Chapter 16: Insomniacs
The lavender walls were dancing with shadows. Stephanie could not sleep. It was almost midnight, and she was antsy. If Robin wasn't in the house, perhaps it would be easier to get comfortable and drowsy. Yet this strange guy had passed on her couch, probably none other than the Master of Disguise, and she needed answers. She knew there were no answers at this time of night. Hopes of truth lie in the morning to proceed. Stephanie had faith in a new plan to trick Robin into revealing his reasons for being in town. If she played the right cards, Robbie would get upset and give himself away. And if it wasn't Robbie, he would tell her the truth for being alone without family or a place to stay.
Downstairs, Robbie woke up with a creaking from above. Soft footsteps crept one by one down the stairwell. Robbie was lying down on the loveseat and turned sideways to peek at the commotion. In her blue nightgown, Steph came into view, passing like a child through the living room to get to the kitchen. She hesitated. Robbie, with one eye half-open, saw her stop briefly to study his body and make sure it was away in dreamland. She continued to the kitchen, where water trickled from the sink into a glass.
A clock on the cable box read 1:34 A.M. Robbie wondered why Pinky roamed around the house wide awake, as if she had already gotten plenty of shut-eye. Her kitchen visit lasted more than twenty minutes. As she came back around into the living room, he noticed her stop and stare right at his face. He closed the half-open eye quickly. Just sensing Stephanie step closer caused fireworks to go off in his stomach. And then he felt a lacey finger trace his cheek. He felt a burning spark and knew he was turning beat red. Then, there was nothing.
Like many nights, Stephanie stayed awake more than her body wanted to. After two glasses of water, she was willing to try again. She climbed her stairs and felt the lingering tingle on her finger. Her whole hand was shaking. Looking at sleeping Robin, he seemed so harmless and innocent. Stephanie studied his face before moving in on him. There was Robbie's distinctive chin, long eyelashes, masculine jawline, and the same lips that have scowled at her a thousand times. It was Robbie. But knowing this changed nothing. Stephanie let the comfort consume her; Robbie followed here for another reason other than trouble. If he were to cause mischief, it would have started and failed already. No, he was here to find an answer to one thing in particular. But what was it?
Seven a.m. rolled over and Steph's alarm rang loudly with a rock song. She stood up from her bed and stretched. When sleep came to her, it had already been three a.m. The shower called for her. She performed her morning ritual of cleaning and dressing into fresh attire. In the mirror, she noticed the dark circles around her eyes and a pale complexion all around. She decided to put a little extra foundation on and dress to take attention off of her face.
"Dear Betty Crocker, I am exhausted." Robbie awoke hearing the blare of rock from upstairs. He, too, stood up and found the downstairs bathroom to freshen up. Into the kitchen, he searched the refrigerator for anything chocolate. When he found chocolate syrup and milk, breakfast was ready.
"Chocolate milk?" Stephanie's voice startled him.
Robbie held the glass practically in upside-down to imbibe the concoction like it was a keg at a frat party. He placed the empty glass on the counter and looked at the beauty in front of him.
A hard choice of clothing, Stephanie wore a periwinkle sheer crop top over a deep purple tank. Her skinny jeans hugged her hips right down to her ankles. There, her feet waved around in black peep-toe pumps. Even her toenails and fingernails were painted the same deep purple as her tank. Robbie's jaw dropped.
"What's with the milk mustache?" She said. "Did you even bother asking if I wanted any?"
A sudden playful change to Pinky made Robbie wonder who he was and why he was in her house. It was very different seeing Stephanie in non-athletic clothes. He admitted her body changed over the years, females always morphed like butterflies. However, this new, classy and cute ensemble completely blew his mind. Where had this girl been hiding? Why was she all of a sudden interested in dressing in . . . his favorite color?
Stephanie casually walked over and poured some milk into the same glass Robbie drank from.
"Can you pour the same amount of chocolate into mine? Yours looked yummy."
Robbie squeezed the syrup bottle hard. It had to have been over a tablespoon of chocolate. His eyes were glued to Stephanie, but he successfully mixed the drink. She glugged it down just as he had, ending up with a milk mustache as well.
"See?" She joked, "Now we match. We can be losers together."
They both headed out the door, mustaches wiped clean. Stephanie swung her backpack over one shoulder and neared the forest trail.
"Let's not wait for the bus." She suggested and immediately entered the woods.
Stephanie knew she was stirring emotions in Robbie. She purposely chose periwinkle and purple. She wanted to pull the Robbie out of Robin, the Rotten out of Rottling. Anything to trigger the normal, costume-wearing freak. If it didn't work, she would figure out another plan.
"You look good today," Robbie said. "Not frazzled like yesterday. You do have bags under your eyes, though. Did you not sleep well?"
Boy, he doesn't give me any slack. "I had maybe three hours of pass-out time. I'll be honest, I walked around last night drinking water and being a freak. Thought you would burn my house down or kill us all and steal our shit."
"I was going to steal your cd collection, but I figure I can listen to more later. As for the killing, that romantic movie last night killed me enough for the lot of you."
Stephanie giggled. They trekked over rocks and critter holes. A chipmunk dove into its sanctuary a few seconds before Robbie chased it. When they arrived at school, Stephanie had the familiar anxiety wash over her. Nate and Amelia were making out right next to the front door, for all to see.
"Hey," Robbie placed a caring hand on Steph's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. He is scum."
A new, genuinely concerned Robbie stood by her side. Stephanie reminded herself this. Maybe she would let the façade of Robin keep going for a while until high school settled down. Having his hand on her shoulder sent a shock from her head to her toes. Admitting this to anyone would sound insane, but she enjoyed Robbie's protective side.
The two walked side by side towards the school.
"Hey Steph," Amelia said at the door. "I hope you have a nice day."
"Uhh, you too." Steph was befuddled. She entered the school after avoiding Nate.
Robbie asked, "Don't you two hate each other?"
His words sunk to the floor. Students in the hall stared at Stephanie and began chattering and laughing amongst themselves. On the lockers were posters . . . posters with a picture of Stephanie in the toilet stall, throwing up. Some of the other posters had a fuzzy picture of her punching the bathroom mirror. All of the posters read, Stephanie Meanswell for President of bulimia.
"Oh, oh no." Robbie leaned over to whisper into Steph's ear, "Just keep walking. We will walk right out the other exit."
Stephanie held back tears. Who could do such a terrible thing? She glanced around at blurred faces and saw her friends – the cheerleaders – huddled and chuckling. Lily was amongst them, hiding her face from sight.
"Come on, Steph." Robbie said, "Just stick by me. Stick by me."
Robbie and Stephanie slowly walked down the hall. Both of their heads faced straight, where no faces were visible. Robbie banged hard on his locker after tearing a poster down. He grabbed his backpack and motioned for Steph to follow him again.
Body now trembling, Stephanie knew she couldn't hold the tears back anymore. She busted into the girl's bathroom and fell to the floor. Robbie went in with her, scaring the few girls out of sight. He stood against the door, making sure it was shut. He locked it and put his backpack on the floor.