Dreaming Is for the Free

Eleven

It's now the next morning, the day of the search.

As soon as I wake up, I feel a huge weight on my heart and I know exactly why. It's the possibility of finding a body or finding something indicating that Charlotte's hurt or in danger is what's freaking me out. The aftermath of finding something so damning could be detrimental to a person's mental state.

Maya, Kiara, and KJ have also decided to join the search party. From what I've seen on social media, most of the school will be there which makes scoping out the note sender that much harder. I have reason to believe that it's one of the students, someone who was at the party.

Before I fell asleep last night, I went through all of my tagged photos from the party and screenshot every picture that I saw. I'm going to look through them in a more detailed manner later on today. I'm trying to see if I see anything out of the ordinary. There could be a chance that the note sender is in one of these pictures. The anticipation of finding out who this person is is killing me. And also not being comfortable enough to tell anyone about it is having the same effect. It's not that I don't trust anyone, I'm just afraid. I'm afraid that they won't take it as seriously as me. I'm afraid that I might look guilty. I'm afraid that they'll grow suspicious of me because of what the notes are implying. So I would rather keep this to myself for now.

As I get ready for the day, I run through every possible scenario of what could happen. What's going to happen if we find her dead body somewhere? It's going to solidify that there is a killer near or on the campus. I get the shakes just thinking about it.

Suddenly there's a light knock at my door, shutting the dark thoughts out for the time being.

"Yeah?"

"Can I come in?"

I hear Maya's nonchalant tone.

"Yep." I answer.

Maya comes in and takes a seat at my desk. Her knee is bobbing up and down which is something I do whenever I get anxious.

"What's wrong?" I question.

"I just wanted to make sure you're gonna be okay for the search."

I can't help the quizzical expression plastered on my face.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Maya folds her arms.

"Because yesterday you seemed out of it after we got back to the dorm. And I know it has something to do with that note. I couldn't stop thinking about it last night. So is there something you wanna get off your chest? I promise I won't say anything to anyone."

Maya so desperately wants to know. Her body leans into mine as she waits for me to reply. And for a split second, I almost blurt everything out to her. But I can't. I want to but I need to find out more. I need to figure this out on my own.

I turn away from her shaking my head.

"Maya, I'm good. I promise. The note was nothing. Okay?"

"Alright." She lets out an exasperated sigh, but she leaves without another word.

Maya and I, along with about 10 other students, pile out of the shuttle bus. I initially thought that we were going to Smith Street but instead, the driver passed right by Smith and continued driving. We ended up at the entrance to the runner's trail. The trail is connected to a park. Parts of it are taped off.

The shuttle bus is the only form of transportation for students since there's not enough room for parking in this area. We're a part of the last group that's being dropped off. The search will start in 10 minutes.