Daydreaming

Eli

The back of my head stings and every inch of my body aches. The morning light shining through my window stings my eyes and only exacerbates my headache. I groan and place a pillow over my face while trying to remember what happened. I can remember the headlights approaching, and everything going dark as someone called my name. After that, I felt like I was floating. I was pressed against something warm and I could smell a familiar scent, a cologne maybe. Someone must have carried me home. A small knock on my bedroom door pulled me from my thoughts.

"Ella, are you feeling alright?" My mom's quiet voice was just behind my cracked bedroom door. "I'm alright mom, and I'm awake so you can come in." I feel bad for making her skip work. She slowly opens my door and cautiously approaches me with a worried expression. Not only did I make her miss work, but I also made her worry. "I'm so sorry mom." The tears began to well in my eyes, "I don't know what happened," my voice quivered.

She wrapped her arms around me, and I could feel silent tears dropping onto my back. "It's okay, all that matters is that you're safe now." Her voice was calm and soothing. She stared at me with soft blue eyes that I have always felt resemble pools of water. "I don't want you walking home so late anymore. I know that you're an adult and you can make your own decisions but, while you're living with me, I want you home before dark. Things would be different if your dad were still here." Her short brown hair framed the burden on her face. All I could do was nod my head.

She kissed my forehead and stood up as she fixed the blankets on my bed. "I'll let you rest. I took the day off so just let me know if you need anything." I smiled and curled back up in bed. I feel bad for making her take the day off but, she does need the time away from the stress she's normally under. However, it probably causes her more stress to be taking a day off. She hasn't been the same since dad died, everything causes her to worry and stress out. She works nonstop to make ends meet and constantly worries about me, although she'll never tell me that. I try to relax when I hear tapping on my window. I stand up slowly and stumble over to it, fighting the dizziness. It's Luca. He's throwing pebbles at my window. I jerk the window open and wince with pain. "What do you think you're doing?" I snap. He rubs the back of his neck and shrugs. "I just wanted to check on you. Can I come up?" I rolled my eyes and shook my head wanting to say no but, motioning for him to hurry.

Luca carefully climbed onto the garbage can below my window and jumped up to grab the window pane. I backed up and sat back down on my bed as he pulled himself up through the window and into my room. "I hate how you make that look so easy," I said with a sigh. He flashed me a smile and bragged, "Well, practice makes perfect I guess." He winked and I faked a gag and covered my face. "So, how are you feeling? What happened?" He was done joking, there's only worry on his face now. It almost makes my heart flutter to see that he cares for me this much. "I feel alright, just in some pain but, what do you mean 'what happened?' Weren't you the one who carried me home?"

"Carried you home?" I could see the confusion growing on his face. "Ella, when I woke up this morning, my mom told me that you had been found lying in your yard at one o'clock in the morning." All I could do was stare at him. I'm just as confused as him. "I-I-I don't know what's going on... Luca..." I stuttered and ran my fingers through my hair. "How about you just start from the beginning El, what happened yesterday?" I took a minute to calm myself before saying, "If I'm going to tell you about yesterday, there's something else I have to tell you first." I think he's just as scared to hear what I have to say as I am to say it. I haven't told anyone about my dream. Just as I opened my mouth, a voice in my head whispers don't tell him. That isn't my voice. It oddly sounds familiar but, it isn't the normal voice of my inner monologue. I must have hit my head really hard. I shake it off and start telling Luca everything. I tell him about the dream in full detail. I even pull out my dream journal and go through it with him, just so he can see that I'm not making this up. "You look scared already and I haven't even started to tell you about my day yesterday. Are you sure you want me to continue?"