I stood there still, not returning the affection. Something told me to pull away, but I didn’t.

Suddenly at the corner of my eye, I caught a movement. Pulling away, I squinted. There, at the furthest corner of the street, stood a shadow under the damaged streetlight. Its body was angled towards us.

Goosebumps crawled up my skin as I felt his or her gaze on me. Though I couldn’t see the person’s face due to the darkness, I could feel it. Their stare.

“What happened? What are you looking at?” Just as Warner turned around, it vanished into the shadows. “Is something wrong there?”

“I think I just saw someone there.”

“But there is no one, Em.” Warner frowned. “But if you’re not feeling good, I can stay the night if you want.”

My head snapped back to him, blinking. “Uh, no, it’s fine. It could be my imagination. I think I drank too much tonight. You go home, I will be fine.”

“All right, if you insist.” Yawning, he gave me a hug. “I will go now. See you later. And call me if you need anything.”

As he walked away, my eyes flickered to that spot where I saw the shadow. There was no one. Shaking my head, I opened my door, walked inside, and closed it behind me.

“Em, you should sleep well, especially if it’s the night before your first day at job,” Mom chastised over the phone for me not sleeping enough last night.

Well, after returning home at midnight, I only had two hours of sleep until I woke up with another dream of a particular person. And then the hangover came along. Even though I got some relief after taking a pain killer, I couldn’t fall asleep after that. Excitement and nervousness kept me wide awake.

It was six in the morning, and here I was, pacing the living room out of anticipation.

“Anyway, when do you start?”

“At nine.” Three hours more to go. And I already could feel my hands and feet turning cold.

“There is still so much time. You could still take a nap for an hour, honey. I don’t want you to look like a zombie on your first day.” When I’d informed her about the job, she was over the moon. She was way more excited about my job than I was. And I was happy about that. At least she wasn’t upset with me for leaving the way I did anymore.

“It’s all right, Mom. I’m fine. I can’t fall asleep even if I want to. So, I will just make some breakfast for myself now and then get ready.”

“Oh, okay then. Don’t forget to call me later. And eat something healthy,” she said.

I smiled. “All right, Mom. I will. Now can I go? I haven’t even taken a shower.”