Assisting Miss Adams (GirlxGirl) NEW VERSION

Six

Heat. My skin was on fire. God, what was going on? Why was I sweating so much? I gasped for air through the dark as my eyes struggled to open. Where was I?

"Sam? Sam, wake up," a soft voice came. It was soft enough to calm me down.

That's when my bedside lamp flickered on, Megan's sleepy silhouette accompanied me in my room. I wanted to muster up a few words and then tell her to get the hell out but she looked startled. What exactly had happened?

"W-What...?"

I noticed her breathing was heavy. "You were screaming... You kept saying stop like... I thought someone... but it was just a bad dream."

Shit. Another bad dream. I didn't remember this one. What else had I said? What else did she know?

I looked at her hand that was on my shoulder. She pulled it back with haste. "Are you okay?"

My eyes couldn't meet hers. "Yeah, I'm fine."

She didn't seem convinced but there was nothing else to say. This was the second time she had witnessed the dreadful nightmares that seemed to be making a comeback. I wondered what she was thinking but was too afraid to ask.

"Okay." She stood from my bed. "Go back to sleep then. We have to be up in a few hours."

I looked at my clock and realized it was four in the morning. All I could do was nod.

She gave me one last look before closing the door behind her, letting me know I could go back to sleep.

But I couldn't. Not with this deep sense of dread bubbling in my stomach. And no matter how much I tossed and turned sleep was nowhere to be found. The nightmares had scared it away.

And before I knew it I heard Megan walking back downstairs to ready for the softball work day. I had spent the last three hours red-eyed and mentally exhausted, but now it was time to get up.

But I wasn't ready to face Megan. I wasn't ready to explain myself.

I pulled myself out of bed and changed, and then locked myself in the bathroom. I could hear her in the kitchen, probably fixing coffee and something to eat. God, I knew she was going to bring it up. I knew she was going to ask and it made me sick.

She knocked on the door. "Hey, I'm leaving a bit early. There's coffee and French toast. Don't be late."

Then the front door closed, signaling I was alone again.

* * *

It was one thing to have everyone in the same vicinity hate you, but it was another thing when you couldn't leave. That's how I felt right about now as most of the softball girls were annoyed with me for taking down their fence. As if I had done that on purpose!

The only one I knew who wouldn't be mad at me was Emma, but considering I had avoided her for the past week I wasn't one hundred percent about that.

"Hey," someone spoke behind me.

I turned to see Emma herself. "Oh, hey."

"No one hates you. They're just annoyed that we have to rebuild this fence."

"I'll take that as the same thing."

She started to walk and I followed. "So, I haven't seen you in a while. I'm starting to think you're avoiding me."

Crap. Play it off. "Yeah, well, I could say the same thing about you."

In all honesty, I believed we were both avoiding each other after the dance. Not because it had been awkward or anything, but because that night at Eric's party something had changed between us, all due to Emma.