOTE: DAMAGE OF PROPERTY AND ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES ARE NOT PERMITTED AND WILL RESULT IN A FAILING GRADE!

  “Seems easy enough.” Holden mumbles as he finishes reading. “So, do you want to come up with the positive situation and I’ll come up with the negative?”

  A part of me wants to make a comment about him being rude and creating negative situations every day, but I bite my tongue and choose to nod instead.

  For the rest of the class the two of us work separately. He creates a list of possible negative situations while I come up with a list of potential positives. Personally, I don’t know how he came up with so many negatives. Then again, it shouldn’t surprise me being as he’s an ass.

  BY THE TIME CLASS is over, I have come up with six situations and Holden has come up with ten. The two of us look over each other’s lists and decide on each one together. For the positive situation, we’ll be paying for five people’s groceries at the local food store. For the negative, we’ll be creating a fake scene of a man being rude to his girlfriend in a public place. Thankfully, we can use Brianna so I can watch the reactions. Meanwhile, Holden will just be himself.

  The remainder of the day is a blur. The only thing I can think about is getting back to my dorm and being able to fall asleep. A part of me considers skipping the rest of my classes, but that wouldn’t look good at the start of the school year. When I finally make it back to my room, I flop down face first onto my bed and fall asleep immediately.

  I WAKE UP TO the sound of Mr. Loud and Obnoxious. I don’t move even the slightest bit, hoping he will go away.

  “Quiet, Holden. Can’t you see she’s sleeping?” Brianna chastises him.

  He groans loudly. “Bree, it’s six o’clock. Who the hell sleeps at six o’clock?” The last few words sound muffled, telling me Bree put her hand over his mouth.

  I sleepily roll over and use the back of my hands to rub my eyes. When I adjust to the bright light, I look over to Bree’s bed and see her and Holden snuggled up watching a movie on her laptop.

  “Good Morning Sleepyhead.” She greets me.

  “Morning.” I reply, my voice sounding groggy. I clear my throat and sit up. “How long have I been out for?”

  “Forever.” Holden mutters. Bree elbows him quickly. “Ow! What was that for?”

  “Being rude.” She says bluntly. Holden rolls his eyes but smiles and kisses her forehead. “We’re going to go get dinner soon. Do you want anything?”

  “No thanks. I’m not really hungry.” I lie.

  Holden snorts. “Yeah, okay. We could hear your stomach growling in your sleep.”

  Bree glares at him while I grab the closest pillow to me and place it over my stomach, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

  “It’s okay. Really. I’m not feeling too well, hence why I was sleeping.” I tell them.

  Holden eyes me suspiciously. “Is that why you ran out of class earlier?”

  Bree looks surprised, showing that it’s the first time she’s hearing about it. I guess Holden didn’t tell her.

  “You ran out of class? Are you okay?” She questions, clearly concerned for my wellbeing.

  “I’m fine, I promise. It was just an anxiety attack. I get them all the time. No reason to worry.” I try to downplay the event as much as I can, but it doesn’t seem to work.

  Bree gets up from her bed, shoving the computer onto Holden’s lap, and comes over to me. She sits on the side of my bed and puts her hand on my shoulder.

  “Are you sure? Aren’t anxiety attacks serious?”

  I wave her off and shake my head. “Some can be, yeah. That one wasn’t though. I have medicine for it, it just makes me really tired. I’ll probably just end up going back to sleep.”

  She looks as if she wants to argue it further, but thankfully she doesn’t. I glance over at Holden and see he’s looking at me with an unreadable expression. He gives me a sad smile, one so fast I’m hardly even sure it actually happened, and then turns his attention back to the computer screen.

  For a minute, I start to wonder if Holden isn’t as bad as I think he is.

  “Come on babe. Leave Crybaby Kayleigh alone and come watch this.”

  Nope. He’s still an ass.

  Chapter Three

  "You know, you really do have the prettiest hair.” Brianna tells me as she takes my long brown locks and twists them into French braid pigtails.

  I roll my eyes and mutter a very light, yet very sarcastic, thank you. Holden sits on Brianna’s bed and messes around on his phone. I can tell he’s getting annoyed with how long this is taking, however, when have I ever cared about his feelings?

  “Okay, one done. One to go. Face this way.”

  I adjust myself and turn my head in the direction she wants. She takes the other half of my hair in her hands and starts to tug.

  “Ow!” I shriek, after one particularly hard pull.

  She lets go immediately. “Oh my gosh, did I hurt you? I’m so sorry.”

  “Do it again! Do it again!” Holden bounces with excitement.

  “Shut up, Holden!” Brianna and I both shout in unison.

  The two of us laugh while Holden pretends to pout. Brianna finishes up my hair, then hands me a mirror to show me the finished product. For the first time in a while, I love the way I look.

  “Thanks Bree, it looks awesome.” I tell her.

  “Don’t mention it.” She replies with a smile. “Let me just get changed and we can get going.”

