Set Free

Set Free Chapter Two

Chapter Two

  My classes that day went by swiftly, but I didn't really notice. I was barely paying attention. I mean, I wanted to die anyway, so what was the point of school? I figured I might succeed in killing myself sooner or later. And all I could think about was you know who. I don't like mentioning his name out loud, just so you know. It kind of does something to me, and worsens the pain, if that's even a possibility.

  Hours later, lunch period finally came around, and I was starving. I walked into the cafeteria and then immediately made a disgusted face. Couples were EVERYWHERE I looked. How the heck could I stand eating in here? I anxiously searched for a vacant table in the back of the cafeteria, and when I spotted one, I quickly headed to it. By then I had noticed just how utterly loud it was in there, and I was praising myself for remembering to bring my precious iPod packed with loads of my favorite music so I could drown out all the noisy people surrounding me. Maybe it would suffice to help me ignore them all.

And it was working fine to drown them all out.

All but one.

  It seemed like as soon as I sat down he appeared. I was just about to save my poor stomach from killing me with hunger when the guy who had knocked me down this morning slid into the seat beside me.

I looked over at him, a harsh glare more than obvious on my face.

Great, I thought. As if this day wasn't bad enough.

"Hey," he said, "My name's Nick Carter, I'm the,  uh, the guy who knocked you over this morning. And again, sorry about that. That happening to you on your first day must really suck." He grinned.

"Yep." I said curtly, not looking at him. I was hoping he would get the picture that he wasn't welcome at what I'd hoped would be my own table. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to get it.

 "So it's Amber, right? Amber.....?" he said, clearly asking for my last name.

"Davidson." I replied, thoroughly annoyed that this guy had the nerves to try to talk to me even though I was sure I'd made it  fairly clear that I wasn't at all interested.

"So....I came over here because I saw you come in and I decided to come over and introduce myself and....uh, y'know, apologize again." he said sheepishly.

I remained silent.

"Well, I thought I could be your first new friend here. Where'd you move from? Or did you just switch schools?" he asked.

Sometimes ignoring someone just isn't enough these days.

I sighed before I said sarcastically, "Look, Nick, I'm sure you're a real nice guy and all, but I don't want any friends right now. So I'd really appreciate it if you could leave me alone now. If I didn't make it clear enough already, you're really bothering me." I put emphasis into both 'really's to try to get him to understand. But somehow, it was a lost cause...

  Silence replied to my comment. After no response was made, I looked over at Nick, expecting to see him looking taken aback right about now from my harsh words. So when I looked,  I was kind of surprised at what she saw. It was nothing like what I had expected of him. He had a soft, gentle smile tugging at the corners of his lips, and he didn't seem offended in the least.

What is wrong with this guy? I wondered. Is he mentally retarded?

  Then he began to speak again, bringing me abruptly back from my wondering.

"Sure." Nick said, "I think I get what you mean. See you later."

And with that, he silently rose from his seat, the soft smile still on his face plain as day.

He left me staring after him, stunned. For the first time.

                                                                                 ..................

   I walked along the beach, going nowhere in particular. I gazed out at the ocean, the sky. They were both so familiar, yet so different at the same time. It felt like I'd been here for hours, but at the same time it only felt like a moment. The scenery was unchanging, constant. Just me and nature. Really quiet, and peaceful.

  Then suddenly, as I was glancing around my envirionment, something, or rather, someone, caught my eye. A figure in the distance.

"Strange." I said aloud to myself," I thought I was alone on this beach."

I continued to gaze out at the mysterious person, until he turned towards me. I immediately jolted to life when I recognized his face. It was a face I had memorized, one that was burned into my memories like wax on paper.

"Justin." I dared to say aloud, and as I grew braver, I screamed, "JUSTIN!!!!" And before I even knew it, I was walking, faster with every passing step, then running, towards him, and tears were streaming from my eyes. He opened his arms as I reached him, and he pulled me close without a word.

  The next thing I knew, I was sitting in Justin's parents' familiar minivan between Justin and his younger brother Tyler. Everyone was talking loudly and animatedly, and I just sat there stunned. Hadn't I been at the beach in Jusin's arms only a moment ago?

  "Where are we?" I asked Justin, but his eyes continued to watch outside the window. He acted as if he hadn't even heard me. I was becoming frustrated quickly, and it was dark in the vehicle, making it quite hard for me to see. And for some unknown reason I had the strangest feeling. I lightly touched Justin's shoulder, then slowly began shaking him, but he still didn't respond. I figured at once that something must really be distracting him outside that window for him to be ignoring me like this, so I pushed myself up and gazed out the car window and into the dark night.

As I did so, light began pouring in. It was so bright that it momentarily blinded me, but it only took  that moment before I could make out shapes outside the window.

  Headlights.

  I screamed savagely, almost. The headlights were coming closer and closer as I watched and screamed profusely.  I turned and looked at Justin for a moment, and he seemed to be seeing me for the first time since I'd found myself in their vehicle. It was like he'd just realized I was even there. His eyes held some kind of wonder, and I watched, terrified,  as a single tear slid down his cheek.

And just as the bright headlights came within a foot of reaching the vehicle, I screamed, "JUSTIN!" and the image of his sad face immediately disappeared.

                                                                               ....................  

  I opened my eyes wide and quickly sat up on my bed, gasping for air. It took me a moment to realize where I even was. I noticed my face felt funny, and when I reached up to touch it, it was wet, and I also noticed that there were tears in my eyes.

It was all a dream, I thought to myself.

And then the tears once again began pouring endlessly down my face.