“I think you should wake up, Aid,” he said. Everything around me was beginning to discolor and cloud around me.
“What?”
“Wake up,” he slurred.
Everything around me grew dark. I could hear a distant scream in the background. Ryder’s face began to disappear and all that was left was the color of his eyes staring back at me. I felt as though I was tumbling through a black abyss of nothing. The scream grew louder and I began to feel nauseated. I was falling too quickly and I felt lost and alone. I closed my eyes tightly.
~
I woke in a cold sweat, my body was drenched with liquid fear, and the scream was coming from my own mouth. I looked around to see my room in my parent’s house. I instantly looked at my phone to see 4 am shining back at me. It was the morning of my first day of school. I could hear wild footsteps above me, quickly coming down the steps. Slightly bewildered, I looked around and felt cold and numb still. I was having a hard time deciding what in the dream had been reality.
“Hun, are you okay,” My mother shouted as she barged through my door.
I looked at her and my dad followed suit behind. They were still living together, which meant they hadn’t separated yet. They had talked about doing the “break” thing but never actually went through with it. I was shaking profoundly but they didn’t seem to notice. “Bad dream I guess,” I tried to explain.
“You’re probably just stressed about school,” my dad pointed out.
“Yeah, probably,” I sighed.
“Okay sweetie,” my mom smiled. “Try to get some sleep.”
They gave me a hug and walked back to their room. My phone suddenly began to buzz and the light of my screen shined Alexa’s name toward me. I grabbed it and flipped it open.
“Alexa, you do realize it is four in the morning, right?”
“Sorry, I know it’s late,” she answered quietly.
“What’s going on?”
“I just wanted to let you know I’m missing the first half of the day tomorrow.”
“Really? And why’s that?”
“I have an appointment tomorrow at 8,” she replied. There was a tone of worry behind it.
“Another appointment? You’ve been having those a lot lately.”
“That was kinda another reason why I called,” she admitted. “I need to talk to you about something.”
My heart began to race. The dream seemed to be holding some truth. All I could hope was that she didn’t tell me she had cancer. “At four in the morning? Is something wrong?”
“Aid, they think I might have a tumor in my brain.”
“Excuse me?” I shuddered at her comment and I suddenly felt as though this was only the beginning. My heart rate jumped again.
“I’m going in tomorrow for some final testing. If it’s where they think, they will be able to remove it.”
“How long have you known about this Alexa?” I said gasping for breath.
“A few weeks. They think that’s why I’ve been having all of the problems and migraines lately.”
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“I really didn’t want you to worry about me until I knew more. I don’t want you to have to worry at all,” she answered softly.
“I understand that. I would have probably done the same.”
“I know,” she laughed softly.
“I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon,” I yawned.
“That you will,” she said happily.
I hung up and was caught in deep thought. What if that dream was real? What if I lost everyone? What if it was going to be worse than what I already saw? I sat on my bed wrapping my arms around my legs, hugging them to my chest. There was no way I could sleep now, not after what I had seen, especially now that Alexa told me about a possible tumor. For the next two hours, I sat and thought.
~
My alarm finally went off at six that morning. On a normal day, I would have hit the snooze button around five times but I hadn’t been able to fall asleep again anyways. I got out of bed and turned on the light. My eyes burned as the light hit them. Sitting in the dark for that long seemed to have made the light that much worse. After my eyes stopped watering, I quickly showered and finished my morning routine. I was a little on edge about this day and was having a horrible time trying to concentrate.
I left for class twenty minutes early, which was unusual for me, and pulled into the student parking a half hour before school even started. The few people that were here, I paid no attention to. What a cluster fuck I was in. I frowned to myself as I walked toward the door. My pulse played loudly in my ears and sheer panic was beginning to wash over me. I walked slowly to my locker, dragging my feet most of the way there. I turned the combination knob with ease and threw everything in. I tried to breathe and relax myself. I stood there dazed and completely incoherent to the world around me.
“Aid, what are you doing here so early?”
