Love & Carnage✗Noah Foster [2]

Chapter Three// Nightmares.

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"Piper is dead. That movie is over. Roll credits. Leave the freaking theatre!"

--Audrey Jensen

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I walked out of my house in a rush, towards my car. My brand new car, I should say. It was a Range Rover that my father had sent as a late--very late-- birthday present. But I knew it was just because of what happened with Piper. He felt bad. But I knew he was not about to show up in Lakewood. He found out that my mother had told me about the whole adoption thing. I couldn't imagine him facing me ever again. Even Katherine walked on eggshells around me, doing my chores, complimenting me over and over again. Sure, it was annoying. But the never-ending compliments never got old. And... my mother? Well, we haven't really talked about it. She's been trying, but I won't give her the time of day. Sure, I felt bad... but she'd lied to me for sixteen years. She could stand the silent treatment for a little bit longer. I got into the car and closed the car door behind me. I put the sun visor down and looked into the mirror, grabbing my lip gloss out of my purse. It's become a habit. I used to hate makeup. But Brooke had taught me how to put it on properly, and I just hadn't been able to stop. I stared up at myself as I applied it.

Did Noah hate me this way? With makeup on? My hair done? I took the lipstick away from my lips, and instantly threw it in the back seat. I used the back of my hand to wipe it off of my lips. My phone rang suddenly, making me jump. I sighed and grabbed my phone out of my backpack. "Hello?"

"Still got that new car smell?" Said a distorted voice. My heart skipped a beat as I heard that voice. But I just rolled my eyes, "whoever this is... you're not funny. Please don't call me again." I went to hang up when they spoke again. "Do you really think hanging up on me is going to do you any favors?" I glared down at my legs. This fuck-- "Hmm, will it do me any favors if I call the police and have them trace this number, only to find out that you're a twelve-year-old boy, who's Mommy didn't buy him the newest video game, so he decided to try and torture me instead?" I scoffed. "I like torturing you." He chuckled. "Oh, wow, not exactly enticing." I rolled my eyes. "Piper told me you were a toughie."

The mention of Piper made me shiver, but I kept up my front. "Okay, let me guess. Playstation? Ooh, no. Uh, Xbox, right? You sound like an Xbox kind of guy." I teased. "I'll let you have your jokes, Arielle. They might be the only thing you have left, before I gut you." With that, he hung up. I couldn't say I wasn't frightened. I mean, the voice alone was scary. But I was probably right about the whole twelve-year-old thing. "Asshole." I muttered to myself, flipping the visor back up. I began to start the car, when I noticed something. Was that... and air freshener? I grabbed the tree-shaped car freshener that hung in my car. Maybe my mom put it in here. 'Cause I don't remember it ever being in here... I felt something on the back of it, and I instantly turned it over. On the back was a piece of paper. "Hello, Arielle."

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Nope. Nope, nope, nope. I thought to myself as I rushed to class. Piper is dead. She was shot. In the fucking head. No way she could've survived that. Nope.

I rounded the corner, and ran to my Psych class. I thanked God as I saw that Ms. Lang wasn't even in the class yet. I spotted Noah immediately. He sat in his usual seat. In the front. He looked at me and then looked back down. I sighed and rushed towards my normal seat, that was filled. I raised an eyebrow at Zoë Vaughn, who sat there. Two seats behind Noah, right beside Emma. Emma was sitting in Brooke's usual spot, and Brooke sat beside Emma. "Oh, uh... Arielle, did you want me to move?" Zoë looked up at me, a small smile on her face, as she moved to get up. God, I hated Zoë Vaughn. She'd had a huge crush on Noah. And I'd just about had it with her and her low-key flirting whenever she was around him. "No, it's alright." I waved her off, walking to the only other empty seat in the room. Behind her. Beside a kid, who looked pretty concentrated, looking down at his tablet. He looked... pretty new. I'd never seen him before. "Hi." I said to him. He looked up from his tablet and put the tablet's pen down. He watched me with a curious expression. "I'm Arielle." I told him, urging him to actually talk to me. "Stavo." He said. He stared at me weirdly. Nobody's ever watched me the way he was right then. He was just leering at me. "Uh--Uhm, what are you doing?" I asked him, leaning on my hand, gesturing to his tablet. "Observing." He answered. Seems this dude didn't do sentences...

