Dreaming Big

Chapter 2: Chase

Lottie's P.O.V.

"No! Ava stop! STOP!" I shouted after my sister. I ran after her, determined to drag her back by her hair if I had to. Unfortunately, within a few turns of the long dark hallways, I had lost her. I stopped at an intersection, having no idea which way to go next. The halls were pitch black, the only little amount of light came from the barred window. Outside, a storm was brewing. The tress branches whipped around in the wind, lightning flashed across the angry sky. Sighing exasperatedly, I made a right and started running again.

I don't know how long I ran, taking random twists and turn until I was completely lost. Cursing under my breath, I found myself turning in a slow circle. Now what? I could try to go back to my room, but what about Ava? I couldn't let her make a decision she would later regret. I was yanked from my thoughts by the creaking of a door. Acting on impulse, I darter around a corner, hiding in the shadows just as the light reached the place I had been a moment before.

"I thought I heard somebody. Must have been my imagination," A woman's voice floated over to me. A moment later, the squeaking alerted me that the door had closed, and the momentary light was gone. I stayed where I was, just in case the woman wasn't gone. I knew the voice-it was the only teacher at this school that actually like my sister and me-but that didn't mean I wouldn't get chewed out for being up after hours. Slowly, I poked my head around the corner. I knew the smart thing would be to run inthe opposite direction, but curiosity had me doing the opposite. The blind had been drawn over the glass of a door, but some yellow light still spilled out around the edges. I crept forward, keeping the weight on the balls of me feet so I wouldn't make a sound. Crouching in front of the door, I put an eye to the keyhole.

I could faintly see the back of a boy's head, sitting in a chair in front of Mrs. Griffin's desk. She was older, in her late forties, but easily the craziest funniest teacher I've ever had. She taught history, and was by no means a boring lecturer. She'd dress up in crazy costumes, tell hilarious stories, and do ninja rolls in front of other teacher's open classroom doors. Never once have I seen her anything but happy and smiling. Until now. A frown placed on her lips, she paced behind the desk. "-understand how you could get kicked out of the top military school in the country." She snapped at the boy.

He didn't answer, didn't even move. Mrs. Griffin stopped in front of him. She sighed, anger giving away to exhaustion. "Honestly Chase, what am I going to do with you? Why don't you just put your knowledge into something good instead of causing trouble all the time?" The boy-Chase-didn't answer. "Chase Griffin. Answer me," Mrs. Griffin commanded, using the I'm-serious-don’t-push-me-boy voice. "I don't know," The boy answered curtly, and I could feel the blood rush out of my face.

His voice, I knew I would never be able to forget it. He was the boy out of my dream.

I wanted to run, get out of there and never come back. But before I could even stand up, a hand was on my shoulder. Jerking away from the touch, I snapped my head to look over my shoulder. There stood the Severus Snape of the school himself. Dr. Long. "Well, well, well. What have we here? The little sneak's out of bed," He drawled, black eyes glittering with satisfaction. It was his life's ambition to get my sister and me into trouble. "I was here to see Mrs. Griffin. I had a question about the History homework," The lie slid smoothly out of my mouth.

"We'll just see what Mrs. Griffin thinks about this, shall we?" He sneered. Of all the teachers-besides Mrs. Griffin who I would never lie to-he was the only one who could actually catch me lying. I stood up, not responding. He knocked once on the door, then just barged in. I honestly didn't understand what the point of that was. Mrs. Griffin’s head snapped up from the boy in front of her, startled by the sudden noise. The boy didn’t even flinch, let alone turn around. "Marissa. I've found Miss Thompson here lurking outside your door. She claimed to have a question about the History homework," Dr. Long said, making it very clear that he didn’t believe me.