Jenalyn: From the Inside (#3) [Complete]

Chapter 65: Hayden

Thursday, 9:48 P.M. EST

“Hayden, wake up!” 

I’m pulled from a sleep I wasn’t aware I'd fallen into with confusion. 

That dream seemed so real…

“They’re distributing meds now,” Ryan says. “You have to get up. You guys aren’t allowed to be in here during the movies, remember?” 

I didn’t know it was Ryan until I opened my eyes to see him crouched down beside my bed staring at me. 

I must look frightened because he’s quick to blurt an apology. 

“I’m sorry-“ he whispers, “I just don’t want you guys getting in trouble. You have to get up…” 

I can barely process anything other than the all-too-real dream still lingering in my mind. “You guys?” I ask, confusion clear in my voice.

I’m not sure why it’s the only thing I caught in what he said, but Ty’s face as he told me he’d really like to kiss me sober is distracting me.

I remember that night so clearly, despite how drunk we all were. I didn’t think too much about what Ty said to me; I was a little too hung up on what he did to me. But now? I can’t stop it from haunting my mind.

Ryan leans to the side, clearing my view of Ren’s bed where she lay facing the wall. 

“I’ve got to wake her up too,” he whispers after a second. “I wanted to wake you first to make sure you remember our… date later.” 

Date?

Oh, my break. That’s right… he “has something for me.” 

“Oh, yeah,” I say, still trying to shake Ty from my mind. I pull myself up onto my elbows and rub my still sleepy eyes. “Eleven o'clock, right?” 

Ryan nods and stands to his feet to remind me about my meds again, this time out loud to shake the sneaky vibe our whispering left lingering in the air. He walks to Ren’s bed to proceed and wake her next.

I let out a small sigh as I pull myself from the mattress so I can go pretend to take these meds. My dream/memory of that night with Ty is still so vivid in my mind I can almost feel his hands as he found me.

I try to shove it from my mind.

I don’t want to think about it. I don’t want to feel it. I don’t want any of it…