"You're new, right?" I asked. He nodded. "My father's originally from Lakewood, so... here I am." He shrugged. Oh, how nice. A sentence. I didn't speak, I just watched him a second. "What exactly are you observing?" I wondered aloud. "Just people." He glanced at his tablet screen. "I really like your hair." He told me. I blushed and I don't even know why. I grabbed hold of my long, strawberry-blonde hair. "Thank you." I replied. "Hey, Sigmund and Sigmunda Freuds!" Ms. Lang made her way into the classroom. "Anyway, did anyone enjoy their reading assignment?" She walked in the classroom, putting her bag on her desk. Of course, Noah raised his hand. The little teacher's pet. "Really? You liked it? I didn't." Ms. Lang smiled at Noah. I snickered. "I thought it was dull." Noah immediately let his hand drop. "I mean, mesocortical dopaminergic pathways are fine and good, but how does psychology relate to our living lives?" Ms Lang began to walk down my aisle. "That's what turns me on, and that's what I want to turn you guys onto." If I was being honest, I didn't even do the reading assignment... "Let's think outside the textbook. Emma! Good to have you back." Ms. Lang smiled at Emma. Emma uncomfortably shuffled in her chair. "What part of psychology would be helpful to you in your life?" She asked. "Uh... dream analysis?" Emma told her. "Excellent. Why do we dream? Why do dreams matter? Why would that psycho skill evolve with us--"

"Phantasmata and dreams help us process our leftover fear and anxiety. It's like the garbage disposal of the psyche." Zoë answered immediately. I rolled my eyes, which Stavo saw, making him smirk. "Nice, Zoë. Dreams are personal, right? So let's make it personal. How about what this town has been through?" Ms. Lang made her way towards Emma's desk. "Is it giving any of us nightmares? Scary but necessary." Emma looked uncomfortable again at Ms. Lang's words. Ms. Lang went back towards her desk. "We are churning through what holds us back."

"Just like A Nightmare on Elm Street." Noah chimed in. "Seriously, Noah?" Brooke scoffed. "A movie about a knife-fingered psycho slashing kids in their dreams? Is it necessary?"

"The only way for Nancy to face Freddy and learn the truth is through her nightmares." Noah told Brooke. "Scary but necessary." Zoë added. Noah turned in his chair to smile at her, which made me clench my fists. "But do we actually need horror movies like we need our dreams?" Ms. Lang asked. "They work the same way. Maybe that's why the dream motif is so constant." Noah said. I turned my head to Stavo. "And here he goes." I whispered, a little bit of pride in my voice. Yes, that was my boyfriend, the smartest kid in class. What a dork. Stavo raised an eyebrow, not knowing exactly what he was in for. "Movies like Dreamscape, Elm Street, Bad Dreams. Taking subconscious fears and externalizing them is what horror is all about. You go to the movies, it ends , and the lights come on, and everyone goes home, feeling better." Noah explained. Yeah... he lost me at Bad Dreams. "Or... they go home to the horror of their actual lives." Stavo said beside me. I frowned and looked at him again. I really wanted to know what was going on in that kid's head. "Now, this is the kind of dialogue I want us to be having. Let's continue on this. I want you all to start keeping a dream journal. Keep them by your bed." Lang stopped at Emma's desk again, and this time she placed a sticky note on her desk. "In case you want to talk through stuff." I heard her whisper. I felt eyes on me as Ms. Lang began to talk to us again. I turned and saw Stavo watching me again. But I wasn't scared... I was intrigued. As to why he found staring at me so damn interesting.

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