Insomnia (The Night Walkers)

by Johansson, J. R.

  “That was more than slightly awesome,” he said, low enough that no one else would hear. “You should’ve seen your face, man. I mean, she’s hot, but I didn’t think you’d be into that.”

  Addie’s face was neutral, but she was watching me closely. She was the only person I ever had trouble reading. It seemed like she only let me see what she wanted me to see. I wasn’t sure why, but it made me nervous.

  “Wha—why not?” I glanced over my shoulder and saw Jeff’s back. He and Mia were deep in discussion, and she seemed to be getting more upset by the second.

  “Well, I don’t know … ” Finn stared at his feet for a minute before laughing and shoving me in the shoulder. “You know, because she’s a girl, and … ”

  His face showed no sign that it was a joke. In fact, he appeared more uncomfortable than I’d ever seen him. Addie was staring at him now, too, her eyebrows raised so high they almost touched her hair.

  “What are you talking about? You don’t think I like girls?” I tried to keep my pitch from going skyward, but I wasn’t very successful. I saw Jeff freeze and slowly turn in my direction.

  “Come on. I didn’t think you liked guys—I just didn’t really think you liked anybody like that, you know?” Finn laughed, but it sounded hollow.

  “Yeah, well, I don’t. So you got that right,” I muttered. Jeff and Mia were heading our way.

  Addie stepped toward Mia and waved. “I’m Addie. Did you play soccer at your old school too?”

  Mia nodded. “Yeah, I’ve been playing forever. You play?”

  “No. It’s never been my sport. I swim.” Addie shrugged and started for the stairs. “Nice meeting you!”

  The corner of Mia’s lips curved up. “You too.”

  “Addie, come here for a moment please,” Coach Carter called just before Addie was out of sight. She pivoted on one foot and jogged over to the coach with a grin that made me wonder why everyone didn’t stand around staring at her all the time.

  Jeff jolted me out of my gawking by punching me lightly in the shoulder. “What was that all about, Parker? You’ve never seen a girl before?” He glanced over at Mia.

  “No, I was just surprised. I nearly hit her with my car yesterday.”

  Finn barked out a coughing laugh and Jeff’s brow lowered to match his voice. “You did what?”

  “I didn’t, though.” I looked at Mia, but she seemed to be avoiding eye contact. “But I could’ve sworn she told me her name was Megan.”

  Now she did meet my eyes, and I saw a flash of a smile as she said, “Don’t worry. It’s a common mistake.”

  “You almost hit her with your car?” The muscle in Jeff’s jaw twitched and he stepped between us. His response bothered me. Did he actually think he owned every girl in school?

  “It was an accident. Besides, why do you even care?”

  Jeff’s eyes narrowed. “Because she’s my sister.”

  “Duh-Duh-Dum.” Finn put one hand up in front of him like he was holding a microphone and leaned forward with a grin. “That’s it for today, folks. Tune in tomorrow for the next episode of Days of Our Lives.”

  Confused, I gave my head a little shake. “She’s your what?”

  Finn grunted and turned away, muttering, “Always wasting my best stuff.”

  “My foster sister. She’s staying with my family.”

  That made sense. Jeff was an only child, and I knew the Sparks had done the foster thing before. But I was pretty sure the kids were usually much younger.

  “Oh,” I said, trying to glimpse Mia behind Jeff again. “Well, like I said, it was an accident, and she’s fine. So, no big deal.”

  “It really was nothing.” Mia stepped up beside Jeff, and I tried to look friendly when she glanced at me.

  “Okay, cool.” Jeff shrugged, then slapped my shoulder. “Why don’t you set up a couple of chairs for the meeting, Parker?”

  “Oh, right. The meeting.” I pointed back toward the curtains. “Why don’t we just have it down in the auditorium?”

  “I want to get started right away. The faculty has only given us half an hour before we have to get to class, but it will take a while for them to empty the auditorium out. It might buy us a little extra time.” He pointed to the stacks of chairs lined up off to one side. “We’ll just have it up here on the stage. Keep it short and sweet.”

