Sleepy Insomniac

Catch Up

Chapter 4

Tyler hated to run. It hurt his feet, his lungs, and his balls. Everything about running felt mundane. It was a boring exercise. It was a boring mode of transportation. Nothing about it made him excited. So why, exactly, was he running right now?

"I really...need...to get...a fucking bike," he gasped in-between breathes while his feet lunged forward. As he sprinted across campus, all those odd looks he received from students, professors and parents before were now peering in full force. With his mouth agape and his short hair fluttering backwards against the wind, he looked like a frilled lizard fleeing for his dear life.

Free from his backpack and books, he moved significantly faster than during his long trek to the library under the hot sun only moments before. He was sweating like a hooded Eskimo in a desert and his shirt was starting to look like a soggy work rag from a mechanic's shop. He didn't care; he knew his final destination and once he got there, he could (and would) take a shower. Still, why was he running? Oh yeah, that's right, I remember now...it's because of HER.

After running for what possibly could have been forever, he arrived at his destination: dorm B, room 120 - "The Quad".

Tyler busted through every door he crossed until, finally, he was back in his room. Now in the safe zone, his lungs could barely keep up with his gasps, but his breathing eventually slowed and he could think real, substantial thoughts. Which, for Tyler, wasn't saying a lot, but compared to what passed through his mind when engaged in cardio, right now he felt like Professor fucking X.

Then, with a single idea to do the most basic of actions - look out the window - a sudden panic washed over his face; someone could be seen just beyond the blinds.

It was Callie. Hauling a large, overstuffed backpack along with several books in her hands (all Tyler's books, to be exact), she was headed straight towards the dorm.

Tyler flicked the blinds shut, shut off the lights, and backed into the shadows like Batman, minus the killer silhouette.

"God, if you force me to take a power shit in the next five minutes, we're through," Tyler quietly spoke aloud. Within just a few moments...

'KNOCK KNOCK'

He didn't move; a voice behind the door spoke out anyway.

"Tyler?" Callie asked, almost too sweetly. "I know you're in there..."

"Oh yeah? How?" Tyler said, oblivious to his own idiocy.

"You gonna make me stand out here all day? Cause I will," she said, a little cruder this time around.

Tyler was terrified. Behind that door was the one girl he had been trying to avoid. Girls never had problems avoiding him, so why was it so hard the other way around? With Callie, it seemed like the more he tried to run away, the more she tried to insert herself into his life. He shouldn't have been terrified, but he was, and not because she was scary. If anything, he wanted nothing more than to insert himself into her life...just not quite in the same way.

Shit, what do I do?! Tell her I'm not feeling well? That I ran back here because I had to throw up? Yeah, perfect! Wait, why would I run all the way across campus to throw up in my own room?! A lucky trash can, maybe? Who the fuck has a lucky trash can?! And why would throwing up in it bring good luck?!

"OPEN THE DOOR, TYLER," Callie called out in a firm voice behind the door. Tyler immediately complied, snapped open the locks and swung the door open.

In that moment, Tyler confirmed in his head that Callie was the most beautiful person he had ever seen anywhere, ever...ever. He couldn't help but let his eyes chew on the candy in front of them. The way she stood was somehow alluring, even if she was standing at a weird left-angle while barely lifting the backpack that nearly weighed more than she did. Her face was strained from hauling the massive amount of books across campus, but an annoyed smile still shined through the fatigue. Her eyes brimmed with life even with their engrossing darkness that seemed to suck Tyler's soul right out of his body and into her own. Her long hair trickled down to its feathered ends across one shoulder in an innocent way that drove Tyler crazy. Her neckline was more delicate than a-

"TYLER!" She squawked.

"Yo," he sounded, snapping out of his gaze.

"You all there, buddy?"

"Yeah, yeah, all here. How are you today?"

"Um...fine," she said, wary and waiting for Tyler to invite her in, which he promptly didn't. "Can I come in?"

"Oh...uh, sure," Tyler mumbled as he awkwardly backed away from the door.

"Why are all the lights off?" she asked, stepping inside. Tyler thought fast.

"I was fixing a bulb," he sputtered.

"All of them?" Callie asked as she reached over and flipped the switch. The lights turned on.

"Huh...forgot to try that," Tyler quipped. Callie sighed.

"I brought your stuff back from the library, by the way," she snarked. Taking barely a step into the room, Callie dumped everything she was holding onto the floor. Immediately after, two shiny metal balls rolled out of Tyler's backpack.

"My balls!" he cried as he quickly picked them up. After only a few seconds of detailed inspection covering both objects for dents, scrapes and blemishes only a collector would care about, Tyler could feel Callie's gaze at his unusual display of affection for the two inanimate spheres.

"Not that I care," he lied. A grimace with each toss, he threw each ball into a nearby trashcan one by one. For a while, Tyler couldn't look away from the trash, amazed by what he had just done.

"You didn't have to do that," Callie chirped.

"Do what? I, uh, I didn't do anyth-"

Before Tyler could even get the sentence out, Callie walked over to the trash and fished for the balls.

"Whoa, you're, why, huh?" Tyler tried to articulate. Callie emerged holding both balls in one hand, spinning them in place.

