Half Asleep
♥
The teenager slowly propped himself up onto his elbows and felt his lips. He stared out the still-wet window, wondering if what he had just heard was reality or just in his imagination.
After all, he had only been half asleep...
♥
"Don't answer the phone...don't answer the phone..." Crystal Victoria Donaldson's eyes, normally shimmering with their aqua-green pigment, were wide and struck with horror. She was huddled up in between Bijou Ribon and Sandy Toorani. Sandy didn't seem the slightest bit startled by the movie, but Bijou seemed almost as anxious as she was.
It was a dark Friday night, perfect for a scary movie for young hormonally-stressed teenagers. All sixteen of the Ham-Hams(minus Penelope and Cappy)were crowded around either in the dark living room couches or the carpeted floor. Some were shivering with excitement for the big scream scene. Some were holding their breaths. Others were just plain impatient.
Just then, Crystal's brown ears perked up at the sound of a door creaking open softly. But it wasn't coming from the movie. Her eyes trailed around the room quickly. Maybe someone's getting popcorn! she assured herself. But everyone was sitting right there in their spots, too frozen to even twitch.
Her heartbeat began to speed up, pounding hard against her chest. Her breath became short, quick and limited. Her palms grew sweaty and her body became paralyzed with paranoid fear.
Suddenly, lightning struck hard, illuminating it's eerie light through the windows nearby. She felt a cold shiver go down her spine. She had never liked storms. Especially if there was absolutely no lights outside. For as long as she could remember, storms had been her only secret fear. No one knew...except for--
Just then, the thunder's deep "BOOM!" vibrated through Crystal's bones. She shivered again and gulped. Just then, she felt Bijou twitch slightly. Her skin moved against Crystal's arm. She smiled. The storm may have been starting outside, but inside, she was warm, safe and surrounded by protective friends. As long as Bij and the rest are here, I'm good!
Z-Z-Z-Z-ZAAAAAAP! The electricity flicked off. Boss swore under his breath. It was pitch-black as everyone started to whine and complain. "Boss, what happened?" Crystal asked. But when yet another round of thunder-rumbling made the sky shake, everything fell silent. "Boss, did you hear me? Bijou, did he hear me, Bijou... ... Bij?" It was quiet. Too quiet.
Crystal no longer felt the warmth of Bijou's skin on her arm, or the feeling of Sandy's rough denim jeans on her leg. In fact, she couldn't feel anything at all. It was as if she was...alone. "S-Sandy? Bijou? H-H-Hamtaro? Someone ANSWER me!" tears threatened to spill over Crystal's cheeks.
But everything was dead-ass quiet. The lightning slapped at the window again, and using the temporary light, Crystal discovered she was alone in the living room. Everybody had vanished!
BRRRRRRRING! Crystal jumped and snapped her head to the side, her brown ponytail whip-lashing her own cheek. Her eyes were wide and panicked. On a table was a black cordless phone, innocently laying on it's charger base.
Crystal took in a few deep breaths. Who could that be? BRRRRRRING! It rung twice, it's ring echoing and bouncing back and forth against the walls.
Crystal, as if hypnotized, slowly stood up and began to walk like a zombie towards the phone. After it's third time, Crystal was standing over the phone. In a cold sweat, she picked up the phone and shakily pressed talk, not bothering to check it's ID--which said Unknown.
"...Hello...?" For a moment, no one spoke. Maybe they didn't hear me... "W-Wh...Who's this?" she asked a little louder.
"I wouldn't have answered if I were you." an unfamiliar male voice replied slyly.
"Who are you?" Crystal said in a weak, but demanding voice. "Turn around..."
When she finally did, all she could was let out a blood-curling scream...
♥
"N-NO!" Crystal gasped. She felt herself fall into another world. Her eyes shot open and she sat up as if she had heard a gunshot. When Crystal looked around, it all eventually came back to her.
"It was all just a dream..." she realized. A few hours ago they had seen the same scary movie, but it had ended with no blackouts, no phones...and no whatever was about to get her. They had all gone to bed, some excited at how cool the movie had been.
What was so cool about being scared out of your common sense? Scary movies were meant to leave you paranoid and giving you an answering a phone and being alone in the girls' bathroom-a-phobia for weeks. How was that entertainment!
KRRRRA-BOOOOM! A large clap of thunder and flash of lightning reminded Crystal that the storm from that same evening had worsened.
She shuddered uncontrollably. "Ohhhh! I don't need this!" Scared out of her mind, Crystal threw the covers off of her. Hesitant at first, fearing some vile creature would grab her feet from under the bed, Crystal eventually scrambled out of her comforter and high-tailed it for the door.
The hallways were far more creepier in the dark at 2 am than in the daylight hours.
