It's In the Dark

Chapter 3: Is This What You Meant?: Courtney

It was nice seeing everyone so carefree and laughing with one another. After seeing Riley so shaken up like she was this morning, I was a little afraid for her. The story definitely scared me, but the longer the day went on, the more I put it in the back of my mind as just a nightmare that she may have had. At least that's what I needed to tell myself. "Ugh, Riley, why'd you have to tell me all that." I whispered, pulling at the roots of my hair. We had just left Riley's house, and everyone was about to go their separate ways when I decided to ask:

"So, what do you guys think of Riley's story?" Think it's real?"

"Well I don't really think she's lying, but I don't know," answered Brandon.

"I think it was just a nightmare," chimed in Victoria. "Sometimes they can feel crazy real."

"That's right!" I said suddenly remembering a dream I'd had recently. "I remember I had this dream the other day, that I was falling from a cliff. And then I fell out of my bed!"

"Pfft, that's just like you Courtney," Laughed Victoria. I pushed out my lip pouting.

"Seriously though, what do you guys think about that scratch, crazy right?" said Brandon.

"Yeah, maybe she fell out of bed and hit her head or something," said Josh, finally deciding to add something to the conversation.

"It's not always from falling out of bed idiot," replied Victoria

"Then maybe she thought there was a bug on her neck, then went to smash it, and then *SCRATCH*" laughed Josh, making scratching sound effects with the zipper of his bookbag.

"Ugh." groaned Victoria.

"Ew, smashing a bug against your own neck?" I said, the disgust plain as day on my face.

"Well, you never know," Laughed Brandon.

We reached my house first and I was thankful I didn't have to walk there alone. While we were walking, I was able to joke about the situation, but in reality, I was kind of scared. "Ok this is my stop," I said as I walked up the sidewalk leading to my front door. "Thank you for riding the Joshua Smith express, we aim to please, please tip the conductor." Josh joked, reaching a hand out to me like I would actually give him money. "Sorry, the service sucked," I laughed, pushing his hand away. I waved goodbye to all my friends as I opened and closed the door behind me, A wry smile on my lips. "Mom! Dad! You guys! I'm home!" I rang out. I walked into the den and found them all watching a movie. I lived with both my parents and had two siblings, an older brother Anthony, and a younger sister Ciara. We were all close knit. Ciara and I even shared a room. Luckily, my family was big enough that I was never alone, and since I shared a room, I didn't sleep alone, although we slept in separate beds. I usually hate the fact of having a clingy little sister, but after the stories I've heard today, I may even ask if she wanted to sleep with me-- nah, I'm not going that far.

I dropped my bags in my room and saddled up on the couch to join in on the movie. It was halfway over, and I had no clue what was going on, but the family atmosphere was nice. It was a comedy so there was lots of laughter. Thankfully, even when you start midway into a comedy, things that are funny are still funny, even when you don't know the context. After a while, my thoughts started to blend together, and my eyes began to feel heavy. I hadn't realized how tired I was until I finally sat down. "Hey," I felt a cool hand brush across my face, my eyes eased open, "movie's over, go sleep in your bed." My eyes met my mother's with a smile. I groaned and sat up. I made sure not to make any rash movements, "I'm at peak sleepiness," I thought to myself. "don't bump anything, don't even open your eyes too wide." Any quick movements or drastic light changes could disrupt this peace. As my body was right now, I could collapse into my sheets and have the best sleep of my life... yeah that sounded nice. I groggily walked up to the edge of my bed and lifted the covers, "success!" a small grin pierced my lips. "COURTNEY!" The booming sound of my own name threatened to shatter my serenity. "Maybe if I don't respond she'll think I'm asleep and leave me be" I thought to myself as I gently placed my body inside the covers. "Don't forget to shower." my mother's voice rang out this time from directly in the doorway of my bedroom. I looked on as she smiled at me. This smile looked slightly less sweet, compared to the one from a few minutes ago. "Ugh." I groaned as I led myself to the bathroom.