Venom

18

"Cher."

No, don't leave me.

Mom!

Dad!

"CHER!"

I sat upright in my bed, gasping for air.

My hair was drenched. I soon realized it was sweat.

I'd just had the most horrific nightmare. I hadn't had one like it for years now. Scenes of that night replayed over and over in my mind like a broken DVD.

Perhaps seeing my grandmother again had jarred those memories to the surface.

I had so many questions.

A voice cut through my thoughts. "Are you okay?"

I looked to find Dallas, sitting at the foot of my bed, his eyes wide.

I'd been so into my thoughts I hadn't even realized he was there.

"Wha- Were you watching me sleep?" I gasped, grabbing a pillow to cover myself. My pyjamas were not the most modest of my clothing.

Dallas rolled his eyes. "I have much better things to do than watch you drool."

"Then why are you here?" I hissed.

He scowled at me in disbelief. "You were screaming."

"I was?" I frowned.

He nodded.

"What was I saying?"

"You kept calling for your parents," He informed me. "Did the movie freak you out that badly? I told you it would sca--"

"--It's not that." I scowled, the movie had been almost comedic.

"Then what's wrong?"

I shrugged. "My parents were murdered a while back, sometimes I get nightmares about it."

His lips parted. "Did you witness their deaths?"

"You don't have to pretend to care," I replied coldly, feeling cold myself.

"You don't have to act so spiteful."

"Don't tell me what to do."

"Don't tell me what to do."

"Get out." I pointed to my door.

He sighed, "Do you want me to get you some water?"

"Since when do you care?" I yelled.

Perhaps I was overreacting a little bit.

"God, Cher." He ran a hand through his dark hair. "Pull your head out of your ass! We might not be friends and I may not like your company--"

"--How is this help--"

"--But I'm not a total asshole. I'm not going to leave you a screaming mess." He yawned before continuing. "Not to mention you woke me up and it's early in the morning, so I obviously needed to shut you up."

I knew he didn't care.

I threw my pillow at him. "Get. Out."

He raised his hands in surrender, standing up and heading for the door. "Sweet dreams, Cherry."

I watched him shut the door behind him, leaving me in the dark.

I tossed and turned for a while but couldn't fall back asleep.

It was five in the morning. I only had two hours before I had to get to work.

Deciding to be productive, I got up, made my bed, and got dressed. I then proceeded to pull out my laptop and attempted to work on an assignment.