Cappy didn't have Boss' expensive stereo on to full blast and jumping non-stop on his bed. Penelope wasn't fooling around with Pashmina's make-up. Sandy wasn't chasing Stan around the house with a belt, after catching him reading her diary--AGAIN. Hamtaro wasn't being his usual stupid self and trying to read the West Side Story novel from English(upside-down).
It was all empty and cast with a haunting silence that could make goosebumps sprout on your arms.
The storm didn't make things any more comforting. Hard to believe sixteen human-ham teenagers live in this one house. Crystal thought with a creepy chill numbing her heart. The thunder and lightning rolled across the sky, startling her.
She began to speed up. The shadows the lightning cast seemed to creep up slowly towards her, ready to swallow her up any second now. And with a nightmare like Crystal's dancing through your head over and over again, images like that were possible!
Eventually, the poor girl started to run. The fact that the halls were empty no longer mattered to Crystal. She wanted to get to his room now before she killed herself of a heart attack.
Who's room?
♥
Stan Toorani let out an uncomfortable sigh and sat up out of bed. The storm continued to rage on outside his window, but he payed little attention. He ran his fingers through his orange hair and his forehead creased in worry.
He didn't know why, but just a few minutes ago, something deep down inside him forced him out of his sleep and left him stranded and clueless, staring at the ceiling.
"Ugh. Why can't I fall asleep?" he asked himself, barely whispering. He was tired, but he just couldn't seem to drift off. It was as if something was telling him he was forgetting something. At 2 am? What could I possibly be forgetting at 2 am! was his reply.
Just then, his nerve senses began to kick again. He could barely understand what they were trying to tell him. Something about someone...someone in distress.
Pfft! If anyone's in distress, it's ME! he rolled his eyes and kicked the covers off of him. He decided a drink of water wouldn't kill him. But as he stood up, he heard a couple of footsteps. But before he could even blink, Crystal Donaldson threw herself onto his chest, crying and hugging him like there was no tomorrow.
"What the--!" was all he could say. "Crys, what are you doing out here?" he lowered his voice to a gentle hiss. But all he got was soft crying and fingers clawing onto his skin. Stan was shocked at how devestated Crystal was. She was shaking uncontrollably and obviously trying to keep her crying low to avoid awakening anyone.
"Crystal...Crys, what's wrong?" Stan asked a bit more gently. Crystal looked up at him. "What are you waiting for? Hold me, you idiot!" she sobbed, trying to sound demanding. "Shhhh. It's okay. Calm down." Stan spoke quietly as he wrapped his arms around her.
After a few minutes, Crystal sniffled and was able to find her voice. "Stan..." she squeaked out, tears running down her cheeks. "Hm?" he asked gently. Crystal eventually broke the hug, trying to calm herself down. "Shhh. Take it easy, Crystal." Stan soothed. "Tell me slowly and carefully exactly what happened."
Crystal nodded, but pointed at the slightly ajar door. Stan nodded and closed it. "Okay..." She immedietaly launched into the horrible dream, the movie, the hallways, the shadows, the storm and everything else attached to it.
By the time she was done, she couldn't help but start crying again. She clung onto Stan and buried her cheek into his shirt. Stan understood. Crystal had always been a very fiesty and brave girl, but ever since she was little, storms had been her only secret weakness. At age three, she had had a not-so-pretty incident with a storm once and it tramautized her to this day.
"It's okay, Crys. That was just a dream." Stan reassured her. Suddenly, the wind began to howl. The trees outside began to sway back and forth. The rain splattered louder and harder against the glass. Crystal squealed and dug her nails into Stan's arms again. Stan got a sudden urge to yelp in pain, on account it HURT(!), but was forced to hold back.
"I'm hurting you, aren't I?" Crystal loosened her grip. "Heke? How'd you--" Stan began. "You tensed up when I scratched you." Crystal replied. "Sorry." she sighed and started rubbing her hands up and down his arms.
Stan felt his face get hot. " 'Ts alright. After all, I totally understand about the whole mishap when you were three and..." Crystal winced at the memory. "...sorry." Crystal nodded in understanding.
There was an awfully tense moment of silence afterwards. Stan was starting to get seriously awkward. "Stan...can..I, umm..." Crystal choked on her words. "Yeah?" Stan urged. "Can...canIstayoverforthenight!" Crystal went beet red.
"W-Wha?" Stan blushed as well. Naturally, he was very attracted to girls. But having one sleep over? In his room? The worst part was this was his best friend asking him! Not that Crystal wasn't attractive. She was a very sweet, kind, fun, awesome, a hot girl and...
