Blair Tannen

Blair....

I look around, not able to find an exit. Panic sets in, and my breathing quickens. I'm going to die in here. I think. My hands thrash around the room, searching for something, anything to grab on to. It's so dark in here.  My eyes see nothing, it's pitch black. If there were some sort of light I'd be able to help myself. My chest tightens, and I feel more anxiety than before.

Finally, a door opens, revealing blinding light from the outside. I half laugh and cry in relief, finding hope in the bright light. I freeze as a dark figure stands in my way to freedom, it's calling my name.

"Blair......." It calls. The voice I hear is nothing like I've ever heard before, just the sound of it sends goosebumps crawling over my skin. "What do you want!?!" I scream at it. It only reaches a tangled limb out to me. As it's tendril-like fingers slide over my arms, I let out a moan of discomfort. It laughs evilly, before finally jumping on me.

"Blair!" My mom calls. I bolt out of bed from my nightmare, drenched in sweat. I hear my mom in the kitchen downstairs, making coffee. I sit on the edge of my bed and catch my breath. "Whew... What a nightmare." I say to myself. I gently hop off my bed and head over to my closet. Still frightened from my nightmare, I slowly open my closet door and peek inside to make sure there are only clothes inside. Once I know that it's safe, I open the door all the way and look at my clothes for choices.

Eventually I pick out my favorite outfit, which, thanks to my mom, has been washed since I wore it two days ago. I pull on the black leggings and tight pink long sleeve shirt. I pull my ginger hair into a tight ponytail and head downstairs after finding some socks.

"Good morning honey," my mom glances at me, "that outfit is so cute on you." She compliments for what has to be the millionth time. I roll my eyes and giggle, then I grab a muffin off of the stove. I nibble on the sides of the muffin while I pour myself a cup of coffee. I hear thudding coming from upstairs, and I know that my sister is up.

"Well, looks like the grizly is finally up!" I tease Kalista. She glares at me for a moment, then trudges up next to me, still in her pajamas. "Move over, I want coffee too." She nudges me and I move out of her way. I've learned in the past not to mess with my sister in the morning, I got lucky with calling her grizly. "Girls, your father said that he loves you and that tonight will be a long night for him. He's putting in some more overtime at work today." She smiles at us gently.

"He's been working a lot lately, hasn't he, mom?" I ask. She nods her head, and I look at Kalista, who's sipping coffee from her mug. "Well, I'd better get dressed if we don't wanna be late, huh?" Collin peeks his head out of his room. I smile warmly at him. "Yes, you butthead." He laughs then goes back into his room. Kalista follows his example and heads to her room to get dressed.

On the way to school.

"Blair. Blair. Blair. Blair! Blair! BLAIR!!!" Kalista yells in my ear. "WHAT!?!" I yell back. She sits back in her seat. "Are we almost there?" She asks innocently. My grip on the steering wheel tightens and I let out a long frustrated breath. "Yes, we're about 3 miles away from town." I reply icily. Collin grabs my right hand and holds it gently. I smile and loosen my grip a little. As we approach the edge of town, I can feel the car rocking due to Kalista bouncing in the back seat. I take the turn to the school parking lot and park my car, then we all get out.

"Baby, I was thinking... I want to take you out to the movies this weekend." Collin says to me sweetly. "I think that's an amazing idea!" I squeal. I hug him tightly, then we walk inside. Once inside, we head to our lockers to put our belongings away. After we finish, we head to the cafeteria for breakfast. I grab my tray, and wait in trepidation for what awaits my stomach.

Each stop is another horrific food. First, skim milk or 1%; second, cereal bars of three different flavors; third, a ghastly apple sauce that leaves a bitter aftertaste; and finally, a string cheese stick that may or may not be outdated. Kalista, Collin, and I pick our poison, then go and sit at our normal spot, the far back corner of the table in the lunch room.

"So what's on the agenda for today?" Mollie walks up to us, her belly swollen and plain to see. Mollie found out a few months ago that she is pregnant, she was scared at first, but now she's excited. I smile up at her. "Well, Mollie, we weren't planning on doing anything other than school work, but if you have an idea?" I say. She looks at me thoughtfully and nudges me in the arm with her elbow. "I was thinking maybe we could hangout at the park today?" She asks us.

"Did I hear something about a park?" Bahira and Jess walk up to us. Bahira is a beautiful pale skinned girl from New Mexico, you wouldn't know it from her complexion though. "Yeah, Molly asked us if we wanted to hangout." Kalista replies. Bahira looks pleadingly at all of us. "Can I come? And could we tell my mom and dad that I'm helping you guys with something?" She begs. We all laugh and tell her of course, she sits down and sighs with relief.

"Aren't you going to eat something, Jess?" I ask. He simply shakes his head no and tells me that he's not hungry. I shrug my shoulders and continue eating, I mean, I don't blame him. I thought that muffin I ate this morning would've been enough, but I guess not. Collin drinks his milk, but doesn't touch anything else. I decide that I'm finished and get up to dump, and the others follow behind me.

"Well, Bai, are you ready for first hour?" Bahira asks me. "Well yes, Baba, I am." She and I giggle at our pet names and head to class.