It's All a Lie

Ch. 10

Nightmares
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The room was pure white and bare. It smelled of a doctor's office. The floor was made out of concrete and 15 black metal bunk beds spread throughout the entire room with only a single dark green sheet to keep you warm during the cold winter nights.

Children would always curl up in the blanket together to try to keep warm, Sofia and I were among them. Sofia was 2 years older than me, and looked after me like I was her younger sister. She used to have the most beautiful wavy, caramel colored hair that reached her waist, but after the first few months here her hair was cut to shoulder level and it had turned the same color as everyone else's, white.

That night she was holding me like a baby on her bed with her green sheet wrapped around me. Even though I was 7, I didn't care. Her hug was the only warmth I felt in this place. She was also the only person I allowed to touch me. Warm tears filled my eyes and rolled down my cheeks. While Sofia was trying to comfort me she was also trying to keep me quiet.

If anyone heard me I would be taken to a punishment room, a room no one comes back from."It's ok, you had no other choice."

I keep crying and shaking trying to tell myself it's not true. She takes in a huge breath then picks up my head in between her two hands.

"Listen to what I am going to say to you Esma. If these are the only words and memories you remember, so be it. Don't trust anyone but yourself. People may act like they care about you but they are really in it for themselves. People will lie, cheat, steal for their own greed not worrying about other people's well being. Now dry your tears and go to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow."

"ESMA. ESMA, GET UP." I jump awake. Madeline is shaking me with a worried look on her face with Bailey right next to her.

Madeline is in her light blue pj pants and white shirt and Bailey is in sweat pants and a dark green hoodie matching with her red hair tied in a bun. I look out the window and it is pitch dark.

"Why are you here Bailey, what time is it?"

Madeline answers, "I got Bailey and it is 2am."

Bailey asks now, "I think you were having a nightmare, you were shaking and crying in your sleep."

I sit up in my bed and lift my hands to my face. I feel the water on my face sting my eyes. "Did I say anything?" I ask.

"No, you just cried," said Madeline.

"Well thanks for waking me up."

"No problem, that's what friends are for," said Bailey with a questioning look on her face.

I waited for her to say more but that was it. "Well I am going to head back to my dorm, see you guys in a few hours."

"Bye Bailey, sorry for waking you up," waves Madeline.

After Bailey leaves Madeline turns back to me and saids, "Are you seriously ok, this is the first time I have seen that much emotion on your face, and Bailey can agree with me on that too."

I put a light smile on my face and nod, "I'm fine, sorry for waking you up."

"Well ok," Madeline says unconvinced, "good night." With that Madeline lifts back up her navy blue and white sheets and falls asleep in under a minute.

I sit curled up in my bed under my sheets unable to go back to sleep till my alarm goes off at 7am. As Madeline continues to sleep through the alarm I pull off my sheets and turn it off.

I walk to the bathroom, grab a cloth, and squeeze it over Madeline. She slowly sits up and rolls off of bed (A new thing she does to wake up and stay up, I got scared the first time she did it. I thought she banged her head on the bed). Once Madeline is off the ground she slouches as she walks past me into the bathroom and mumbling, "Morning." I am now standing at my cabinet trying to find my uniform as I nod to her in reply.

As I am putting on my socks I hear a knock on our door. I walk over to the door from my cabinet with one sock on. Madeline pops her head out from the bathroom in the middle of doing her hair asking, "Who is it?"

I open the door and find Bailey standing behind it. "Morning," she waves, "I just wanted to check in with everything going on in these last few hours."

"Come on in, Madeline and I are almost done."

Bailey walks in and sits on my bed and I close the door behind her. "Did you make up with James last night?"

"Yes."

"Did you agree to go to Homecoming with him?"

"Yes.... I guess he told you about it." Bailey nods and adds, "Madeline too." Madeline repokes her head out and shrugs, "It was obvious."

By the time I finish putting on my sock and shoes, Bailey is done in the bathroom. We continue talking and walking down to the lobby where now only James sits on the same black chair from yesterday.

Madeline bumps into me and gestures for me to go talk to James. Then she grabs Bailey's hand smiling, "We will see you guys at breakfast," then they walk out the doors.

"So...," James starts, "How was your last few hours of sleep."

"Ugh, nightmares, kept me up all night."

" Looks like I'm not the only one."

"What kept you up."

"Family... issues." It has already been a few years since his father died, so it couldn't be about that. His mom has a stable job as an office worker so maybe it's about his other family members.

"Well anyways," saids James, "Let's go to breakfast."

We both avoid going back to the topic and walk to the back corner where Bailey and Madeline are already sitting. Classes were the same as always except for the fact that in Stealth and Combat anyone who was injured during the fights yesterday didn't have to participate in today's class. They all sat on the benches and watched as the rest of us ran around the gym, punched the punching bags, and climbed the rockwall till the class was over. At the end of class Madeline stretched as she got off the bench. Then to Bailey, James, and I she added jokingly, "Today's class was amazing, I wish I could do that everyday."

"Of course you think today's class was amazing, you didn't do anything." Madeline pretends she is offended, "What are you talking about? I did something."

Now Bailey gets into the conversation, "What did you do?"

"I cheered you all on as you ran around the gym."

Bailey and I stand there as Madeline and James stand there laughing so hard they may start crying.

James leaned on a chair outside the classroom as he tried to stop laughing, but after the chair fell over taking James with it everyone started laughing again.

Even Bailey starts to crack a smile as James lays on the ground with the chair next to him. After a few minutes of them being unable to stop laughing (this caused more than a few other students staring at us and a teacher asking us to stop causing a disturbance in the hallway) they all finally stopped and we all walked back to the dorms and partied in the lobby before dinner.