I slowly turned to see Ethan smiling behind me. “I didn’t sleep well,” I answered softly.
“You look exhausted, sweetheart,” he said as his smile faltered slightly.
“I am,” I said bluntly. “I woke up at four and just couldn’t seem to fall back asleep.” I tried to smile at him but failed miserably. I suddenly got a quick flash of Ethan mangled on the hospital bed, bleeding everywhere, with no hope of saving him. I shivered and tried to blink the glimpse away.
“Are you okay?” He asked.
“Um... Yeah... I’m fine babe. Just a little headache,” I said awkwardly.
He looked at me with worried eyes. He didn’t believe a word I said. I knew I was a horrible liar but Ethan knew I was incapable of lying without completely giving myself away.
“Okay,” he said with a hint of question behind it. “Do you need something for your head then?”
“No, it’ll go away. If it doesn’t in an hour, I’ll take something then.” We looked at each other but he didn’t ask any further.
“Hey there love birds.”
I looked over to see Ryder, looking as Ryder as ever. Ryder and Ethan were two of a kind but at the same time, so different. They were like night and day. Both were incomprehensibly handsome, tall, and overly confident. I hadn’t seen Ryder all summer and he had chopped his shaggy light brown hair to short spikes. His hazel eyes looked darker than usual. It was eerie because they looked exactly like they had before I woke up. He looked exactly like he did in the dream. He had grown a few inches taller and towered over me, just as Ethan always had.
Both boys looked at each other and smiled like they had lost each other. I always laughed at their hilarious bromance they seemed to have, but today I couldn’t even crack a smile. I just didn’t have energy to fake it right now. They ‘man’ hugged each other like they always did and both gave me a quick glance.
“Hey man, it’s been a few weeks! How’d the rest of your summer go?” Ethan asked.
“It went good. Way better than last summer,” Ryder said smiling.
“Oh yeah? Did that girl have anything to do with it?” Ethan teased. I gasped. He had met a girl and I knew nothing about it. From the looks of it, neither did Ethan.
“She might have,” Ryder smirked.
I looked at him suspiciously, “And where did you meet this girl?”
“At the beach in Grand Haven,” Ryder answered.
“Oh really? Do we know her?” I held my breath, hoping he would say no.
“Nope, not that I know of.”
I sighed in relief. He was dating some girl he met at the beach that we didn’t know. Thank God! Maybe Alexa calling had all just been a horrible coincidence.
“So where’s Alexa at?” Ryder asked a little too eager. The tone in his voice reminded me of the way he acted in the dream.
“Doctor Appointment,” I answered nonchalantly. “Since when do you care?”
“Wow, no need to bite my head off, Aid. I was just curious. She is part of this group, if you wanna call it that. Plus,
it’s the first day of school. I thought it was a little odd you two weren’t attached at the hip or something,” he snickered.
I didn’t say anything back to him. I was tired, irritable, and seriously paranoid, obviously. They both kept looking at me, worry on Ethan’s face, interest and curiosity on Ryder’s.
Chapter 6
First hour started at 7:40. Ethan and I both had Mrs. Benett’s Trig class. To make things worse, she had a lovely seating chart. Considering the entire student body knew we were together, along with the entire faculty, it was no surprise that she split Ethan and I apart. He sat in the left front seat. I got the right back seat. Talk about putting us as far apart as possible. On top of the crappy seating chart, she was one of the most boring teachers for the most boring subject. Running on the lack of sleep, plus her monotone voice, plus the most boring material ever, equaled instant sleep.
I drifted into my horrible nightmare instantly. It was like watching a really horrible movie but you’re tied to a chair with your eyelids pried open, and your inevitable future is getting thrown in your face. I couldn’t wake myself up so I got to watch the horrible events all over again. Everything played out the exact same way, from the deaths all the way to the blackouts. Finally I was staring into those big hazel eyes again and being forced to wake up.
