Fire Princess

ANOTHER DAY IN THE LIFE

My eyes open before I tell them to. Remnants of my dream still lingering in the sweat coating my face. I sit up, trying to shake it off. There's nothing familiar about the dream and yet picturing that face sends a chill down my spine. I feel around under my pillow for my phone. I remember falling asleep texting Jayce last night and forgot to put it on the charger. Great. Once my fingers meet the smooth, hard surface of my phone, I hold it up to my face and click it on, instantly regretting it. After a few moments of letting my eyes adjust to the screen's brightness, I check the battery level 62% isn't awful. It'll make it through the day at least. I notice its almost time for me to get up. I groan and let myself fall back on my pillows. My phone clicks off and the room goes black again. I stare up at the ceiling, not able to make out much in the darkness. I lay there for a few minutes before the weight of the dark starts giving me paranoia, the face from my dream raises the hairs on my neck and I jolt up.

"I'm up" I say out loud, trying to push the dream away. I climbed out of bed, flipping on my light, blinding myself for a second time this morning. I groan again and search for some clothes and my towel before heading to the bathroom for a shower. I can hear music coming from the kitchen when I open my door and the smell of cooking bacon fills the house. I smile as I head the opposite direction to the bathroom.

I turn off the water, the last of the dream going down the drain with the water. After I am dressed and teeth brushed, I head to the kitchen. The smell of eggs and bacon making my stomach growl.

"Hey sis" Gabe greets me. He is already eating at the table. Our mother, Evelyn is standing at the stove, flipping the last few pieces of bacon.

"Good morning" she greets me, offering me a plate.

"morning" I say, taking a plate from her and loading it up with eggs, bacon and toast before joining Gabe at the table. When I sit down Gabe slides the juice carton to me and I pour a glass using one that is already pulled out for me.

"how'd you sleep?" she asks when I'm settled.

"Fine, I guess" I answer. Awful. Feels like I haven't slept at all.

"Nightmares back?" Gabe guessed.

I shrugged, not wanting to picture that face again. I pop some eggs in my mouth and keep my eyes on my plate.

Gabe doesn't push for more information as we finish eating, he knows they are back by the stony look in my face and the unwillingness to meet his eyes. He knows when to drop things I don't want to talk about, even though I know he feels invested in my dream. Like its memories from another life trying to push through to my consciousness, but to me all they feel like is a warped reality that drains all my energy, leaving me feeling like I haven't slept for days.

Our mother on the other hand has no such skill in letting things be. She is the 'helicopter momma' type who needs to be involved in everything I do or even think, or at least it feels that way to me. Fortunately, she did not hear Gabe's comment about my nightmare so I was spared the talk she would no doubt want to have, going over the details of the dream. She, like Gabe, believe that it must be past memories pushing through. I honestly don't know what else it could be seeing as I have been having variations of the same dream since I was eleven. 

We finish our breakfast and while I finish getting ready for school, I can hear the dishes bumping into the sink as mom washes them by hand.

"Adarah, hurry up. It's already ten after, you don't want to be late." Evelyn's voice carries down the hall. I am just running a brush through my damp hair when my phone dings in my back pocket. Its Jayce. He's sent a picture of his outfit of the day; a simple white t-shirt and black-wash jeans. He of course looks like a male model in anything he wears though. I exhale, my cheeks puffing and give up on my hair, throwing it in a bun. I grab my bag from my room on my way to the kitchen where Gabe and Evelyn are waiting for me.