"Baoding balls. My dad got me a set when I was like eight or something," she recounted while spinning them faster, "They were too big for me then and, well, I was an eight year old girl spinning giant balls in my hand. It wasn't long until some strangers used it as an excuse for some creepy comments, so I just threw them at stray cats instead." Shocked, Tyler's eyes grew wide. A smile formed across Callie's face.

"Kidding!" She joked as she tossed the balls into the air. Tyler barely caught them as Callie walked over to his bed. Then, like she owned the place, she fell straight back onto the mattress.

"I'm SO sore. Why do you carry so many books around? Couldn't you leave a few of them here???"

As Callie moved her arms around in stretching motions, Tyler couldn't help but notice her shirt climb up her perfectly toned waist. He tried not to look, but not very hard, which resulted in something getting very hard under his pants. Before Tyler could realize what was happening, Callie looked at him. He immediately hid his boner with a framed family photo and hoped she wouldn't notice where he was holding the picture.

She did. Her focus moved down to the picture and back up at Tyler. Shortly after, a hint of a grin crawled across her face.

Callie scooted to the floor to resume stretching, but this time with some fancy yoga moves. In a complex, gravity defying pose, one of her legs lifted straight up and her sneaker nearly nudged Tyler in the chin. This would've been hot in yoga pants, but it was even more so in her skin-tight white short-shorts. If Tyler wanted, he could probably see all the way inside her pants towards her-

"Ten years...long time..." Callie's voice drifted out as she slowly lowered one leg and then raised the other. Tyler forced himself to stare at the ceiling and did what he did best: he acted 100% natural.

"Yeah, real long. Long, long, long...long long long long long-"

"Why do you keep saying long?" Callie asked.

"Oh, no reason. Definitely no uh, shit, uh, shit, just, yeah, it was, like, you know? A real, real...real long time," Tyler stumbled out. Callie pulled one leg so far back it looked like she might snap when she pushed up off the ground onto her feet like a graceful gymnast.

"God, you're weird..." Callie said with a twinkle in her eye, "...just like I remembered."

Suddenly, she reached down and -YANKED- the picture hovering in front of Tyler's scrotum, giving him a start like an easily scared mother. He twisted so Callie couldn't see the front of his pants, but the action wasn't necessary. Her focus was squarely on the picture. It showed Tyler and his parents standing next to an old farmhouse with a pond behind them in the distance.

"Just like I remembered..." she uttered while staring at the photo with a melancholy gaze. Tyler looked between her and the picture; for the first time, he saw the cousin he knew before she turned into his goddess-like muse. Using that bit of memory to rally up some courage, Tyler mustered up the first coherent thing he had probably said to her in over ten years.

"I have more pictures. Maybe even some of us, you know, way back then," Tyler offered. Callie looked up and smiled.

"I'd like to see them," she said, handing the picture back. As he took the photo, her fingers touched his arm for a brief moment. Tyler couldn't say for sure, but...

"FUCK," Callie bluntly stated. Tyler looked up in surprise. Her eyes were staring at a clock on the wall in the hallway. The door had been open the entire time.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I'm late for class..." she trailed off.

"It's really not a big deal. I skip class all the time," he shrugged.

"I DON'T," she said way too firmly. "Listen, since we didn't really get a lot of time to catch up, can we meet up sometime later this week? I'll call you."

"Uh-"

"Thanks. Sorry, I gotta run."

"Wait, how do you have my number? Wait, how did you I was at the library? Wait, how did you know where I was in the libr-"

Catching him off guard, Callie leaned in and firmly kissed Tyler's cheek.

"I saw you at the student center and followed you. And your phone was in your bag. I sent myself your number," Callie said as she backed into the hallway. Before leaving, she turned to say something.

"I missed you," she said in a sincere voice.

Tyler was taken aback by the sudden sweetness she showed him.

"I missed you," he said in a soft voice.

As Callie slowly inched away into the hall, she gave a little wave with her fingers like a kitten does with its paw.

"Bye Tye. Remember when I used to call you that? Tye? Well, I remember. See you later..." Callie hummed as she glided away.

Tyler stood there watching her leave, thinking to himself.

What the hell was that? Why was she...why were we so like, there, in the moment? I only wanted her to stay away, but now, I don't want her to leave. Like, it's really her, from back then, and she's still just as cool. And she was always kind of flirty, but now...fuck, why does she have to be related to me? Am I going to hell? Do I need to clarify the rules on this with someone?

He felt a tug near his balls and looked down to speak with his penis still inside his pants.

"We're not gonna make it out of this without a battle, are we?"

His bulge returned to full alert. Not wasting any time, Tyler closed the room door and moved to the window. After he opened the blinds, he continued to watch Callie as she jogged the way she came. Tyler's eyes focused on her ass and his hand drifted down to unzip his pants.

"I wish you could stay, but I love to watch you go..." Tyler drolled. Just as his fingers touched his penis, Callie stopped running and-

-FIRED A LOOK DIRECTLY BACK AT HIM!

"FRACK!" In a blur, Tyler zipped up his pants and snapped the blinds shut.

Chapter 5 coming soonish...

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