I was flung back to reality to a blood curdling scream. I was disoriented and confused again. The entire room went completely silent and everyone’s eyes fell on me. Their eyes were all bugging out and some people even gasped. I couldn’t breathe and began gasping for air.
“Aidriana, is there a problem back there?” Mrs. Benett asked, clearly annoyed.
I looked over at Ethan and tears instantly starting coming too quickly for me to control. I didn’t answer my teacher. I got up and I ran from the class.
“Aid!” Ethan yelled behind me. I thought about running faster but decided to slow down. I didn’t want to explain this to him. “Aid, what’s going on?”
“I’m not sure yet. I keep having this dream. I don’t remember what happens but this is the second time I’ve slept and woke up screaming like that.” I wasn’t about to tell him what the dream was about, not yet anyways.
“That’s why you didn’t get any sleep last night,” he figured out.
“Yeah, that would be why,” I whispered as the tears began to spill over.
“It’s okay Aid. It’s only a dream,” he insisted as he pulled me into his arms. He held me tightly, trying to relax me somewhat. I could feel my pulse dropping back to normal and felt content for the moment. When he let go, the feeling of despair was overwhelming, but I played it off like I was completely fine.
“Thank you, Ethan,” I smiled at him. “Why don’t you go back to class and I’ll see you next hour.”
He looked into my eyes and kissed my lips softly. His hands found mine and I felt a smile on his lips. I pulled away to see him smirking at me. “See you in a half hour.”
“Not nice!” I shouted as he walked away. I smiled for a moment, only to be interrupted by a cruel vision of my dream again.
~
I didn’t go to my next class. I sat alone in a bathroom stall and I cried. What if I was wrong and this was all just a nightmare? Maybe I was just overacting and nothing was going to happen at all. I started to calm myself down. This was just a stupid nightmare and nothing more.
I walked out of the bathroom to go to my third hour class. My face was red and puffy from crying. I had a little bit of mascara smudged on the side of my face, but I didn’t really seem to care at that point. I’d clearly just made a complete ass of myself and I didn’t feel that smudged mascara was going to kill my already dead social life.
I kept my head down as I walked toward my art class. It was one of the only classes I didn’t have with Ethan but honestly I was happy he wasn’t going to be there. I felt lost and confused, maybe even slightly dazed. When I felt a soft tap on my shoulder, I turned slowly around to see Alexa standing behind me. She had a huge grin on her face until she saw mine. The smile faded quickly and turned into a grimace of concern.
“Aidriana, what’s wrong?”
I looked at her sadly. I stared into her eyes and saw a flash of glossy death behind them. I shuddered and looked away from her. “Nothing is wrong. I’m just having weird nightmares. They’re really freaking me out.”
“That’s all?” She questioned. I never cried in front of people, she knew this. I had only cried one time in front of her and it was after my grandmother died.
“Yeah it’s not pleasant,” I answered.
“That must be one hell of a dream. You were crying,” she pointed out bluntly.
“I guess so. I don’t really remember much, I just know I woke up terrified,” I lied.
She looked at me clearly not convinced but like Ethan, she knew better than to push me. “So the appointment,” She said awkwardly, trying to change the subject.
“Yes, the appointment,” I repeated. “What happened?”
“Well it’s not amazing news but it’s better than nothing. There is a tumor,” she stopped and took a breath. “They can remove it though. It’s early enough that it isn’t too big and it’s not in a place where it is likely to kill me.”
“Kill you!” I yelled.
“Well come on, Aid, it is in my brain. It could be a possibility.”
“But they are saying it’s not a big possibility?”
“Right, not a big one,” Alexa said.
I over dramatically took in a deep breath. “Well I guess the news could be worse,” I smiled at her and she started to laugh.
“Definitely could be worse!” She said with a laugh.
I looked over at the clock and noticed I was five minutes late again. “Well I have successfully been late or missed every class this morning.”
“Better get to class then. I should be going to mine too.”
“I’ll talk to you more after class. I’m glad things are looking hopeful.”
