Dream Catch Me (Student/Teacher)

Dream Catch Me - Chapter Six

When I awoke the next morning to the shrill ringing of my alarm, I had that split second of pure bliss with the start of a new day picking up my mood. This was short lived as I stretched my arms above my head and the bruises along my stomach stretched, and my shoulder ached from where mother had kicked me the previous night.

Sighing heavily I dragged my feet from my bed and walked across to my wardrobe. Unlike every other morning, I didn't bother to open my windows, knowing I would get frostbite from the sleety showers outside. The below freezing temperatures already putting more of a downer on my day.

Knowing that I would have to face Mr. Lewis had me a nervous wreck as I got ready for school. His cocky and arrogant character was scary enough, but with the tattoo I spotted on his wrist, it almost confirmed my suspicions of him being a part of a gang. It was a snake design that swirled around his wrist like a bracelet with a foreign word snaking alongside the serpent. I couldn't quite make out the word, and I definitely wouldn't be able to translate it anyway.

I slowly and cautiously, not wanting to open the fresh cut on my side lifted my navy jumper with the snowflake pattern across the front over my head and slid into my black skinny jeans and converse.

Quickly, after noticing the time, I applied minimal concealer and mascara to look natural, then grabbed my backpack and put my kakhi jacket on. I tip-toed out of my room, walking down the hall and dodging the floorboards I know are squeaky and out the front door, being careful to avoid waking my mother on her day off.

Still being cautious I opened the front door and shut it quietly behind me. As I was walking down the steps and out the path from my house, my joints ached because of the absence of my warm-down last night. The sleet was falling at a horizontal angle and I trudged towards town. I glanced at my watch and saw something odd. It was only 5.30am?

Alex.

He must have changed my clock at some point, making me think I was getting up at the right time when in fact I would have been getting up.. 2. Hours. Early. It was lucky that I was a reasonably passive person, otherwise Alex should be scared. Ever since we were kids, he always played stupid pranks on me. Hand in warm water while I was sleeping, hair removal cream in my shampoo (that one was not the best when I was in my third year of schooling, baldy Jane), and the coke and mentos prank. What Alex doesn't know is that the pranks have just made me mre cautious. I can now dodge most of his pranks, with the exception of this time changing one. I trained myslef to become a light sleeper to know when he came into my room to plant his next evil trick.

I never confronted him about it but just observed so I could miss the pranks and learn for next time. He really wasn't the sharpest crayon in the container.

I was now in town, trailing the streets in the freezing weather searching for some kind of shelter and inspecting my burnt hand at the same time, it seems to be a bit better, but only time will heal it. I walked down the main street and past the side alleys and something caught my eye. Down 'Perch Alley' was a glow lighting the sidewalk and a sign that read 'Al's Coffe Shop' in a rustic neon coffee cup. I approached the shop, hoping for some sign that it was open.

The glass windows and door were covered in condensation, showing signs of warmth. Without thinking about it twice as I started to lose the feeling in all 10 of my fingers and toes I entered the small retro coffee shop.

Between the 1950s wallpaper and retro looking appliances, the coffee shop had a few customers, more than what I thought would be for just past 5.30 in the morning. A middle-aged man sat on a leather armchair sipping a cup of steaming coffee and enjoying a croisant, while a business woman in a matching suit sat in a booth also drinking coffee and talking on her phone. I scanned the rest of the customers, and many of which had their back to at the L-shaped counter.