"I'm home!" I yelled, walking in my house."Katie, how was your first day back to school?" My mother asked, from the couch. "Oh you know, the usual, boring as hell." I mumbled. "Language." She warned, and I laughed.
I kicked off my Vans and headed upstairs to my room. "Dinner will be ready in 20 minutes!" My mom yelled as I ran up the wooden steps. "Alright!"
I walked inside my room and closed the door behind me. The afternoon light poured in from the one giant window on the opposite wall from the door. My walls were painted a light cream color and my dark wood floor had multiple scratches from when I dropped my lamp and smashed it. I had a queen sized bed in the corner with navy blue and white blankets. My closet was on the wall across from my bed and a small dresser was right beside the closest door.
I sighed, throwing my black leather school bag in the corner and shrugging off my grey hoodie. I dragged myself towards my bed and did a face plant into the pillows. I was so tired from the lack of sleep from the previous night. My head was pounding and so did my shoulders from Connor shoving me into the lockers earlier. Pretty soon I couldn't even keep my eyes open.
-
I was in the woods. Well I think I was. It was dark and the ground was wet and covered in leaves and branches. Confusion and fear filled me like a balloon, I looked around but I was alone.
It was so quiet, I thought I could hear my own heartbeat. "Well hello." I spun around so fast I almost fell straight on my ass. I was face to face with a woman. She was so close to me, I stumbled backwards, hitting my back off of a tree. She just laughed at me.
She was very tall, but looked my age. Her black hair was curled loosely around her shoulders and her eyes were a dark blue. She had on a knee length blue dress and she was barefoot. My heart rate slowed a little when I saw she didn't look terrifying. "What's going on? Who the hell are you and where the hell am I?" I asked, pushing myself off the tree and taking a step forwards.
She simply just laughed at me again. "Come with me." She said in a soft voice, she extended her arm and gently took my hand. I jolted away slightly but her grip was too tight. She led me through the tall trees and it confused me to no end how I got here. I looked up at the sky, but there was no sign of any stars, or even the moon. "What the hell?" I whispered to myself.
Her pace quickened slightly, dragging me behind her. "Where are we going?" I asked, but she didn't answer. My heartbeat began to quicken again. I tried to pull away but her grip was so tight and hurt my hand. Every time I pulled away, she squeezed her nails into my hand. Blood started to draw from the punctures on my hand. "Ow! What the fuck!? That hurts!" I yelled at her, but she didn't even look at me. I was becoming anxious and terrified.
But suddenly she released her death grip on me, I quickly pulled my hand back to myself, and shook it as small blood drops fell from my skin. "Okay, what was all that about?" I asked, my tone harsh and rude. I looked back up to where she was; or where I thought she was. She was gone. I felt sick when I couldn't find her, it felt like my heart was in my throat and my legs were becoming numb.
"Sorry, sweetie, did I hurt you?" I felt my whole body go numb and my heart drop. I turned around slowly, and a fist aligned perfectly with my jawline. My body crashed to the ground, I held my jaw and felt tears forming in my eyes.
Connor leaned over top of me and was laughing. His eyes were filled with hatred and they were the same blue as the girl who led me here. "You poor thing, do you need help up?" Connor asked, smirking. I rejected his hand and backed away from him. He continued stepping closer to me, and laughing. I regained my energy and I managed to stand up. I started to run as fast as I could, my heart pounding out of my chest. I was too terrified to look behind me.
Suddenly I felt my feet slip from under me, and I started falling straight down.
I had ran right off a cliff. Conner was looking down on me, laughing. I screamed, as it got darker, and darker.
I sat upright in my bed, breathing hard. It was just a dream, or a nightmare. I looked at my hand, no blood, then I felt my jaw and it felt fine. Terrified tears were running down my cheeks. I put my head in my hands and tried to catch my breath. It felt so real, but none of it made sense. I couldn't escape Connor, he was everywhere, even in my dreams. I felt everything, the nails digging into my hand, the punch, even the wet ground. I sighed, laying back down and glancing at my alarm clock. 4:02am, I slept right through dinner and half the night.
"Katie!?" My mother yelled, running into my room. She ran over to my bed, sitting on the edge and gently holding my face. "You were screaming, oh god you're crying.." Her voice was shaky and she started wiping away my tears. "Are you okay sweetie?" I flinched when she called me sweetie. Thats what Connor called me in the dream. She didn't seem to notice, and I just nodded. "Just a bad dream, I'm fine. Promise." I said, giving her a reassuring smile. I mom sighed heavily. "Are you sure?" I nodded, "I'm sure." She gave me a light smile, kissing my forehead and standing up. "I love you, honey." I smiled at her, "I love you too, mom." She walked out of my room, leaving the door open a crack.
Every time I had a bad dream she always became terrified. When my father died I would have really bad nightmares and I had to sleep in her room. She's always scared they're going to come back even though I always tell her they wont.
-
I woke up again. But this time in my room. Mom walked in and smiled at me. "Good, you're awake. I have to work early, but I made pancakes." She came over, and I slowly got up from my bed. She hugged me tightly, kissing my cheek. "Have a great day, I love you." "I love you too." She smiled at me and walked out of my room.
"School starts in 25!" She called as she went down the stairs. "You let me sleep in!?" "Sorry sweetie! Bye!"
I sighed. 25 fucking minutes. I wiped the sleep from my eyes and walked to the bathroom. I slowly undressed and looked at my back in the mirror. I had a large bruise on my shoulder blade from being shoved in the lockers. "Fucking asshole." I sighed, then started the water and got in the shower. The hot water felt so good. I quickly started to wash my hair and then my face. I turned off the water and grabbed my towel from the rack beside the shower curtain. I wrapped it around me and headed back to my room. I put on my under clothing and then slipped on black yoga pants and a maroon sweater. It all took me 15 minutes so I still had 10 minutes. I quickly dried my hair and put on a small amount of makeup.
I grabbed my bag from the corner and jogged down stairs. I slipped on my black vans and decided to skip breakfast. Then I slipped out the door and walked to school.
-
As soon as I walked into the giant building, I was confused. Everyone was basically freaking out and talking to their friends. Everyone looked so excited and happy. I ignored it all, Dillion was probably throwing a party or something. I pushed past the mob of overly excited teenagers and went for my locker. I kind of liked having everyone pay attention to something other than me. Usually by now at least someone would've commented on how bad I look, or just throw a random insult at me; but everyone was completely focused on something else. I grabbed my History book and headed to Mr. Barkley's classroom.
I sat in a seat in the back near the window, and just focused on the cover of my History book. "I really hope its me!" Tiana, a short blonde girl squealed to her friend who Ive never seen before. "Same! Oh my god what if we both get picked!?" The second girl said. They both started squealing then I toned them out. What the hell was everyone even talking about? Go where?
"Goodmorning everyone!" The princible, Mrs. Walker said on the speaker. Everyone became silent which was usual, usually everyone talks right through the announcements. She blabbed on about, sports and spirit crap, But then something actually worth listening to came up. "As you all know, we had a contest, to send two lucky students to London for a month!" Everyone in my homeroom cheered. What the hell? We did? "Well, it's time two announce the lucky two!" Mrs. Walker continued. "The two students are.... Katie Wentzel.. And, Conner Greene!"
My heart stopped.
