Dreams We Had

Chapter Two - Kayden Akita

My eyes shot open as the piercingly loud sound of my phone ringing filled the room. I groaned, rolling over and ripping it off the charger in one fluid motion.

"Yeah?" I answered in a groggy tone, still half asleep and not totally with it. As I spoke, I stretched my legs out and kicked the blanket that was draped over my pajama-clad body to the floor. My vision was hazy and my eyelids felt heavy. It was almost impossible to keep them open for more than a few seconds. I stared up at the ceiling, tracing each paint line with my eyes in an attempt to distract myself from the nagging tired feeling that filled my body. I wasn't the normal kind of tired. I was the kind of tired that makes your body feel completely numb. I think the proper term for it is dead.

"You fell back asleep, didn't you?" Kian asked through the phone in a slightly amused voice. I exhaled hard in exhaustion. His voice was strong and smooth with a bright, melodic sound. Every word he spoke sounded perfectly placed and rehearsed. I rolled onto my stomach, looking at the clock. It was five in the afternoon. Crap! It's late. I actually have to get up. I let out another long, hard sigh.

"Holy shit! I did."

"Dude. It's totally fine. There's no rush. It can wait if you're that tired. You need the sleep." He replied in a motherly tone. 

"No. I need to get up now anyway or I won't be able to sleep tonight. I'll see you in a little bit..."

"See you in a little bit. Love you."

I said I loved him back and hung up the phone. I took a deep breath before sitting up and looking around the room. The late afternoon sun peeked through a crack in the curtains and a thin band of light radiated across the room, splitting it in half.

I sat there for a while trying to convince myself to get up. It wasn't that I didn't want to get up. It was that no matter how hard I tried my body wouldn't cooperate. Once I felt awake enough, I stumbled out of bed and down the hall to the bathroom and slowly maneuvered myself into the shower, turning it on and standing under the cold stream of water thinking "ugh, I'm so tired" over and over. As I stepped out, my warm foot hit the cold linoleum floor with a smack. I stood there shivering as I struggled to grab a towel. I walked back to my room and sat down on my bed, exhaling as I slipped a dark grey graphic tee over my head, then boxers, and a pair of black ripped jeans. I stood up, grabbed my phone, wallet, and keys off the nightstand and walked to the door, shutting it as I stepped into the hall.

I slowly crept up the short flight of stairs that led into the living room where my father was sitting on the couch watching TV. I entered the kitchen and grabbed a Pop Tart from the cupboard then shuffled into the dining room. As I pulled out chair and sat down, my father turned around for a split second just to see who was there. His stare was cold and emotionless, He was thin and boney, but if provoked could literally snap a man in two. His lips were thin like paper, his eyes bulged out of his head slightly, and his eyebrows curved downwards giving him an evil-like look. 

"Oh. It's You..." He mumbled calmly, turning back around and taking a swig of vodka straight out of the bottle "What were you doing last night? Because you came home ungodly late, you're toying with my trust again Kayden."

"I worked overtime last night." I explained as struggled to open the packaging of the strawberry flavored pastry I was holding.

"Mmhmm."

 I could have said anything in the world and he wouldn't have believed me. He always assumed that I was lying because I, in his opinion, was the biggest disappointment to enter his life. It's like fighting a battle you know you'll never win. He didn't like me, and I didn't necessarily like him. I know you aren't supposed to hate the person who gave you life, but under extenuating circumstances, it's valid.He stopped loving me May of my sophomore year. I came home from school one day to find him sitting on my bed, beyond furious. His anger was so strong that from the moment I entered the house I knew something was up. I just assumed he was on another alcohol-induced rage, so I crept down the hall to my room as quietly as I possibly could.