  “Right. Got it.” I turned and grabbed some chairs, noticing that Mia was now talking to Addie and Coach Carter. Of course—this meeting was for both soccer teams. Despite having had a great night of sleep last night, my brain sure didn’t seem to be keeping up this morning.

  Finn took off his coat and threw it at to the back wall. His shirt said, Come to the dark side. We have cookies. I smiled as he grabbed a stack of chairs and started setting them out in a row behind mine. “You see who just walked in?”

  I turned to the stairs Finn indicated. Thor, a monster fullback from the soccer team, was standing on the top step, nodding while Jeff spoke. I’d intentionally avoided Thor’s dreams. From the way he behaved, I was pretty sure they involved cutting people into bite-sized pieces.

  “Perfect.” I watched Thor’s massive shoulders as he followed Jeff across the front of the stage. “Tell me why he picked soccer again?”

  Finn frowned. “I’m amazed they let him on the team, after his stunt last year.”

  “No kidding.” I shook my head and grabbed another stack of chairs. “Apparently when you’re huge and fast, it doesn’t matter if you break your teammate’s leg your first time on the field.”

  “Good thing Jeff volunteered to teach him the rules.” Finn pulled another chair off his stack and set it down a little harder than he intended. “He really wasn’t getting the whole non-contact-sport part.”

  Thor’s baseline emotional state seemed to be pure fury. It had really bothered me at first, especially since at his monstrous 6’5”, he was six inches taller than me and built like a brick wall. But I’d gotten used to it. From his attitude and the dark pit stains on his shirt, I guessed God had given him a serious overdose in the testosterone department.

  Addie walked up with Mia as Finn slammed another chair down. “Easy there. The chairs don’t work as well when you break them in half.”

  Finn jerked his head toward Thor’s back. “We’re taking bets on whose leg he’ll break this year. You in?”

  Addie laughed, but then crossed her arms over her chest. “You wouldn’t think it was so funny if it turned out to be you.” She shook her head and lowered her voice. “Liv Campbell was crying in the girl’s bathroom the other day—I swear I heard her say his name.”

  “What do you mean?” Finn turned to face her. “Why would she be upset about Thor?”

  “Maybe he scared her?” Addie shrugged. “I didn’t hear much, but she was really upset.”

  “See what I mean? Girls make no sense.” Finn shook his head. “Liv is hot, but if she’s interested in Thor, she deserves a special kind of padded room.”

  I saw Mia flinch, but then she laughed it off. “And you’re an expert?”

  “Yes.” Finn looked at her for a second and then tilted his head to one side. “Aren’t you?”

  Mia smiled. “Do either of you even talk to him, or do you just hate him because he’s bigger than you?”

  I leaned over to grab another stack of chairs. “Because he’s bigger than us. Besides, talking to him would require him to learn English.”

  Finn stood with his legs spread wide and an exaggerated look of anger plastered on his face. “Thor no need English. Thor God of Thunder!” He beat his chest with his fists.

  As if on cue, thunder rumbled outside. The walls shook and both girls laughed.

  I raised my eyebrows and pulled the last chair off the stack. “Nice.”

  “Thank you very much.” He bowed with a grin. “I’ll be here all week.”<
br />
  Mia took a seat and I sat down beside her. Addie stood in front of us with a surprised expression, then sat down on the other side of Mia.

  “So, where did you live before this?” I asked.

  Mia looked at the floor for a few seconds, her face hard to read. “Somewhere else.”

  I laughed. “At least you didn’t lie this time.”

  Finn leaned down and whispered, “She’s a foster kid, dude. Maybe she doesn’t want to talk about where she came from.”

  I winced and nodded—total idiot.

  Lowering my voice, I tried to sound casual. “Will you tell me why you told me your name was Megan, then?”

  She pursed her lips, then they curved up. “I don’t know. Stranger danger?”

  “Fair enough.” I leaned in. “But you’re sticking with Mia? Because any more names might confuse me.”

  She shrugged. “For now.”