Hot? Stan blushed again. Why did he just think up that word to describe her? "I-I...W-Well...Err..." he was indeed very confused. The storm roared again and Crystal inched closer to him. Her eyes read: Boy, don't you DARE make me go back! He bit his lip. "...okay, fine. You can stay." he gave in. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?
He decided Crystal deserved the bed, but Crystal stopped him. "Actually...I meant..." Crystal said. Stan looked at her, his eyes widening. "A-Are you saying, you want me to..." he trailed off. "Staaaaan!" she whined.
Realizing just then he could trust her anyways, Stan reluctantly scooted over.
They ignored each other for a few minutes, until the storm boomed again. Crystal closed the distance between them and grabbed onto him. She let out a squeak.
"Shhh. Relax, I'm right here Crystal. I won't let anything bad happen to you, I promise..." Stan comforted. He soothingly rubbed her back and held her close, yet respected her personal space. After all, they didn't have to be that close.
Crystal began to calm down. She cradled her head onto his chest. She could feel his heartbeat, the sound of his breathing, the heat of his body, the softness of his shirt. As long as Stan was around, Crystal felt so safe. So protected. Like nothing could possibly bring her spirits up any higher.
Stan silently thanked God that Crystal couldn't see how red he was turning. He had never been so close to her before. Close enough to smell her cherry shampoo. Close enough to hear her soft breathing. Close enough to stroke her soft skin. Close enough to taste the lip gloss on her--wait.
What am I thinking! Stan thought, shocked. Crystal and him were just friends. And that's all we're ever gonna be! Best. Friends. Right? ... Right!
Time passed and the storm eventually began to calm down. So did Stan's racing pulse. "...Crys, are you awake?" he asked softly. "Mm-hmm." she nodded slowly. "Why?" she added. "Just...a curiosity." he shrugged. "Oh." Crystal sighed.
Just TELL him! Tell him how you secretly feel about him! This is your only chance to be this close to him and NOT be seconds away from having your dream come true!
Crystal bit her lip, wishing her conscience would shut up. But it had a point. Lately, she had been having not just best-friend, but romantic more-than-just-a-friend vibe-feelings for Stan. She wanted to tell him, but at the same time, she...didn't want to. It confused her so much, it kept her tossing and turning in her sleep.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she looked over at Stan and smiled. His eyes were closed and his breathing was nice and heavy. His whole body was relaxed and his hair fell over his forehead, making him look so much cuter than he already was. He looked so sweet and innocent(which was rare on account he was a huge flirt and a pest 24/7), like an angel. Like my angel! Crystal thought with yet another smile.
"Hey Stan. Guess what?" Knowing he was out like a light, Crystal decided to tease him a bit. "There's always this one itty bitty secret I've never ever ever told you! You wanna know what it is?" Sitting up, she leaned towards his ear.
"You know how I'm always teasing you about how you'll never attract a girl cause you flirted too much with too many girls?" Crystal whispered. "Well, you've always attracted this one girl. You just never knew cause she kept it a secret."
Then, feeling tears in the back of her eyes, Crystal softly stroked his cheek. "Stan...Stan, I-I umm...I-I l-lo-l-love...i-it...it's me, Stan. I'm the girl who's always had that secret crush on you. But I never ever ever ever wanted to tell you. And the only reason I didn't want to was because you were always giving all these pretty girls all the attention and constantly talking about this girl's phone number or about that girl's long blonde hair and all that crap!"
Crystal stopped for a breath.
The rain had stopped and the bright moon had shone through the gray weather. The clouds had opened up...as well as Crystal's eyes.
"But you know what I just found out? It took me just now to realize that after letting me sleep over in your room, you actually do give me attention! It's just not the attention you give other girls." she looked over at Stan and smiled. She stroked his orange hair. "All you had to do was allow me to come in here at two in the morning and let me know that you do care! And you honestly have no clue how much that means to me."
Leaning over, she looked at him hesitantly. Taking a chance though, she closed her eyes and kissed him tenderly on the lips for a good three seconds. "I love you, Stanley Toorani." she whispered as quietly as possible.
Then, she climbed off the bed and tiptoed across the room to the door. "Oh and before I forget, thanks and good night too!" she giggled softly, knowing there was no way in hell the guy could've heard her.
She was wrong.
A few moments after Crystal had disappeared, Stan's eyes fluttered open.
The teenager slowly propped himself onto his elbows and felt his lips. He stared out the still-wet window, wondering if what he had just heard was reality of just in his imagination.
After all, he had only been half asleep...
♥ The End... ♥
A/N: Well that's it. Look, I know it was cheesy and all, so plzzzzzzzzzzzzz don't be cruel! R n' R, plz. Tootles.
I do not own Hamtaro.
Crystalgurl101