Connected

Chapter 8

Important:

In this chapter, there is a very brief mention of being depressed though it is not said directly. The things mentioned are not at all meant to describe everyone who has experienced this. The thoughts or things mentioned are only from my point of view or thoughts which have then been edited to fit the characters and the situation. This is a fiction story and though the setting and world are fictional, the issues are very much real, please know that it is not my intention to disregard the importance or impact that these may have on a person. That being said, if you feel as if that is what is coming across or feel as though I did not describe it in the best possible way, please feel free to contact me.

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I bolt upright, suddenly wide awake as the early morning sun streams in through the curtains. I look at the clock on my nightstand, the numbers just changing over to 7:24. I look at my wrist, and the Counter illuminates 457 days, 2 hours, and 41 minutes. My mind starts racing again. I stay sitting there for at least 10 minutes, trying to grasp what I just witnessed. Now I know this isn't my subconscious, stress, or whatever other excuses I came up with; this is on its own level of weird. I decide to push it to the back of my mind for now and get ready for the day as best as I can without completely getting engulfed in my thoughts. By the time I'm ready to go, 7:50 comes, and Andrew, Ruby, and I walk to school.

My body goes on autopilot again, and my brain decides to drift back to the dream. The eyes that appeared at the end held so much; I could almost feel the emotions that were there instead of just being able to read them. I have been able to read someone's emotions for so long, but I have never been able to read emotions in a dream, so why this one? Why could I feel the same thing? And those eyes. I have never seen someone in Valmont with that eye color. They were such a dark yellow that they could be gold; in fact, they were gold. Sometimes people can have light hazel eyes that might look like gold in the right light, but they were very clearly gold. 

Also, the conversation that took place was one that I was not meant to hear, even if I knew who these people were or what they were talking about. They were meeting somewhere secluded and empty based on the echo, but what were they meeting about? The kid didn't seem scared when talking, but when the other two, Frank and whoever the boss was, left, he sounded like he had been holding his breath. What was with the last thing he said? Why of every word he could have used, did he say, 'my lily'? I get that it's a common name, but the chances of being there, dream or not, and my name being Lily, are low to near impossible. It can be used as a term of endearment, but I haven't heard someone use it. The watch that appeared was exactly like the one in the building in the last dream and that sun, I know I have seen it before, but I don't know where.

The bell rings, and I realize that I had gotten to school, got the things for history, and gone through history all out of muscle memory. I try to clear my mind and focus on the rest of my morning classes, with little to no success, and finally make it to lunch. I'm already in the cafeteria, waiting for Mia and Skylar to finish a test in their classes when my mind drifts back to the sun. I know there is a meaning behind that specific sun, but I can't seem to dig it out. I take out my notebook and a pencil, push my tray away, and start to draw it as best as I can from memory, hoping I could spark something. I finish drawing one and move on to another, drawing it over and over again. I am so focused on drawing this sun that I don't even realize Mia and Skylar have sat down. I hear them talking, but I can't quite understand what they are saying. I am completely engulfed in the drawing, oblivious to everything and everyone until Skylar speaks, breaking me out of the spell.

"I knew that looked familiar. That sun can sometimes represent the God Apollo."

My head shoots up, and I stare at him.