Begin Again

DAY OF THE MOON

25th November, Monday. 

He was walking home from school, when his feet stepped on something soft. The ground trembled and broke apart to reveal a wide never-ending cliff, rocks falling in without the sound of echoes. There were screams around him, and it took him a while to realize that they were his own. A force tugged onto the hem of his shirt and pulled him forcefully  into the darkness, where the last thing he could see in the light was his father's merciless black eyes. The rest of it was darkness. 

He fell into what seemed like forever, landing with a soft thump but his back ached. There was something about the darkness surrounding him, as if it was alive and breathing. There were shadows moving, and there was the sound of a heart beating, contracting to suffocate him with the darkness. There was less oxygen every minute, and he could feel himself gasping for air. 

With a loud bang out of nowhere, he felt a pain in his chest, and when he looked down, all he saw was blood oozing out from the place where his heart should be. He tried to run, but his feet were chained with metal, and he felt himself sinking into water, maybe it was the ocean, for it felt like infinity. Water filled up his lungs, limiting the space left for air, he was drowning. With the last blink, his eyelids were too heavy and drooped down to close his eyes.

Goodbye. The last word that came into his mind. 

Delano woke up with a soft scream, his jersey soaked in his sweat, as he opened his eyes and looked around frantically while searching for the wound in his chest. Moments later, after the outline of the furniture in his room slowly came into vision, he exhaled with relief. It was the first time he had a dream in months, and it scared him that he had dreamed about his own death. 

He scurried to the bathroom to freshen up, his face was decorated with tiny droplets of cold sweat, it looked as if he had just went for a jog. He splashed some water onto his face, mumbling under his breath to tell himself to wake up. 

Before class. 

'Earth to Del,' Fletcher waved his hand exaggeratedly in front of Delano's face, and the latter suddenly broke his gaze from the floor.

'Is the floor dirty?' Sydney asked when she put down her books on the table. 

Delano shook his head, pressing in his temples to remove his headache. 

'What were you up to last night?' Zeke prompted, raising his eyebrows a few times and smiled cheekily. 

'Nothing much, just a nightmare.' Delano said, and shrugged off the bored glances. He would have told them about the mysterious girl he had been seeing for the past two nights whom he only knew her name, but he decided not to risk his little secret being turned into a gossip. 

'Del, interested in the drama club? A friend told me that you are invited,' Piper said suddenly, her voice was soft and kind, the type of melodious voice that would miraculously bring peace.She had been in the drama club since she started high school.

'But it's already the last year of high school,' Delano thought out loud. 

'Apparently Brooklyn Vickerman wants you on her team for the graduation play,' Sydney explained, rolling her eyes at the mention on the other girl's name.

'Who's Brooklyn?' 

'Head cheerleader, President of Drama Club, and every guy's dream girlfriend,' Zeke said dreamily, his mind drifting off to picture Brooklyn's pretty face smiling at him.

'BUT not my type,' Fletcher protested, his tone uninterested. 

'It's up to you, but I really think you should give it a go,' Zeke encouraged, his eyes full of envy. 'Brooklyn never gives out invites, people usually toss themselves at the auditions and come home crying.' 

Delano had the rest of the day to think about the offer, and in the end, he decided to give the school theatre a visit. He bumped into a few students on the way and managed to find the entrance a few minutes before the session started.

He slipped half of his head through the door to get a quick peep, and was immediately mesmerized by the large stage which stood at the other end of the theatre. He pushed the door, making a sound as the hinges were a bit old, and came to his senses when all eyes were on him. Awkwardly, he made his way down the stairs, trying to ignore the stares and whispers. 

'Delano Cadieux?' A female voice was heard from the back of the stage. Delano followed it and soon found himself staring at one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen. She had silky walnut-brown hair with blonde highlights flowing in the wind of the fan, her round brown eyes attempting to hide her enthusiasm. 

Delano nodded. 'Brooklyn, I guess?' 

'So you've heard about me.' She let out a soft laugh. 'And you must know that you are the first person that got an exclusive invite from me to join the club.' 

She introduced him briefly to the rest of the members, before leaving him to talk with Piper, who was standing at one corner while reading a classic Shakespeare novel. Brooklyn went up on stage and told them about the characters in the upcoming play, which would commence before graduation day. 

'Guess you're just in time, it's the first day of practice for our last play in high school,' Piper explained, while jotting down everyone's parts. 

'Del, Brooklyn just called your name,' Piper hit him gently with her elbow, and Delano realized that he had been dozing off for a few minutes due to his lack of sleep. He stumbled up the stairs, managing to shrug off the tired feeling that has been bothering him the whole morning.

'... will be playing Troy,' Brooklyn finished off her sentence, and turned around suddenly to give Delano a quick peck on his cheek, which caught everyone off by surprise. There was a wave of mumbles across the theatre, which was ended by Brooklyn as she clapped her hands twice, loud enough for everyone to look up at her again. 

'I guess that's enough news for everyone today, we'll begin practice next Monday,' she said, while flicking her hair back before walking down the stage. Delano followed after her, with wide-eyed surprise, he haven't recovered from the little surprise back there on stage.

'Did she just kiss you?' Piper stared, amused and a little shocked at the same time, waiting for Delano at the bottom of the stairs with her hands clasping together.

'I-I guess, it was just on my cheek,' Delano staggered as he almost missed the last step. 'I think she didn't mean anything.' And he walked out of the theatre with Piper, giving her the don't-remind-me-what-happened-back-there sign. 

'Brooklyn has a boyfriend,' Fletcher said, his eyes full of disbelief, when Piper filled them in with the details, despite Delano's continuous protest. 'Looks like you're her next target.' 

'Man, I'm so jealous right now,' Zeke exclaimed, covering half of his face with both of his palms. 'I would do anything just to get her to kiss my cheek.'

'Does the whole school know about this?' Delano finally said annoyingly, his brows frowning.

'Apparently, yes.' Sydney shrugged. 'It was no big deal, everything Brooklyn says or does, becomes a trend.'

Delano shivered a little, thinking about how he had ended up being the largest gossip in school in just a week's time.

'Wouldn't her boyfriend be mad?' he asked. 

'Yes,' A voice emerged from behind them, and Delano found it familiar. 

'He's very angry. At you.' Delano turned back, his eyes flickering to look at the muscular guy standing less than a feet away from his face. Those facial features were charming, but Delano could feel the rage burning behind those light grey eyes. 

Only two words came to his mind.

Austin Santora.