When I wake up in the morning I feel sore and groggy. And still in my bikini top. I get up, my head pounding, and go into the bathroom.
I look at myself in the mirror. My hair is a mess and my gray eyes are a storm. My eyebrows formed into a constant mask of confusion. And on my back is a smudged painting of wings. Angel wings. I could have swore that the paint was white though. It doesn't matter though. All I know is that I need to see Riley.
I get dressed quickly and make my way out the door. As I open my front door, Casper's in mid-knock.
"Hi." I say, confused.
"By the look on your face, I'm guessing you forgot about church." His eyes fill with mock disappointment.
"What? No, I was just meeting you at the door." I say, covering up my confusion as best I can.
"Okay, then lets get going." He goes back to his car, where his parents are waiting.
"Hi, Autumn." They both say together as I get in. The look on their faces makes me realize they are still rooting for me and Casper to be a couple. I wish they would just let it go and figure out that him and I are just friends. But we don't always get what we want.
The whole car ride is filled with awkward conversations about prom and if we're going together. I have never been more happy to get out of a car before.
"I'm so sorry." Casper whispers to me as we get out of the car.
"It's fine." I say, not really paying attention. As soon as this service is over I'm going to find Riley. I'm going to see if he's okay.
We walk into the chapel where a bowl sits with holy water in it. I sprinkle some on myself and start walking towards the pew I want to sit in. As I'm sitting down, I notice someone's already sitting in this one. When I look at who it is, my stomach drops.
Jamie.
An overwhelming sensation comes over me. I hear Casper's voice but it fades as everything goes dark.
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When I wake up, I'm laying in my bed. I shoot up and look at the clock. It's only been an hour.
"Autumn." My dad says from next to me. His voice makes me jump.
"What happened?" I ask quietly.
"You fainted at church." He looks at me with sympathy. We stay silent for a few moments. "Do you need anything? Water?" He asks, getting up off my bed.
"No, I'm just really tired." I say.
"Okay." He looks like he wants to say something more but stops himself. He leaves me alone in stale silence.
As soon as he leaves, I get up from my bed and walk through the bathroom to the entrance of Jamie's old room. I need answers. Why do I see dead people? Why do I keep seeing him?
I slowly open the door to the dark room. I haven't been in here since the night he took the pills. The smell of his cologne hits my nose with a bitterness. Covering my nose, I make my way over to his pile of his desk. A few sheets of paper cover his desk with reminders scrawled on them but nothing useful is written on them. I start digging inside his desk. After a few minutes of looking, I find 3 old looking journals and a sketchbook. I quickly leave the room shut the bathroom door behind me as I do.
I sit down on my bed and open the sketchbook first. Inside is some typical teenager drawings. It's not until I get about a quarter of the way through that I see some more interesting things. There's many people from our school drawn in here, some with black ominous wings that resemble the ones painted on my back. Others are people with pitch black eyes. There are some people with fangs even, as if they're vampires. I open a page to see a picture of my dad, a bright yellow light surrounding him. I smile and close the book.
I look at the journals sitting on my bed and run my fingers along the binding. Slowly, I pick one up and open it up.
Today's the first day of freshman year. I don't know about Autumn, but I'm terrified. After everything that's happened and that I've discovered, I'm terrified. Everyone in Arizona isn't who I think they are. No one is who I think they are.
It's not dated but I know the day it's from. The first sentence is all I need. I skip a few pages and stop on one that begins with my name.
I wake up every morning to Autumn making whimpering in her sleep. I wonder if she knows. She told dad about the dreams but he ignored her. I don't think he knows either. Am I the only one who knows the truth? I know that she sees the images in her head. I know that there's a lot more that she sees or feels that she's not letting on. I can tell by the way she puckers her lips when someones angry, as if she can taste the sourness. I can tell by the way she flinches away from everyone's touch. I know a lot. Maybe too much.
