Summer Boy

14.Almost Recovery

  *I was having a great time. Fantastic, actually. Me, Derick, Maxie, and some of their friends were all hanging out in Derick's house. We were sitting in a circle on the floor of the living room, like usual. I was sitting and laughing with everyone else, like normal. Everyone was happy and smiling.

  I watched as Derick excused himself, taking Katrina with him. It didn't register with me at all. They went upstairs holding hands. I told the rest of them I had to use the bathroom, but I didn't feel like I had to at all. I didn't know why, I just needed to go upstairs. Something was calling me up there.

  I walked up the creaky wooden stairs, hearing giggles. Out of curiosity, I pushed open the door to Derick's room. Another impulse. The room was covered in ashes, and dust on the furniture. There was a humongous spider web in the corner of the room, near the window.

  Derick was in the spider web, tangled in the sticky threads of white. Katrina was on top of him, wrapping him in the spindle-like threads with an evil grin on her face. There was lust in his eyes. I remembered that look like nothing else.

  "Derick!" I tried to shout, but dust and ash caught in my throat. I couldn't breath, or speak. Before I could run away, the threads from the giant spider web crawled over to my feet, wrapping around my legs. I tried to scream, but it came out a weak croak.

  Katrina watched, cackling like a witch as she continued to roll Derick in the sticky web. His eyes stayed on her. He didn't even look at me. I was knocked on the floor, the strings dragging my feet out from in front of me and throwing me on my back in the pile of ash. I tried to claw my way out, but my fingernails were caked in ashes. I tried to cough, and sent dust and ash clouding around my head.

  I couldn't breath. I was dying. Choking on dust and ash while Derick is trapped by Katrina in her spider web. There was nothing I could do to save us. I was helpless, and dying, and as I took my last breath, clogging my lungs with dust and ash and slowly being dragged to the web, everything stopped and the light came into view.*

  I woke up, sitting up strait and gasping. My hand flew to my chest where my heart is, feeling the rapid pulse under my palm. My forehead was clammy and sweaty and my eyes stung from crying. I wiped my eyes, pulling my hand away to see black smudged on my knuckles.

  I groaned, pulling myself up off of the floor. Why was I on the floor? I thought, going over to my bathroom to wash my face. The reflection in the bathroom mirror made me cringe. I looked horrible, like the walking dead but, well, alive.

  The awful nightmare came back to my mind, sticking. I tried to shake it off, telling myself it was just a dream. And a stupid one, at that. I mean, a giant spider web? How dumb am I! But the more I thought about it the more it bothered me.

  As I washed the caked makeup from my face, I tried to think of the hidden message in the dream. Derick, tangled in a big web, by his ex Katrina that ultimately caused our breakup.

  Breakup. Wow. I didn't even think of that. For the first time, I realised that I had just had my first serious, devastating breakup. Time to face the facts, Chloe.

  On the bright side, I'm single! I can go out and do whatever the hell I want, with whoever I want!

  Except Derick, the one person I want. Irony, right?

  Walking out of the bathroom, I got dressed into jean shorts and a blue Hollister tank top with bright habiscus flowers. I didn't bother with my hair, I just brushed it out and threw it in a high ponytail. With a fake smile plastered on my face, I closed the door to my bedroom and slid down the stair railing to the kitchen.