Flames {Book One: The Deadly Dream}

Part One: And You Think Your Life Is Weird?

About twenty people and I were in a forest, tall trees surrounding us. The smell of trees was kind of intoxicating. I had heavy armor on me, a bow and quiver in hand, waiting for an attack. I had no idea what we were looking for, but I had a feeling it was gonna be bad. Finally I saw it—giant black dogs and skeleton warriors holding dark black swords. But they didn't attack. Like they were waiting for something. For someone...

I woke up to my alarm blaring. My head hurt and I slammed my hand down on my alarm. I got up, just to fall to the ground on top of my art stuff, and the world was spinning. I sat there groaning and letting lose some of my favorite curses.

"Faren, are you up?" my mom called to me. I slowly got up, and shouted back.

"Yeah, I'm up," I said, picking up my origami paper.

"Well, you better hurry up, you don't want to be late for your last day of school!"

I sighed. Yay. School. I almost forgot about my English exam. I folded a piece of paper, turning it into a simple paper crane, instead of leaving it as a 2D boring piece of square paper. I always do origami when I'm stressed.

"Faren Quinn!" my mom shouted again, "if you're not getting ready, you'll miss breakfast!"

I gasped. I couldn't miss breakfast. My mom was cooking bacon!

I looked at my paper crane glumly. The paper made a satisfying crunch as I crushed it in my hand. Like my origami crane, my life was about to change, mostly for the worst.

It all started with another weird dream. When I say weird, I mean weird. You've had a dream about unicorns pooping out rainbows? Well I've had a dream about a grove of talking trees telling penguin jokes and discount offers for blenders. You've had a dream about pirates? Please, I've had a dream about a crew of seven on a flying ship with a dragon figurehead going to kill the earth or something. You've had a dream about a half whale-half zebra thing? That doesn't even come close to the dream I had about a giant person with a meatloaf like body with a face always changing, each one scarier and uglier than the last. I've had dreams from a blonde superman with a purple t-shirt to a bloody nose that started the apocalypse.

Most of these dreams hurt my head a little, others hurt my head a lot, like just to see it is sapping my strength. That hasn't been good for me lately. I've been having exams this past week, it being the end of the school year. FYI, studying is hard if your head hurts.

Today's was the last exam—english. The only problem with that is that I hate english. Having dyslexia, reading is hard for me. Believe me, I've tried, but reading hurts my brain almost as much as my dreams.

I looked in the mirror to see a guy with messy curly blonde hair and bloodshot blue eyes with dark circles under them. AKA—me.

I could be attractive, you know, after I cleaned up and combed my hair. Just about every girl in school wants to date me, but I don't date anybody.

I'm not popular with the boys. I don't do sports, and I don't have many friends because all the boys are jealous of me for having all the girls after me, yet I don't date a single one. If you're wondering why I don't date, it's because girls can be scary. Why should I date now anyways? I'm only in middle school!

I combed my hair, got on my school uniform and washed my face. I grabbed my backpack and went into the kitchen where my mom was making bacon. It smelled so good, my headache almost went away.

My mom is May Quinn. She works at the Lower Manhattan hospital and does her best to raise me and keep her job as a nurse. She's a single mom because my dad died in a car crash before I was born. I love my mom to the sun and back.

My mom met my dad after a major surgery where my mom helped saved a life. My mom and dad started talking and they fell in love.

"I hope you can find someone you love that much, Faren," she would tell me.

I hope I would find someone to love too. I mean, I don't want a bratty girl obsessed with makeup and is just about looks and all. I want someone a little shy, sweet and creative. Or at least...a good match for me. I've always believed in fate and destiny. I know that makes me sound like a Disney Princess, but I knew deep down that things happened for a reason. The people we meet have an impact on our lives, one way or another.

My mom looked up from her cooking. "How'd you sleep?" She gave me a dazzling smile.

"Fine. I slept fine," I lied.

My mom didn't look convinced, but she didn't ask anymore about it. I hadn't told my mom about my dreams, much less anyone else. I'd rather keep that to myself, rather than have my mom worry more about me. I grabbed some bacon and stuffed it into my mouth. It was crispy and tasty, just how bacon should be.

"Ready for the trip?" my mom asked, turning off the stove.

I nodded, my mouth full of bacon. My mom and I had been planning this trip for months. We would be going to the Caribbean. I wanted to go to Greece, but my mom strongly disagreed. So after school today, we would head to the Caribbean. I could ride the waves on my new surfboard, maybe even get a tan for once. I'd never gotten a tan, much less a sunburn. Even if it's a bright summer day and I'm not wearing sunscreen. That's another weird thing to add to your list of "Weird stuff that happens to Faren," if you are keeping track.

As soon as my mom and I finished chowing down on breakfast, we headed out of our apartment, and walked to the subway and hopped on. We sat in silence all the way to my stop, mainly because I was doing last minute studying, but I couldn't remember what I read about since my brain was pounding against my skull, making it too hard to read as the words seemed to float off the page. My mom had to tell me it was my stop.

"Have a good day!" she exclaimed as she waved goodbye.

"Bye!" I waved back as I shouldered my backpack and started walking. Hopefully the exam questions wouldn't be too hard.

Looking back, I wish I had said something better than "Bye!" because little did I know, we would not be going on that trip to the Caribbean.