Chapter 10
Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO series by Rick Riodan.
Nico's POV
Again and again, the nightmares came. Always of her at the end of that damn hallway, reaching out to me. I'd get within inches of pulling her into my arms and then she'd just start pouring blood. Every time I wake up, I feel tears on my face.
I hated living like this. I tried thinking of peaceful things before I fell asleep, listening to my favorite music. I'd even tried counting sheep. But nothing worked. It all just ended in having that dream.
Tonight was especially bad. This was the fifth time I woke up. This last time, I woke up screaming and calling for Amy.
I reach over blindly in the darkness for my phone on the nightstand. Sometimes I really love the blackout curtains I have, and other times they're a pain in the ass.
I finally find it and unlock it. I find the number I was looking for and press the "call" button. I hold the phone up to my ear, listening to it ring.
As expected, she didn't answer.
I've been trying to call my sister, Bianca, for weeks now. I feel like if I can just talk to her, everything will just start to even out, I'll start to heal.
But she refused to talk to me. She and my mother. I don't even recall doing anything to piss them off so much. All I know is that when mom and dad got the divorce three years ago, mom took Bianca and I was left with dad and Persephone. Why she couldn't have taken me too, I don't know.
I sigh and set my phone back on the little table and swing myself out of bed. There was no way I was going back to sleep today. I couldn't be paid to endure that again. That and I had to go to work in a bit.
I walk out of my small bedroom and into the kitchen. I turn on the coffee maker and it starts brewing a pot of the stuff. I glance at the clock on the microwave to see what time it is, exactly. I wasn't really paying attention to it when I tried calling Bianca.
The bright green numbers read 9:00.
Joy. Only six hours of sleep to keep me going at work. I couldn't even fathom falling asleep last night, but eventually the exhaustion got to me and I succumbed to the darkness of sleep around 3:00.
The coffee machine beeps and I turn to see that it was finished brewing. I take a mug out of the cabinet and pour some of the stuff in, along with three heaping spoonfuls of sugar and a bit of milk.
I sip it in the kitchen, completely zoned out. By the time I finish the cup, I break out of my trance and look at the clock again. Now it was 9:45.
"Shit." I say under my breath.
I had to be at work at 10:15. And my boss wasn't too forgiving of lateness.
I place my empty mug in the sink and hurry back to my room to get ready.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Jamie asks.
Jamie was one of my co-workers at the local building supplies store I work at. She was the closest thing I had to a friend, and even then, she's not much. She doesn't really care about me, and I don't really care about her. I suppose we're more along the lines of acquaintances.
"I didn't get much sleep last night." I mumble, walking past her to clock in.
"Di Angelo!" Harry yells.
I sigh, that would be my boss. Harry Bunt. Although, I liked to refer to him as "Harry Butt." Mostly because he acted like one most of the time, but also because his ass was so huge, he took up a whole isle.
"Yes, Mr. Bunt?" I ask.
"You're late! I will not tolerate this much longer, Mr. di Angelo. If you're late again, you're fired. Understand?" he snarls.
"Yes, sir." I say, though being fired from this miserable place wouldn't be such a bad thing.
Throughout the day, I ended up having to re-stack a bunch of paint cans that a ten year old thought would be funny to knock over, sweep up a bunch of sawdust, and reorganize the paint sample cards.
When I finally stumbled into my apartment, I felt like collapsing on the floor.
I make my way to my room to get ready for bed, even though I probably won't get much sleep at all tonight. I carelessly toss my work clothes onto the floor, leaving them in a heap. I pull on a pair of sleep pants and then crawl into bed.
I look up into the darkness, trying to force my eyes shut so I could go to sleep. It was impossible. I try for about another hour, then sigh and get out of bed.
It was no use. I couldn't sleep. No matter how tired I was, I couldn't make myself sleep and have that horrible dream again.
A/N:
Still pretty sad, but there was a bit of humor in there, you gotta admit.
Well, today has been, by far, much better than Thursday was. I'm in Nashville right now and my mom and I are going to see a Fun. concert tonight!
Last night though, that was pretty awful. My friend and I had made plans and then her stuck-up, mean friend texted her and asked her if they were still hanging out. Apparently they had made plans a couple of weeks ago, I let that one slide because those plans had been made before ours had.
So my friend told me she would be at my house at about 6:30 and around 6:45, she texted me and told me she couldn't come over and that she was reeeeeally sorry. I thought that maybe her parents had told her she couldn't come over, but then I got onto Twitter and saw that she had re-tweeted another one of her "friend"'s tweets. Apparently, this other chick's brother (who's also my friend's boyfriend) had been driving her crazy because he was playing his drums.
Basically what happened, I was ditched just because this other chick, whom my friend has only known for barely a year, "cried" for help and my friend was there in an instant, seemingly forgetting that I actually needed her because I was having a pretty suckish day (I seem to have a lot of those, huh?).
The whole ordeal just really pissed me off and I got really angry and hurt. She also posted a picture of her and her boyfriend. I mean, really?! Did she seriously think I wouldn't see that?! Sometimes I just really think I need new friends who'll treat me better and actually appreciate me.
So yes, today is much better because I'm getting 10 days away from her and all the other drama at home. What makes it better is that I'm eating super awesome pizza right now :D