Dust ✔️

Chapter Eight -- Cerebration

Chapter Eight -- Cerebration

I can feel my body flailing upwards, my arms reaching towards the top. But, my ankles have cylinder blocks tied to them, so I remain at the very bottom of the ocean. Unseen, unheard of, no thought of mind.

That's when her face appears in front of mine, her image swaying in the clear waters. She looks like an angel, her immaculate features wavering next to my damaged, defiled body. Her eyes match the colour of the ocean, making them almost transparent in the splashing waters underneath. Staring into them, I can feel my body relax and float, completely at peace.

My eyes fluttered open and the feeling of choking overtook my body. I realized that it wasn't water that I was feeling, but rather a pool of my own sweat from yet again another nightmare.

I beat my alarm clock by about seven minutes, which was something I was quite used to doing nowadays, having been on a schedule back in Florida. I got up and walked to my shower to get ready for the day ahead. All memories of my dreams started to fade away, except for the familiar face that kept me company just as I was about to die.

Frustrated, I exited my shower and put on a pair of worn out, faded black jeans and left my room to walk out to the balcony, where my smokes were resting. I put my shirt on as I exited the house and grabbed my keys, in a rush to get to work.

I wasn't even paying much attention when Tony started a conversation with me a while ago.

"...So then after the seventh phone call, she finally answered." Tony said me with a grin but it never met his eyes - pure sadness.

"What'd she say?" I asked, looking away from him and focusing back on the car we were both working on.

Tony sighed and dropped his tools, kicking them away from him before leaning on the car's bumper. "She was mad at first, asking why I won't stop calling."

I rose an eyebrow to myself. "Maybe you should just accept defeat, Tony," I said with a little force in my throat because I was too preoccupied with getting a job done properly rather than gossiping.

"She told me that she wants someone who has their shit together. Someone who doesn't party everyday and has the drive to make something of themselves." He frowned.

"You could do that if you tried," I commented. I hadn't known why I even bothered to comment such a lie. Tony was too far deep and he'd never pull his life together.

"She already has a new boyfriend..." He mumbled.

I looked up at Tony and watched as he drew squiggles on the side of the car, out of the piled up dust.

I turned back to the car and continued working on it, by myself. "Ah, well." I said finally. "You'll find another," I prompted. "Always do."

Over the last month or so, I had managed to remain fairly sane at work and not letting myself fall into any bad decisions. Tony and I hadn't gone out hard since our big night, but when we did go out, I made sure it was in a setting that I wouldn't be stuck in.

I hadn't even gotten into a single fight yet.

Tony and I finished our job and made our way to the picnic table outside the shop. It was incredibly hot outside and I already had a strong regret choosing this location to sip anxiously on my water.

"So how's life back at Morgan's place?" Tony piped up.

I didn't know how to describe how living there is. It was odd. I liked being there, and being around my friends and being somewhat myself.

But it didn't help the paranoia.

Aria's face suddenly appeared in my thoughts.

Since having a conversation with her, a real one that is - She and I have been decent towards each other. I wouldn't say we're best friends or even friends at all but I actually stuck around while she was over and listened in on conversations. My first impression of her was damn wrong. I thought for sure she'd be a prissy girl from a pretty neighborhood but she's different.