Dark Dreams (COMPLETED)

Follow me

Of all the people I expected to see in a small Jamaican music store, Jay Bradford was certainly not at the top of the list.

"Sarah?" he asked, frowning.

He looked different from normal. The blue and white tracksuit of the soccer team, in addition to highlighting his lean, well-defined calves, gave him the air of a professional athlete. First indie singer, now soccer player too. Life should stop smiling on the same people and focus on those who'd been thrown on the scrap heap, like me. Thank God my contact lenses were bimonthly; at least he wouldn't see me with those stupid glasses on.

"What are you doing here?" he continued, bringing me back to the present.

"I work here," I said, spreading my palms as if to say it was not my fault.

"Since when? I come here often and I've never seen you."

"Well, today is my first day."

"Welcome to Chillz, then. It's a bit of a second home for me since I buy all the stuff for my band from Blaze."

Jay was damn polite.

He had never said a word to me before that famous Latin class and I didn't understand why he continued to do so. Not that I was sorry, but could I trust him?

The very idea that it could have been him who took advantage of me made me shudder.

"I didn't know you were in a band," I said, trying to exonerate him from my doubts.

"There's a lot you don't know about me."

He smiled, running his hands through his hair. I wanted to touch it too. What a stupid thought.

"The material is ready in the back" intervened Blaze between drags of his roll-up cigarette.

"Well, see you," said Jay, showing two beautiful dimples on the sides of his cheeks.

"Wait," I said, grabbing his arm. I let go of him as soon as I realized the stupidity of what I had just done. "I have to ask you something."

He put his duffel bag down on the ground, anticipating a long talk.

"The other night, did you see me go to a second-floor room with someone?" I asked in a single breath.

He shook his head.

I was sure he suspected what had happened to me.

"Look," I said, taking Chastity's camera out of my bag. "I found it in the woods," I explained, handing it to him. "It's broken. I want to know if there is any way to recover the photos inside. The camera was in the hands of almost everyone invited to the party and maybe... she took some pictures that could show me who I was with."

"You don't understand much about technology..." he said, turning the camera over in his hands, "do you?"

"No, actually. I got my first phone a few days ago and I don't even have a computer at home," I replied, a little embarrassed. I hated that my economic situation spilled out into every conversation.

"But is it written all over my face? That I'm not an IT whizz, I mean."

"No, don't worry. There are no words on your face," he smiled. He took a tiny black card out of the side of the camera. "Nowadays, photos aren't lost if the screen breaks. All the photos are saved in the external memory."

"Ah, okay," I said, moving clumsily. "I'm such an idiot."

"Based on your grades, you're anything but stupid," he said, flashing me a row of glimmering teeth.

I got a pang in my stomach and felt nervous for no apparent reason.

"Do you know where to go?" he asked.

"Go? Go where?" I asked, not digesting more than one word.

I had to try and calm down.

"To look at the pictures," he replied. "You said you don't have a computer."

"Oh, of course. I mean, of course I don't know where to go. So, no. The answer to your question is: no." Once again, I was talking like a machine. I tried to save our conversation. "I want to print the photos. Do you know a place where they ask, um, less than a dollar?"

He smiled, a little embarrassed.

"To be honest, it costs a lot more," he said, biting his lower lip. "If you want you can come to mine. It'll only take a few minutes with my new printer."

I blinked at an inhuman speed as I stared at him like a coot. I frowned and squinted, analyzing what had just happened. A myriad of questions ran through my mind: Was he kidding? Why would he invite me, Sarah Bloom, also known as Girl Nobody, to his house, home to the famous Bradford family?

"Do you feel okay? You've gone all pale" he asked, looking at me worriedly.

I almost choked on my saliva. Perfect. Making sounds worse than a crazy chicken was the only thing missing.

"I'd love to, but since yesterday my mom controls my every move," I said after I'd regained control of my body. "She'll definitely have arranged for Blaze to send her a message as soon as I set foot out the store."

"You bet," said Blaze, who without our knowledge was eavesdropping on our conversation. "Your mother threatened to cut off my family jewels if I lied to her."

"Wait here," said Jay, before heading to the counter.

He said something in a low voice to Blaze, who, after making the face of someone who's seen a ghost, nodded.

"Come on," said Jay, opening the door.

"But Blaze? I can't let my mom find out," I said, once we were out of the store.

"Don't worry. He's going to tell your mom that he needed you for two extra hours," said Jay, satisfied.

"How did you do it?" I asked, putting on my sweatshirt: strictly black, in line with my mourning clothes.

"I know things about him that could ruin him," he said, shrugging.

"Well, thank you," I said, looking away.

"There's no need. Follow me, I parked a few yards from here," he said. "Oh, I prefer you with the braid. Yesterday wasn't you."

I touched my braid, watching him walking ahead of me. Strange that Dick, his best friend, had told me the opposite, untying my hair. But even stranger was that Jay had noticed my hairstyle.