“Me too, Aid,” Alexa said
We both turned away from each other and walked in the opposite direction. I wasn’t looking forward to my next class, nor was I looking forward to the rest of the day for that matter. All I could hope was that this class could keep me awake.
~
After lunch was over, I got a nice little note for the office aide. I had now been late for two of my classes, missed one completely and landed myself an extraordinary visit to the school counselor. Meaning, I was also missing my second class on my first day. This day was turning out to be one of my biggest epic failures in my academic career.
I moped my way down to the office after giving my light pink slip to my fourth hour teacher, Mrs. Weller. She looked at me with irritated eyes and shooed me from her class. I walked as slow as possible, dragging my feet on the tile below. The door to the counselor’s office was growing dangerously near and I was getting the sudden urge to run the other way. I got to the door and put my hand on the handle but the urge won and I began to turn the other way.
“Ms. Masters, you seem to be going the wrong way,” a voice said from behind me.
Busted! Mr. Keitz stood at his door, arms crossed, and looking stern. No surprise there. I noticed behind the stern glance that his eyes showed worry and compassion. Also not good.
“Mr. Keitz, uh, ya I just realized I forgot something in my locker and was going to get it,” I lied.
“I am going to go ahead and imagine that the ‘something’,” he air quoted at me, “in your locker, can wait until I am finished.”
“I think you might be imagining right,” I said sarcastically and rolled my eyes as I walked through the doorway behind him. This guy was like a human lie detector, hence my strong need to run. He was going to know something was wrong whether I tell him or not. Worse, he’s going to know I was lying to him until I told him what the truth was. I was losing count of all my failures today but this was going to be by far the top of my epic fail list.
I too
k a seat in the empty chair by his desk. I dropped down into it awkwardly, making an awesomely loud thud. Then I proceeded to stare at him without saying a word. I was going to make this the most awkward counseling session he had ever encountered.
“So, Aidriana,” he then paused. I looked at him without saying anything still and just lifted my eyebrow up on one side. I stared at him some more as we sat in silence. “Do you have any idea why you are here?” The silence was getting to him quickly. I still didn’t say anything. I stared very intensely at him. “Well I see that you’re refusing to answer me so, Mrs. Benett informed me of some unusual behavior from you earlier today.”
“You’ve got to be shitting me! I’m in here because I fell asleep in her class! What, just because I’m smart, I’m not allowed to show classic signs of being a teenager?”
“Aidriana, you and I both know you wouldn’t be in here if you had just been sleeping in her class,” Mr. Keitz said.
“So then why the hell am I in here then?” I asked.
“It may have something to do with the blood curdling scream the whole entire school heard at about 8:15 this morning,” he stated.
“Okay so you’re telling me that I’m in here because I’m not allowed to have nightmares now?” I asked in irritation.
“Aidriana, please try to calm down. No one is attacking you or trying to single you out. Considering that you are one of our brightest students, with one of the top grades and to my knowledge, has never shown ‘signs’ of being a regular teenager since attending this high school, the teachers are showing concern.”
“Well I’m going to tell you now, I don’t intend on talking about my problems with you,” I said quietly.
“Is everything at home okay?” he asked.
“Again, there is nothing you can say to me that will make me open up to you,” I said slowly.
I suddenly felt like I was spinning. The feeling was very familiar, though at first I couldn’t figure out why. Then it hit me. I had been feeling this every time I was losing consciousness in my dream. I was spiraling quickly and the room around me began to blur like it had in the dream. I was passing out, again.
Mr. Keitz looked at me unsure what was happening. “Aidriana, are you okay?”
I couldn’t answer him at this point. I was far past turning back and I was embraced with the darkness once again.
~
I could hear the muffled sound of people yelling around me. I opened my eyes slowly and saw the blur of faces and white light. I was entirely disoriented this time around. I had never passed out in my life. Had I not been dreaming about what it felt like, I never would have known that was what happened to me. I tried to focus my vision on those around me. I tried to move my arms to rub my eyes but they were stuck down by my sides. I could feel something around my wrists binding me down.