Dark or Light?

Chapter 3

I look around the room in a panic with my eyes full of tears. “Gemma? Elane?”

            Where are they? I get up and head for the door. I choke back the tears that are about to flow out of my eyes before I open the door. It was just a dream. None of that really happened. There is no Henry or Neil. I never woke up in Aiden’s arms. I never turned away from his kiss. There never was a kiss to turn away from. We never showed the guys around town. Aiden never caught me holding Henry’s hand. It was all part of my imagination.

            I know it was, but the weird thing is, I can still feel the heat throughout my body from Henry’s touch. That must be my imagination, too. I brush it off and head downstairs. Gemma and Elane are sitting on the couch watching a video and Aunt Terra is on the computer talking to Daisy who’s in the kitchen making breakfast.

            “Morning, Beautiful.”

            My mind automatically goes to the beginning of my dream. Aiden said that to me when I woke up in his arms. No! Stop thinking about something that never happened. It was just a dream. Aunt Terra is the one that said it in reality.

            I force a smile. “Morning, Aunt Terra.”

            She picks up on the fact that my smile was forced. “What’s the matter, Hon?”

            “Nothing.”

            “Are you sure? It seems like something’s bugging you.”

            “Nope. It’s nothing.” I sit down on the couch next to Gemma and watch the rest of the video with them. The rest of the day goes by normally. I never bring up the dream, but I never stop thinking about it, either. The only time I stop thinking about it is when I realize I have 2 weeks until school starts. 2 weeks until I get to sit in rooms full of people I can’t stand and 2 weeks until I have to see Aiden and have to deal with the pain that comes with him.

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I wake up in my bed. I check my phone. 4 texts. 1 from Gemma, 1 from Elane, and 2 from Aiden. I check Gemma’s first.

            “Are you okay? After we ran into Aiden at the ice cream place you kind of ran off.”

            I did? I just ran off without saying a word? I don’t know what happened after I woke up. Next, I check the text from Elane.

            “Did you make it home, alright?”

            Obviously, I did. Last, I check Aiden’s texts.

            “We need to talk.”

            “Call me, now.”

            I really don’t want to talk about anything, but I know I need to call him. I text Gemma and Elane back, first.

            “Yeah. I’m fine. Thanks for asking. What happened after I left?”

            I don’t wait for them to text back. I take a deep breath and call Aiden. He answers.

            “Hello?”

            “Hi. You wanted me to call.” My voice is shaking.

            “Yeah. We need to talk about yesterday. Who was that guy?”