  Jeff walked to the front of the stage and motioned for everyone to quiet down. Members of both soccer teams started finding seats.

  Finn flopped down on my other side and leaned across Mia and me to talk to Addie. “Please tell me you didn’t join the soccer team, because I think that’s the only thing that could make it any worse.”

  Addie raised her nose a little and ignored him, but Mia responded with a sweet smile. “Coach Carter asked her to stay for the meeting. She’s helping with practices. Apparently she learned some awesome stretches to help us warm up and cool down. I really hope she doesn’t teach any of them to the boys’ team, though. You guys deserve a little pain.”

  Finn’s eyes widened and he put his hands over his heart and groaned. Mia and I snickered just before Jeff started talking.

  “Thanks for coming to this pre-season meeting on such short notice. I promise we won’t keep you long. Just have to do a quick poll and discuss some schedule issues.” Jeff smiled and glanced at the coaches, who nodded before he continued. “After a little begging, I convinced the coaches to let me lead some extra practices this year, before regular practice starts. This is my last year. The last year for all the seniors. And we should work even harder to make it our best year yet. Anyone have any thoughts or objections?”

  The group was silent. I was watching Jeff’s shoes and trying really hard not to tune him out. Finn elbowed me in the side and I glanced up to see everyone’s eyes on me. I blinked, and then remembered I was co-captain.

  “What do you think, Parker?” one of the midfielders asked from the other side of the room.

  “I think Jeff’s right,” I said. “The state finals last year were tough. I’d like to feel more prepared going into it this year.”

  Several heads nodded and everyone turned back to Jeff. He smiled. “I’d like to start with one joint practice with the girls’ team.” A couple guys groaned, but he continued. “Teaching the girls some of the drills we run will only help us get them down better.”

  A couple of the girls crossed their arms over their chests and frowned. I sat forward, wanting to end any argument before it started. “Hey, the girls’ basketball team always kicks butt, and they could give a ton of pointers to the boys’ team if they wanted to. This isn’t about gender; it’s about a team that works and a team that struggles. Maybe we can help each other.”

  A few girls nodded, looking somewhat appeased. Everyone turned back and waited for Jeff to continue. He met my eyes for a second or two in the silence before he went on. I forced myself not to look away until he did, even though my instincts made me want to. It wasn’t even lunch yet. I had plenty of time to make eye contact with Mia after the meeting. I wouldn’t be stuck with Jeff tonight.

  “Great. The joint practice will replace the individual practice we had tentatively scheduled for today after school. I want to see all of you there.”

  Jeff walked to a chair by Thor and took a seat as Coach Mahoney and Coach Carter stood up and started talking about new strategies and what they wanted us to focus on during Jeff’s practices. Coach Mahoney wrapped things up by saying, “Coach Carter and I will attend the joint practice today. After that, your team captains will be organizing and leading the individual team pre-season practices. Any questions?”

  He was already backing toward the stairs. He only waited a moment, then gave a quick nod and said, “Dismissed.”

  I stood and walked over to Jeff. He looked fine, but I noticed the little things, like the way he kept stuffing his hands into his pockets and then pulling them out again. He was frustrated and I couldn’t blame him—this was new territory, being forced to share leadership of the team. He didn’t like that the guys had asked what I thought.

  “Sorry about that,” I said. “I think your plan’s great. Guess the team just wanted to make sure we agreed.”

  Jeff’s smile was tight, but he shrugged. “You’re the co-captain.” Then he turned to face a couple other guys from the team.

  I went down the stairs leading off the stage and crossed to the auditorium exit. Mia and Addie were already there, watching the crowd make their way through the halls. I stood one step behind them, suddenly unsure of what to say.

  Addie glanced back at me, then at Mia. She opened her mouth to say something, then clicked it shut again. I barely heard her muffled voice as she walked away. “See you guys later.”

  I watched her back until she disappeared behind some tall guy in a leather jacket. I couldn’t help wishing again, for just a second, I could read her like I could most people.

