The Man in Your Dreams

Chapter 2

I awake with a rapid heart pulsing in my bony chest. My breathing is very labored and I'm drenched in sweat. Yet another nightmare about Him. I slide out of my cocoon of blankets and drag myself to my balcony to be calmed by the breeze. I sit in a love seat and gaze at the moon and the forest beyond my backyard. My nightgown leaves my skin exposed to the coolness of the night air.

I looked down at my phone, and see that it's 4:43 am, meaning there is still an hour and seventeen minutes before I have to get ready for school. I know there is no hope in trying to fall back asleep, and everyone else in my cold, large house is sound asleep. For once, I am left in my own company. That's not a luxury I am used to, due to the fact that I have four siblings running around my house. In my spare time, after finally calming down from my nightmare, I slowly make my way down the marble stairs and into the large kitchen to start breakfast for everyone.

Cooking is always my job, because I have a passion for food, and no one else in the house is able to make a decent meal. After brewing a pot of coffee and cooking bacon, eggs, sausage, toast, and chocolate chip pancakes, I hear one of my siblings come down stairs for breakfast.

"Damn, you're up early," my older brother remarks, "The food smells great though."

"Thanks Killian," I mumble, not used to my night-owl brother being so kind in the morning. Maybe he already smoked some weed before coming downstairs. He's only 11 months older than me, making us Irish twins.

My younger twin sisters, Rain and Skyler, come downstairs together, already arguing about what outfit they're going to wear today. They're identical twins and always matching.

"We wore pink yesterday. Why can't we just wear the black dresses we got last week?" Rain pleads.

"What, so we can look like we are going to a funeral after school? No wonder mom named you Rain. She must've known you were going to be the downer!"

As the bickering goes on, and we eat our breakfast, my other brother, Damien, silently walks down stairs. Without saying a word, he plops down at the table with dark, baggy eyes and slowly eats his breakfast. He's practically falling asleep at the table. This isn't unusual. Like Killian, Damien isn't a morning person at all.

After we wrap up breakfast and put our dishes in the dishwasher, we all go back to our rooms to prepare for school. As I look in my bathroom mirror, I'm reminded why my self confidence is so low. I hate my bulbous nose, and my chubby cheeks. Although I'm fairly thin, I have close to no cheekbones, and my eyebrows really need to be plucked. I go ahead and apply only mascara, as usual. My eyes are naturally blue, so there's no need for me to do anything else to my eyes. If I was any good at contour, I would create fake cheekbones, but unfortunately, makeup really isn't my forte. I take my dirty blonde hair out of the braid it was in all night to expose wonderful beachy waves. I throw on some jeans, and my favorite burgundy shirt. To complete the outfit, I put a black leather jacket over the top. Once I'm done, I walk across the hall to my twin sisters room, and open the door.

"Are you two almost ready? We have to go in 10 minutes," I warn them.

I see they've both settled for the black dresses that Rain suggested, although Skylar doesn't seem to thrilled.

"Yeah, we will be down in five," claimed Sky.

I always envied my sisters, they're both blondes with gleaming green eyes, and faces that don't need any makeup at all. Their faces have chiseled cheeks, a strong jawline, dark pink lips, and beautiful white teeth. They're the most popular girls in 8th grade at Monument middle school.