  Holden gets up and walks over to my desk. He unzips the camera bag and starts taking out the contents.

  “I have the notebook and a pen. Do you have everything we need for the video camera?” I need to make sure, because I don’t trust him not to fuck up.

  “Yup.” He says, popping the p. “Just double checking.”

  I glance over at the contents of the bag. The camera is surprisingly high quality. I start to wonder what else he could have used that for.

  “Are both batteries charged?” I ask.

  “Yes, Kayleigh.” He responds, annoyed. “I think I know better than to bring dead batteries.”

  I sigh loudly at his tone. “Holden, please don’t be rude. Not today. Let’s just get through this project without fighting with each other.”

  He looks up at me and we make eye contact. His eyes seem to soften as he smiles just slightly.

  “You’re right. I’m sorry.” He almost whispers.

  Before I can even take in the honesty in his response, Brianna comes walking out of the bathroom, running her fingers through her perfect blonde hair. At the sound of her, Holden breaks eye contact with me and coughs, ending the moment instantly.

  “Ready to go?” Bree asks the two of us.

  I get up from my bed and go to grab a sweatshirt when Bree stops me. “Kay, I’ve got a jacket that w
ould just look amazing on you.”

  She goes to her closet, pulls out a white jean jacket, and hands it to me. I’m hesitant at first, knowing it’ll be too small, but instead decide to try it on. To my surprise, it fits. It’s probably a little tighter on me than it is on her, but none the less, I’m able to get it on.

  “See? Looks great!” She compliments. “Let’s go.”

  Holden grabs the video camera while I grab the notebook, and we head out the door. The three of us climb into Holden’s yellow Chevy Camaro - me taking the back seat. Holden starts the car and pulls out onto the road. Brianna goes to grab his phone, but Holden rips it from her hand.

  “What did I tell you about touching my phone Brianna? Jesus.” He scoffs.

  “I was just changing the song.” She tells him.

  “I don’t care.” He snaps.

  She looks at him and her eyes start to tear up. When she notices me looking at her from the back seat, she rolls her eyes and turns toward the window. A part of me wants to say something, but I know that would only make it worse for her.

  We pull up to the restaurant. It’s lunch time so there are plenty of people here, which is exactly what we were hoping for. Holden briefly explains how to use the video camera, then I leave them in the car and go into the diner.

  The hostess greets me. I tell her who I am and that I called earlier about the sociology project. She seats me at a table that has a good view of the entire restaurant. I set up the video camera as discreetly as possible and wait for the show to begin.

  Holden and Brianna come in a little more than five minutes later. The hostess seats them at a table in the middle of the room. They both order something to drink. After the waiter arrives to take their order, Holden gives me the signal to start recording. I press the button on the camera and take my pen in my hand, ready to observe the people around them.

  “Come on! Do you have to take forever to decide what you want everywhere we go?!” Holden yells.

  “I’m sorry babe.” Brianna mocks sadness.

  Holden scoffs, throwing his menu down onto the table. “Bullshit, you’re sorry. You do this every single time we go somewhere. It’s ridiculous! Stop being such an indecisive bitch!”

  Everyone in the restaurant seems to look in their direction, but no one has the guts to say anything. Brianna orders her food, and the waiter walks away to put in their order. I take a sip of my water and wait for round two to begin.

  My phone starts to vibrate. I pull it out of my pocket to see my mother calling. I hit ignore. The last thing I need right now is to deal with her. I need to pay attention.

  “Brianna, put your damn phone away! Who the fuck are you talking to anyways?” Holden shouts. He rips her phone out of her hands and shoves it into his jacket pocket.

  “Give me my phone back, please.” She requests quietly.

  “No way in hell.” He answers. “Just enjoy lunch with the boyfriend you’re lucky to have.”

  People around the restaurant start to whisper, clearly showing their disgust with his behavior. Yet, no one moves to say a word. I use my phone to send a quick text to Brianna, knowing Holden will see it.

  Me: You need to step it up a bit if you want anyone to say something.

  He pulls the phone out of his pocket and reads the text. He nods slightly, showing he got the message, and deposits it back into his jacket. He whispers something quietly to Bree that no one else seems to hear.

  “Give me the rest of that. I’m still hungry.” Holden demands.

  “No. I’m eating it. I’m starving.” Brianna pleads.

  Holden reaches over and grabs her plate, putting it in front of himself instead. “Oh please, you could stand to lose a few pounds. Gain any more weight and I won’t be with you anymore. I don’t want to date a fat ass.”

  That comment even makes me gasp. Everyone seems completely outraged that he even said such a thing to her. I make a note of people’s reactions. Meanwhile, someone at the table next to them looks as if she’s about to say something. Sure enough, she reaches over and taps Holden on the shoulder.

  “You really shouldn’t treat her like that.” She tells him.

  He laughs humorlessly. “And you should mind your own business.”

