The Bad Boy's Attraction

Sweet Dreams

"Aaarrrgghh!"

"What is wrong with me?!" Natalie tosses and turns for the umpteenth time. Her beddings discarded to the side leaving her just laying there in her pyjamas. Her head feels heavy. She just can't seem to get herself to sleep. She's tried everything she can but nothing seems to be working. Not even covering her face in the thickest sleep mask she owns could give her the tiniest wink of sleep.

She finally ends up sitting upright on her bed and let's out another frustrated sigh.

The night is serene, perfect for her to be enjoying her much needed sleep. Even her next door neighbours that can be a little noisy at times are extremely quiet today, so she doesn't get what her real problem is.

"Of course you do." Her mind retorts and she just rolls her eyes. 

"There is definitely no way I'm going there." She sighs again before crashing back on her bed. There is definitely no way she is letting her mind wander anywhere near there today, the only place she is letting it go to is way into dreamland. But that is easier said than done. So she ends up scanning her room trying to find something else to distract herself with.

She lets out a laugh aimed at herself when her eyes end up on her ceiling that is covered in wallpaper. Her usual distraction when she can't sleep. Whatever made her think having a starry night up there would always have her drifting into dreamland faster than any lullaby. The only purpose that paper has served her is keeping her wide awake and counting the same number of stars everytime she is unable to sleep. On other days she found herself wishing upon those stars like they were the real thing too.

She lets out a chuckle at that before looking away. She can really be a child and weird at times and now it seems her wishlist is not so important. All she cares about now is having her eyes close and slipping into her dreams.

After her first day in the library she is really tired and sleep should come easy but she is like a night owl with eyes that refuse to close and a mind that refuses to shut down. The ticking by of the seconds also are making her more anxious as she sees herself seeing the sun rise in just a few hours. Not even that prospect can get her very active mind to calm down enough to enjoy some peaceful slumber.

"It's all your fault." She finally caves in to her mind's thoughts that she has been avoiding all this time. She grits her teeth as the real reason for her lack of sleep seems to shine ever so brightly before her, the moment she decides to face it or rather face him. 

Thanks to all that time spent together in the library, Brendan's face seems to have found itself a permanent slot in her pretty little head. And she doesn't seem to have any control of when it pops up because if she did, she would rather be focussed on something else right now. But as it stands the jerk's face has chosen to torment her and keep her from her much needed beauty sleep. At this rate, she will be waking up with terrible eye bags and not to mention all the aching muscles that should have been relaxing now had she been fast asleep.

She sighs in frustration. It seems that's the only thing she can do successfully. She doesn't know how much more she can take. It's only been day one of his detention and she can feel the cracks developing in her armour. 

She couldn't even get satisfaction from her plan to give him some extra punishment.

Having him carry all those books that didn't even need to be moved was supposed to be his punishment. But it seems that backfired and she is the one paying for it. 

She shuts her eyes when the image of his bulging and flexing muscles crosses her mind, only to be met with his smirk that has her heart racing and skipping beats unnecessarily.

"Focus Nat."  She tries to keep her mind from wandering in that territory but it seems the damn thing has a life of its own. It feels like the more she tries to keep her mind off of him the more focussed on him she becomes.

"Something is definitely wrong with me." She buries her face in her pillow not wanting to think anymore, because if she keeps at it she will end up a hot mess.

Her phone vibrates indicating a message. Her eyes go to check the clock on her wall first. It's a little over midnight so she decides to ignore it, thinking about her no phone rule on a school night. But curiosity gets the better of her and she picks it up.

After all it's not like she's doing anything at the moment. 

She frowns though when she notices it's a w******p message from a number she doesn't know. 

"Who are you?"

She checks the number a couple of times before opening the message but it doesn't ring a bell. So she decides to ignore it. A message from a strange number at this time of night sounds fishy.

" Maybe I'll check it out in the morning."

She tosses the phone aside and decides to get back on her mission to get herself to sleep.

But as fishy as it is and thanks to her curious genes, she picks up her phone again and opens the message.

"I can't sleep...you are on my mind."

Her first instinct is dropping her phone while a cold chill runs down her spine. She doesn't scare easily with such but the message is too creepy. Almost makes her feel like someone is watching her.

Her eyes quickly land on her curtains but there's nothing there and a quick scan of her room reveals nothing out of the ordinary making her relax a little. And something tells her to check her phone when it vibrates again.

With hands shaking a little not knowing what to expect, she picks it up. When she opens the message she finds a pic this time. She presses download with one eye closed just incase she might not like what she sees.

"Damn you!" She curses when she finally sees what it is.

The pic is enough for her to know immediately who the strange number belongs to. And strangely enough, her heart can't keep calm and neither can she. And this time she is not gripped by fear but something that is worse than fear. For some time she just stays there watching her phone not knowing what to do. 

"Why is he even sending me this pic in the first place?" 

Unconsciously she traces her lips with her warm fingers and the memories come alive. She has seen this pic so many times before but getting it from him suddenly pulls her back in his embrace. She is back in the exact moment she let go and got lost in that one kiss that has turned her life upside down. For a moment she is lost, back in that hallway at Blackwood high inhaling his manly scent again. Her phone vibrates again bringing her out of her dream.

"Am I keeping you up?" A smirking emoji ends the newest message. 

"Ugh! Talk of the devil...or more like think of the devil."

She was about to lash out and text back saying get out of my head but she thinks that would not be such a good idea. That would just be a big yes to his assumption and he would definitely grow wings. And she's still not interested in entertaining him. 

She decides to turn off her phone but at the same time it rings making her pick the call instead of switching it off.

"Well, I didn't think you would be that impatient to talk to me."

Brendan smirks the moment his face comes on. 

"You, what are you doing here?" 

For a moment she is just plain confused. Her phone should have been off, not showing her the face that's kept her awake all this time.

"Well, I'm not exactly there, but I can be if you want me to." Brendan replies, his usual smirk on his face.

"You know what I mean." Natalie replies while she fights to keep from blushing at his statement.

"In that case, I'm calling you."

"I can see that, but why are you calling me?" Natalie frowns

"Honestly, I don't know either. Brendan replies looking all nervous suddenly.

"Well bye then." 

"Wait!" Brendan shouts from the other end before Natalie can cut the line.

"What?" She replies nonchalantly. 

"Just….wait."

She finds Brendan looking at her intensely and her heart skips a beat. The Brendan on the screen now seems different from the one she has come to know. His hand comes on the phone's screen like he was caressing her face and she has this urge to lean into his touch.

"Sweet dreams Natalie."

He cuts the line before she can even say anything, leaving her blinking so many times trying to understand what just happened. And when she comes up with nothing she drops back on her bed as she takes in a deep breath.

"Since when did he have so little to say?"

She seems to be in a daze of her own and she decides to close her eyes. That look in his eyes lingers on her mind for sometime. She finds herself wanting to understand what it was all about.

She begins to feel a heaviness engulfing her as she tries to figure Brendan out. She spent so many hours unable to sleep, but now thoughts of him feel like a soft lullaby as she keeps her eyes closed. Maybe just maybe she might be able to sleep after all.

"Sweet dreams Natalie."

The face that has kept her awake all this time is the last one she sees as she feels sleep engulf her finally.

"Sweet dreams Brendan."