Trouble Sleeping

Wybie glanced over toward the pink palace, in the room he knew was Coraline's. His eyes wandered over to the bushes that lay below the window and chuckled to himself when he could see the ladder which he used every time to go into Coraline's room was still hidden in the bushes. Wybie could barely believe it was still there. Even with the new family who left a couple of months ago, that ladder had clearly been left untouched. Wybie had never really noticed this before. He used to shut out his window, and when Coraline left, Wybie had stopped looking out the window entirely. He even forgot she existed.

While glancing out his window, he saw something move in hers, and suddenly her light was on. Wybie became careful and tried to make himself invisible by tilting the blinds a tad, and laying low. He wanted to look away so badly, every fibre of his being told him so, yet his eyes were still perched on her window like they always were when he was a kid. It was so simple back then. Then, he was just a boy, who had a crush on a girl. But now, it had meant so much more.

Finally, Wybie saw her. She had worn her PJs, which consisted of plaid red pants, and a black sports bra. Wybie, (now embarrassed) forced himself to look away, yet he found himself looking at her from the corner of his eye.

"God." He groaned, his voice barely a whisper as he gave up on trying to not look at her. If only she could see him now, he knew she would call him the "Village Stalker" or simply, a "Jerk-wad." He laughed to himself. Coraline rummaged through the drawer that was below the window, and slightly smiled when she found a brown teddy bear. Wybie gasped. He didn't need to see the front. He already knew there was a heart that read "CJ & WL".

Coraline placed it on top of the drawer, shut off her lamp, and presumably climbed into bed.

Wybie didn't know what to think as he retreated to his bed, his hands digging into his eyes. He tried to stop thinking of her, tried to stop thinking how she smiled once she saw the gift he had given her all those years ago on her birthday, or how she looked so beautiful while—

"Stop it, stop it, stop it." He told himself, forcing the thoughts to go away.

Instead, he thought of Isabelle, and how amazing she looked that morning. She was so beautiful, and Wybie was so lucky to have her. Isabelle had that gleam in her eyes, the one that made your legs go weak every time they looked at you. Even though they were hazel, Wybie could see the sparks of blue and green that could light up his world.

Wait... He thought. Aren't Isabelle's eyes blue?

Wybie shot up straight, his eyes wide after realizing his mistake. "I really need to get to bed," Wybie mumbled, descending the stairs and rummaging through Grandma's medicine cabinet. Finally, he found the bottle he was looking for.

Sleeping pills.

Wybie poured two into his hands and swallowed them easily without water. As he got comfy into bed, Wybie shut his eyes and dozed off into what was hopefully a Coraline-less sleep.