  The woman gives him a look that could kill, then turns her attention to Brianna. “Sweetheart, you are a beautiful girl and you could do a lot better than him.”

  Brianna smiles as the people around her agree with the woman, all attention now being on them. She mouths a silent ‘thank you’ and pretends to be shy while Holden mocks outrage.

  “Guys like you are why some girls have eating disorders.” Another woman tells Holden.

  I shift uncomfortably in my seat, aware of the camera capturing my reaction. Within seconds, there are several people telling Holden what a horrible person he is. A few of them even begin to encourage Brianna to break up with him.

  Having what we need, I stand up and walk over to their table. The three of us get everyone to quiet down and explain that it was an act for a project. Thankfully, they all seem to be understanding - relieved even. Holden pays for the food while I pack up the camera, and we leave the restaurant.

  THE DRIVE BACK TO campus, I can hear Holden quietly apologizing to Brianna.

  “Babe, you know I didn’t mean any of that right?” He asks. She nods, but something seems off between them.

  We drop her back off at the dorms. She has a class in a half hour, so the rest of the day will just be Holden and me. I climb out of the back, giving Bree a quick hug and thanking her for her help. I get into the passenger seat and close the door. Holden takes off toward the grocery store.

  “So, are we picking just five random people, or should we look out for certain things?”

  Holden thinks it over for a second, his fingers hitting the steering wheel to the beat of the music. “What kind of things could we look out for?”

  I quickly look up signs of a financial struggle. “Well, for starters, we could look for someone using WIC. They need to be low income to qualify.” I tell him. He nods, showing his acknowledgement.

  “We could also look for people who look like they need to put things back, or seem nervous about the total.” He suggests.

  We agree that we will try to find people who need us to pay rather than just select customers at random. The rest of the ride is quiet, except for the music. At one point, Shape of You by Ed Sheeran comes on. I turn up the volume in excitement, not realizing what I’m doing until it’s done. Thankfully, Holden doesn’t seem to mind. He smiles in amusement when I fan girl for a couple seconds.

  “Sorry, I just love this song.” I murmur, embarrassed.

  He chuckles softly. “You’re fine.”

  I quietly sing along as Holden pulls into the parking lot. We walk into the store. I follow Holden as he looks around for a manager. When he finally finds one, he explains what we are wanting to do. The manager happily approves and shows us where to sit. Holden sets up the video camera while I look around for the first customer.

  I spot a woman with a young child. She is telling her she can’t get one of the small toys in the checkout lane.

  “I’m sorry sweetie. We just don’t have the money for it right now.” She says nicely.

  The little girl smiles sadly at her mother and doesn’t ask again, but that doesn’t stop her from eyeing the toy. I point them out to Holden and grab the camera, focusing it on them while he walks over.

  “Excuse me, I’d like to pay for your groceries, and I’d like your daughter to add the toy as well, if that’s okay.” He says to the woman.

  The mother’s eyes begin to fill with tears and her hands cover her mouth.

  “Are you serious?” She asks. He nods, grinning widely. “Thank you so much.” She cries, and wraps her arms around Holden.

  The little girl picks out the toy she wanted and hugs Holden’s leg as a thank you. He pays for the groceries, and even helps the woman out to her car. I watch out the window as he spins the
little girl around in circles while the mother loads the car. When he comes back inside, I can see where he wiped away a tear.

  “Are you crying?” I ask, smiling at the idea of Holden tearing up over a good deed.

  He pushes me playfully. “Shut up. It was emotional.”

  The two of us laugh, for once having a good time together.

  After four customers, it’s all been basically the same reaction. They cry happily as Holden pays for their items, and then they hug him, telling him what a wonderful man he is. I’m surprised when he seems to get emotional after almost every transaction. Maybe I was wrong about him after all.

  “Okay, you’re doing the next one.” He tells me.

  I shake my head rapidly. “No. That’s okay. Really. You’re doing great. You do it.”

  He puts one finger over my lips, silencing me instantly. “I’m telling you Kayleigh.” He says looking into my eyes. “You’re going to want to experience this, at least once.”

  I’m so flustered at his actions and the sincerity in his tone that all I can do is nod. He seems satisfied at my answer and begins to look around for the final customer.

  “There, that one.” He says, pointing out a woman in the third checkout lane.

  She is very young, can’t be any older than Holden. She’s separating her groceries and sorting her WIC checks. There are two twin boys sitting in the cart, looking to be around two or three years old.

  I take a deep breath, grab Holden’s credit card from his hand, and approach the counter.

  “Excuse me, ma’am?” I say shyly. She looks up at me, clearly afraid of what I may say. “I’d like to pay for your groceries.”

  She looks around and sees the cashier smiling happily. When she realizes this isn’t a prank, she turns to me. “Why would you do that?”

  “Well, we had to choose a good deed to do for a sociology project, and this is what we chose.” I explain.

  She seems a bit hesitant, and when I look at her things, I understand why.

  “Can you just give me one minute?” I ask.