  “I’m happy to see you’re less dangerous at school than behind the wheel of a car.” Mia’s voice was soft, a hint of humor behind it.

  I stepped forward to stand beside her. “Yeah, it’s harder to live on the edge here, but I try my best. I run with scissors constantly, and I gave myself a wicked paper cut this morning.”

  “Keep this up and you might seem fairly normal.” She glanced at me and I felt a momentary rush when her eyes met mine. Then she smiled and shook her head. “I better go. See you around.”

  I grinned as she walked away.

  “Hey, dude.” Finn came up behind me. “I’m not your bellhop. Take your bag.” I spun around, met Finn’s gaze, and cursed under my breath. Then I remembered the soccer practice after school. I’d get another chance to see Mia at practice. If her dream last night wasn’t just a freak thing, I had to find out—and the sooner the better.

  “Please let me take it again,” I pleaded.

  Mr. Nelson frowned and I tried not to remember his dream. Watching that shiny bald head make out with my mom was not an image I liked to dwell on. “Sorry, Parker. You just need to try to do better next time.”

  “I can’t have another failed test in this class.” Mom might not have cared much when my A fell to a B, but she’d definitely notice a D.

  “There’s a physics tutoring group that meets in the library after school. You should join it.”

  I sighed. “Okay … thanks.” I scrambled for some last way to convince him, and tried not to hurl when my mind came up with the obvious answer. Oh well. If I wanted to keep Mom off my back, sacrifices had to be made.

  I walked halfway to the classroom door before pausing to rub my knuckles along the edge of a nearby desk. It was almost slick, worn smooth by years of use. “You know, my mom mentioned you the other day,” I said, turning. Mom was going to kill me—they’d only been on one date and I knew, from experience, that the only man she ever dreamed about, even all these years later, was Dad.

  Mr. Nelson whipped his head up so fast that the glare from the fluorescent lights bouncing off it was nearly blinding. “She did?”

  “Yeah. Just that you were funny on your date.”

  “Really?” His eyes widened before he caught himself. “I mean, yeah. We had fun, but she was always so busy after that. I thought … ”

  “Oh yeah, her job keeps her really busy. Plus, when she has to spend time worrying a
bout me and my grades, that’s hard on her too.” I shrugged and took a few more steps toward the door. “But I’m sure she’ll have time again next summer or something.”

  Mr. Nelson’s eyes narrowed. He wasn’t an idiot, but he was also desperate. “Ever heard of abuse of power, Parker?”

  I stopped and held my hands out, palms up, focusing on the emotion I wanted to convey—honest, innocent. “I’m not making any promises and I have no power, but what I’m saying about her being busy is true. And besides, what does it hurt to let me take the test again? It’s not like I’m cheating or bribing you for a grade.”

  Mr. Nelson nodded slowly and closed the book in front of him with a snap. “Tomorrow, during your study period. This is your last chance.”

  “Thank you. I really appreciate it.” I smiled widely and hurried toward the door before he could change his mind.

  Just before I got there, he muttered, “Improve your grades, kid, and you could be a freakin’ politician.”

  seven

  Thor was right behind me on my way out to practice. Like right behind, so close he felt like a shadow. I slowed down for a minute to walk beside him, but when he glared at me with his little black eyes I decided it probably wasn’t worth the effort. I jogged the rest of the way to the field.

  “That’s fun. You got to hang with Thor,” Finn said with a chuckle when I stopped beside him and Thor ran past us to the bag of soccer balls near the goalpost. “You guys do anything new, or did he follow the routine and act like he wanted to put you in a blender?”

  “Pretty much the usual. Though this time he mixed things up a bit and hinted about a pitch fork and a set of steak knives.”

  Finn laughed. “No actual threats this time?”

  “No actual conversation.”

  “Sounds about right.” Finn nodded as he adjusted his shin guard.

  I took a deep breath and relaxed my muscles. Soccer was my primary escape. On the field, I could be normal. Adrenaline kicked in and kept me awake. Muscle memory made everything fluid and easy. It didn’t feel like my mind and body were at war when I played. I didn’t have to think.