Sue tossed and turned on her bed in an attempt to fall asleep after 3 restless nights. It was dinner time and she thought she would try to go to sleep before the sun set, hoping that it would take some of the edge off after watching the Silence of the Lambs alone in her apartment. Why hadn't she read the movie description before pressing play? She was kicking herself now for being so stupid. After switching sides for what seemed like the hundredth time, she tossed her pink and purple floral comforter to the other side of the bed and sat up. "Ice cream." Sue perked up and headed toward the kitchen in search of the cold treat. All she found were frozen fish sticks and a smashed up ice cream sandwich that had left brown streaks on the bottom of the freezer. She noted to herself to clean that up later and decided to go to the frozen yogurt shop that her and Lexie frequented. Sue nearly jumped out of her own skin when a tall figure walked around the corner catching her off guard, despite the fact that it was still daylight. Sue reached into her pocket and pulled out a small tube and used it to defend herself.
"I have pepper spray and I'm not afraid to use it!" She shouted as she held up a tube of pink lip gloss. Her dad had actually given her a real can of pepper spray to carry around, but it sat unused on Sue's bookshelf. Right now, she wished she would have listened to her dad until she realized who was standing in front of her.
"Whoa...there Suzy Q. Easy with that stuff!" Sean backed up, holding his hands up to defend himself and then taking note of the lip gloss. Sean laughed and pointed to the tube. "You know, makeup isn't the best defense mechanism. Are you okay?" He quipped, but his tone became more serious when he saw that Sue was obviously a nervous wreck.
"Sean!" Sue held a hand up to cover her chest as she attempted to calm herself. "I'm so sorry I didn't mean to...I am just so..." She stammered as as tears began to well up in her eyes. She wasn't sad, but the lack of sleep was taking its toll on her and she wanted nothing more than to just crawl into bed and actually fall asleep. Sean's eyes were filled with concern and without a second thought, he pulled her close and allowed her to gently sob onto his St. Matthew's polo shirt. Sue was lost in the moment until she heard his voice once again.
"Seriously, are you okay? What's wrong?" Sean asked as he pulled back to look at her face. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a pile of restaurant napkins in lieu of tissues and offered them to her. She took one and dabbed away the small amount of tears. Sue let out a deep breath and tried to regain her composure.
"It's stupid. I had the apartment to myself this weekend so I thought I would watch some movies...and I accidentally watched a scary one and I haven't been able to sleep in 3 days! I keep trying to fall asleep and I just can't keep my eyes closed!" She said and Sean smiled gently, and placed his hand on her shoulder compassionately. He looked at his watch and remembered where he was going when he had bumped into Sue.
"Have you eaten yet?" Sean asked simply and Sue thought about it.
"I've barely even thought about food today...but I was thinking about getting some froyo..." Sue responded, but she wasn't really craving it anymore.
"I was just on my way to pick up dinner at Lucky Panda. Do you want to have dinner with me?" He asked, wondering if it sounded like he was asking her out on a date, which wasn't his intention but he would totally love to go out on a date with her. He looked at her for a moment to see if her expression had changed but she looked so exhausted that her face barely changed. "Maybe it would take your mind off of things...plus, you have to eat something" Sean continued casually. Sue finally smiled and nodded.
"That sounds great. I haven't had Chinese food since the last time my mom 'made' dinner." She laughed as they walked side by side, talking about the movie that Sue had watched. When a door of one of the many shops opened up while they were walking by, Sue jumped and shrieked once again and Sean quickly turned and grabbed onto both of her shoulders.
"Wow, that movie really did freak you out, didn't it." He smiled and Sue practically melted in response to his touch. She rolled her eyes and smiled, trying to brush off the fear even though she still felt jittery inside. As they continued walking, Sean wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. "Here, this way you'll be safe." He joked and Sue tried to hide her blushing. The movie was becoming a distant memory and her frightened jitters were replaced with nervous jitters as they ate their meal together in the small restaurant. Since Sean had originally only ordered dinner for one, Sue decided to order orange chicken for herself which was always her favorite. When she finished eating, she unwrapped her fortune cookie and Sean smiled at her when she excitedly cracked it open.
"Are you kidding me?!" Sue exclaimed when she discovered that her cookie was completely empty. Sean just laughed and shoved his fortune cookie across the table.
"You can have mine." He told her and she smiled brightly at him. Sue cracked it open and this time, there was a piece of paper inside and she pulled it out to read it silently to herself. The fortune read When you open your eyes you will see that true love is right in front of you. Sue looked up to see Sean looking right at her and she squealed in amusement. Sean couldn't help but laugh at her excitement. He always loved that about her. He reached his hand across the table in an attempt to grab the piece of paper but Sue quickly pulled her hand back and shoved the paper into her pocket. Sean made a pretend sad face and held his open palm above the table. "It must be a good one. Let me see!" Sean chuckled. Sue just shook her head and smiled.
"If I let you see it then it won't come true...and I REALLY want it to come true!" Sue said enthusiastically. Sean sighed in defeat and gathered their trash to throw it away. He walked Sue back to her apartment and she was no longer as jumpy as she had been when he first ran into her. He hugged her goodbye and Sue locked the door after closing it. Feeling more calm than before, she thought she would finally be able to go to sleep. As she sat down on the couch, she pulled the fortune out of her pocket and read it once again before placing it on the coffee table. She covered herself with a blanket and tried to close her eyes, but this time she couldn't sleep because she was replaying the events of the evening in her head.
