Love Thy Neighbor

Chapter 3

Class seems pointless. The entire school day is just a waste of time at this point. I need to be using every waking moment to help Tristan and Uncle Luke keep The Underground. I need to make sure Carter and Katy don't pull any sneaky moves between now and Thanksgiving. I need to do whatever I can to keep my promise that Tristan's mom will be safe from all of this.

I need to just not be in this English class right now.

Nicole would disagree. She still sees purpose in attending school, every class, every college admission help session. From my desk, I can see her notebook filled with today's lecture as well as chicken scratch thoughts in the margins. Reminders for deadlines, volunteer groups she signed up for during summer, a resume workshop, and what looks like a rough doodle of her girlfriend Chloe.

Meanwhile, my English notebook was populated by anything but the contents of a teenager's life. Club expenses, architectural redesign notes and drawings, marketing strategies, vendor contact information, scratched out law firms...

The bell rings to dismiss us to our next period. Nicole waits for me to gather my books, chatting away, mostly to herself, about how many extracurriculars is too many to have. I should listen considering the stack of blank paper and unopened online applications I have piling up at home, but my brain power is already working at capacity.

So much so that simple coordination goes out the window. I run straight into another student in the emptying hallway, the books in my arms falling to the ground. Thankfully Nicole steadies me before I follow suit. I regain my balance and look up at the other student to mumble an apology, but freeze where I stand when my eyes meet his.

No way. I'm asleep. This is another nightmare.Come on, Leila! Wake up!

Two icy eyes stare back at me, crinkling in the corners. What should have been a warm smile causing the expression was the most sinister sight I have ever seen. Under the florescent lights, his halo of bleached hair cast shadows onto the hollows of his cheeks, carving out an impossibly sharp jaw.

"Carter," I whisper in shock. I only slightly register Nicole's arm around me, slowly guiding the two of us to take a few steps back.

"I was hoping I would run into you today," Carter's smile grows, not making his face any friendlier. "I think I'm lost, do you think you can show a fellow classmate around?"

A gasp escapes my mouth, taking the last bit of air out of my lungs. Breathe! Why can't I breathe? This has to be a nightmare.

But I don't wake up. It just keeps getting worse.

"That would actually be my job, dear brother," Katy pops up next to Carter as if from thin air.

"Half brother," Carter grumbles under his breath.

"As class president," Katy ignore his comment. "It's my absolute honor to show around new students. We can start at your locker which is down that hallway." She points in the general direction where both my and Nicole's own lockers are located.

"Great," Carter says. "I guess we'll have to find another time to catch up properly then, Leila. The carnival wasn't exactly an ideal reunion." With that, he and Katy stride down the now empty halls and disappear around the corner.

I finally am able to suck in a deep breath. Unfortunately, I don't wake up. And the late bell rings.