Running for Life

Chapter 8

I wake up in the warmth of my bed expecting to see the morning sunlight, but all I see is darkness. I turn on my side and look at my clock. It says it's only 1:00. I still have five hours until I have to get up and get ready for school, but I don't know if I want to go back to sleep. That's a first. I never wish for morning to come faster. I get up and walk into my bathroom and turn the light on. Immediatly I see the lanky pale man from my vision and scream. I blink my eyes and he's gone. I turn the light off and get back in bed. Next thing I know, Adam is at the door kocking. He swings the door open and walks in before I say anything.
"You okay bud? I heard you scream and thought I should come see what's wrong." He sounds legitimatly concerned. So I tell him what happened just before. He comes and gets in bed with me as I tell him everything that's happened in the past few days that he hasn't been around for. I tell him about my dream with Taylor, how I told B about the vision before the fire, the car crash, the woman that I was strangely similar to, and finally the dream I just had. All the while he listens intently.
"Wow. You've had quite the past few days." He finally tells me when I'm done.
"Yeah... Its been a lot." I reply.
"I think tomorrow you should talk to B. He might not know, or maybe this was actually just a dream. Either way, it doesn't sound good. If it's a vision, maybe you can stop it. Maybe that's why you get these visions. Maybe you get them so that you can stop bad things from happening. Maybe they are visions of what the future would look like if you continued on the path you are on right now. I don't know though. I wish I could tell you, but we both know, you didn't come from me and Brian." He chuckles at the end, tussles my hair a little, gets out of my bed, and leaves the room. I love how he makes jokes about stuff like that. I love my family. We may be different, but I love it all. I love my dads more than anything else. Most people tell me their relationship is digusting and should not be displayed in public, but I don't care. I just tune those people out. I think my dads should be who they are. People can love who they want, and for them, that is each other. They have been together since, well, before me and never once have I seen their relationship faulter. Their love for each other gives me hope. Lately, I have been doubting Taylor and my relationship. It's been on edge ever since that night my house burned down. She's been really fidgety and I don't know why. I look over at my clock, it's says it's only 2:00, which can't be right. I have been thinking for what feels like hours. It didn't take that long to tell Adam my story I guess, and he left about thirty minutes ago, so maybe I have been thinking for a while. I'm supposed to wake up in two hours to get ready, but I really need sleep, so I close my eyes and wait for sleep to overcome me.

I jolt up and immediately think holy shit school starts in thirty minutes. Then I realize, it's only five o'clock. I fall back onto my back and lay there for a bit, while my alarm blares at me to wake up. I roll over on my stomach and hit the off button. I get up out of bed and groggily make my way over to the bathroom. I throw off my clothes and step into the shower. As I'm letting the warm water take me away from this world and into a world without pressure or worries, I think about my dream and how interesting it was. Dream B says he's one of me. Does that mean there are more people like me? Or was that just a dream? The weight of thinking feels like the weighted the work pressing on my back, so I stop thinking. I just let the hot water consume me and continue to burn my skin. I finish washing my hair and face and turn the water off opening the curtain into the rest of the bathroom. Adam is banging the door screaming at me to hurry up because it's now 5:45 and we need to get on he road by six since the summer place is a good hour from school. It takes me a while to find winter clothes and fix my hair, mostly because there's one small hair that does not like to follow the ways of every other hair, but I finally make it downstairs in time to grab a protein shake. Brian gives me a look of disappointment and Adam nudges his side with his elbow smiling at him. Brian leans over, pecks his lips, and then goes into their room.
Adam looks up at me and motions for me to hurry, "Come on Ty, your gonna be late if we don't get on the road now! I don't want your headmaster thinking we have done some snooping, which is exactly what we have been doing, so come on!" He chants those last two words over and over again as I rush around getting ready. I dump what I have into a to-go cup and get in the car, only to realize I don't have my phone. I jump out, run inside, and get back out to find Adam in the passenger side. He leans out and calls for me, "Ty, your sixteen, you need the hours for your permit!" I smile, even chuckle, because no one actually drives all the hours required to get their full license. They just right in different hours with different colored pens. Still, I'm excited to drive. The laws in Kentucky are that you have to be sixteen to get your permit, in other states, you get it at fifteen. I jump in the drivers side and speed out of true drive way, Adam bending over and protecting his head. This makes me laugh, because I know he trusts me with his life, especially after what happened the other day with Brian. I speed out of the neighborhood and scream down the highway to get to school. We slide in about five minutes early, which is normal for me, and everything looks just the same as every other day. I get out, wave goodbye to Adam, who climbs into the drivers seat, and walk into school. I find myself judging everyone I pass under the awning, walking up to the front door. Zyon, the gross-looking, edgy but flamboyant, annoying little brat, and his boyfriend are practically drowning each other with their tongues and it disturbs me and I don't try to hide it. Zyon pulls away, flipping his long fried purple hair out of his face as he looks up at me.
"Can I help you, Mr. Nohomo?" He snarks at me.
"Ah yes, I was just wondering, how can I learn to breath while I'm shoving someone else's tongue down my throat like you do?" I add a smile to the end and he rolls his eyes and grunts as he goes back to his make out game. A few steps later I see the same thing going on between the quarterback and captain of the cheer squad.
I turn back to him and yell, "And by the way," he turns to look at me, "this is just as gross as you two. I don't give a crap about your sexuality. I can't to be honest, I have two dads." Both he and the quarterback give me the finger. Ignoring this, I open the doors and walk into the mosh pit that is the commons.