Pulling an allnighter [closed]

It was around 11pm and the night was just beginning. Aspen had planned to stay up all night in the lounge probably watching some sappy romance tv show or horror she wasn't sure but she brought whatever she needed to help keep her up at night. Bringing some things she could do while out here the blonde had began setting things down. Placing down at least 2 grocery bags filled up to the top with some midnight snacks and video games the blonde was pretty confident in herself that she should be able too stay up for the entire night. It wasn't the first time Aspen did an all nighter either all you needed to do was finding something to entertain yourself with which should be pretty easy enough since she gets distracted pretty easily. The autumn had began setting her stuff down now all she needed to do was find the Television remote.

It was almost midnight. At least, that's what Caleb thought when he rolled over and looked at his alarm clock. He was somewhat tired, but he had spent the better part of two hours trying to fall asleep, and it just wasn't working. With an exasperated sigh, the boy pulled his blankets off and swung his feet to the floor, standing up and reaching for his jeans. Maybe a walk would give him the extra push he needed to be tired enough to sleep.

Through the common area, he tiptoed and opened the door as quietly as possible. If Martin heard him and woke up, he would never hear the end of it, and he didn't want to disturb his sleeping friend. When he didn't hear anyone behind him halfway down the hall, Caleb knew he had succeeded. Now he had to pick a direction to go in. He could simply wander the halls and explain that he'd gotten slightly lost if he got caught out so late. Or he could risk even more and go outside, where unknown dangers lurked. The latter made complete sense to him and so he went outside.

The night air was fresh and crisp. Spring was in the air (the boy chuckled to himself), and it showed in the dark times of day. Sunny afternoons were the only reprieve the school got from the cold. Caleb trudged through somewhat muddy grass towards the nearest building he could see, the unexpected cold nipping at his bare arms as he cursed himself for not bringing a jacket. This walk was only causing him to be more awake, not helping him get tired. He knew he should've just waited for sleep to overtake him instead of trying to take charge. Unfortunately, he wasn't the brightest when it came to thinking ahead, and now he was stuck here, hand on the door of this building, pulling it open so he could step inside and be freed from the cold.

As he looked around, he realized he must have entered the lounge. He'd heard of the place, but hadn't yet visited, and seeing it for the first time, he wondered why that was. It was his and Martin's dream sanctuary. A huge television that was playing some nonsense was on the far wall, couches surrounding it and a stand that held a few gaming consoles and remotes. There were several other games throughout the room, but the video game concept caught his attention the most. Without looking around, he made a beeline for one of the couches, ready to hop on and see what his options were. As he drew closer, however, he saw a girl, apparently looking for something, a couple bags of junk food beside her. Silently, he watched for a moment before he cleared his throat.

"Looking for something?"

She had been searching for awhile and yet she had no luck finding it. She always had trouble finding things maybe she should distract herself for a little bit without watching the television. When she had heard a voice Aspen had blinked giving a glance behind her to see another person in the room. Slightly worried at first since no one was really allowed to be out of their dorms this late unless they wanted to get into trouble but Aspen had eased her nerves and wasn't as nervous answering his question with a smile. "Yes the TV remote! Do you know where it is?" The autumn had asked giving him a stare. Aspen never had seen him before she figured that he must have enrolled when she was away at Europe.

Caleb gave a quick glance around. He hadn't been here before, so he wasn't sure of the possible places for the remote, but he crossed to the TV stand to the various remotes for other devices.
"I'm not sure what it looks like," he admitted after staring at the remotes. He turned to face the girl again, shrugging one shoulder. "Maybe it fell between the cushions."

If he had known there would be someone else here, he wasn't sure he would've come. There was no way he'd be able to get to sleep now. There didn't seem to be any clocks here, and he'd left his phone in his room, thinking he would be back soon anyway. Hopefully, the girl would be able to find the remote soon so he could go back to bed.

Aspen raised an eyebrow "Never see a tv remote before?" The autumn asked not trying to be rude before glancing at the couch, she never thought to look there! "Oh yeah! didn't look over here yet." Aspen had said digging her hands into the cushions to fish out a small black tv remote. She had waved it in front of Caleb's face "Wow! found it" The autumn had said with a happy tone now she could watch some shows while she stayed up. Turning back around the blonde gave the stranger a smile telling him her name. "Name is Aspen!"

Silently, Caleb watched as she dug the remote out of the cushions. Upon seeing it, he recognized it as the same type of TV remote he had in his own home. He found this amusing and the right corner of his mouth pulled into a lopsided smile.
"Caleb," he returned, almost offering a hand but changing his mind. That would've been too formal, too serious for such a casual greeting. Instead, he shoved his hands into his jeans pockets, thumbs tucked outside.

"Don't you think it's getting a bit late?" he asked suddenly. He was curious about what was keeping Aspen here at such an hour.

It looked like he was going for a handshake but he had changed his mind. She found it a little strange but she didn't really care. The blonde smiled when he had told her his name "Hey Caleb!" She said as she plopped herself onto the comfortable couch before answering his question staying slightly silent before leaning forward and telling him. "Actually im doing an all-nighter.." The autumn had told him in a hushed tone before looking at him again. "Want to join?"

An all-nighter? He was supposed to be trying to go to sleep, or at least wearing himself down a little more. But then again, Caleb had been trying to sleep for several hours and nothing had come of it. Perhaps he could stay.
"Yeah, I'll stay," he said, crossing over and dropping onto the couch beside Aspen.

Smiling eagerly she was glad too have Caleb stay here with her. Doing an all-nighter was easier if you had someone to do it with. The autumn had reached over and grabbed a bag of chips, opening it with a loud Bang The autumn had blinked realizing how loud that must have been. "Wow! Don't think anyone else hard that do you?" The blonde asked Caleb before shrugging it off. If someone did hear it all she was hoping for was that a teacher wouldnt barge into here. Digging her hands into the bag she grabbed two chips, offering one too Caleb. "Would you like some?" The autumn had asked politely not wanting too eat them all after all they were kind of staying here together.

The chips looked good. Caleb wasn't sure if he wanted to eat something so late at night. He often got an upset stomach from eating snacks late, and he knew that the worse the food was for him, the worse it would be for his stomach. But if he was pulling an all-nighter...
"Sure, why not?" he said, reaching for the chip Aspen offered. He crunched it in his mouth before reaching for more from the bag.

The autumn had threw a few more chips in her mouth, digging her hands into the bag to get more only to realize that there wasn't any left. Sighing she had crumbled the bag into a ball and threw it into a trash-can, hoping that it would make it because if it didn't it'd be really embarrassing with Caleb watching and all. When the piece of trash did go in she was surprised and a pleased smile had spread throughout her face. "Well! I guess I do have some skill in basketball after all." The autumn had said slightly confident before she glanced back at Caleb. "What house you in?" Aspen had asked him always finding it interesting and she had blinked before bringing up another question. "Oh! also whats your gift?"

Caleb opened his mouth to answer her first question, but she asked another before he could answer the first. When he did speak, he spoke in a somewhat calculated manner, his tone firm.
"I'm in Spring," he told her. He didn't know much about his house just yet, but he was learning. "What house are you in?"

Truth was, he hated the gift question. He felt strange knowing that he hadn't fully developed his gift despite that being the purpose of coming to a school like Beata. So he chose to ignore it, moving on by directing the attention towards Aspen instead.