After school, Evan caught me as my friends outside the school with his usual smile. "You excited about our party Saturday?" No! I didn't know there could be so many parties in high school! But instead of typing what I was thinking, I returned his smile and nodded. "I knew you would be. We're going to have drinks and stuff. That's okay with you, right?" I shrugged. I couldn't care less. "Good. I'll see you later, babe." He kissed me on the cheek and said, "Bye." My friends waved before he walked over to his friends, who I hadn't even noticed were waiting for him a few feet away from us.
I turned to see Sasha glaring at me from in her car inside the school parking lot. I gave her a quick smile, and she flipped me off. The anger in her eyes from seeing Evan and me together sent a jolt of energy through my body. She wanted him, and she wanted me to burn.
This party was going to be very interesting.
***
The night before the event, we found each other.
I was in my dreamscape again since I felt no discomfort. I stood by a lake, the one I went to with my dad right before he got shot. Tears fell out of my eyes as I stared down at my reflection. They dropped into the water, disrupting the calm with gentle ripples, slowly becoming giant and turbulent.
My feet slowly sank past the rocky ground of the lake into the muddy sand below, the rocks rising to my ankles. The waves I created changed course and slowly advanced toward me.
"Help!" I screamed as panic flooded my chest. "Please! Somebody!" Usually, I have control of my dreams, especially when they're lucid. But this dream seemed to have a mind of its own.
The first wave loomed over me. I closed my eyes as the water crashed over my head, yanking me out of the ground and rolling me up the rocky beach. As it receded, I gasped, pulling myself up. My clothes clung to my body like a second skin and smelled like blood.
I wobbly stood and made my way to the tree line to avoid the other wave coming towards the beach. My body felt sluggish and stung everywhere.
"Help," I weakly called. The second wave came towards the shore as I gripped a tree to steady myself. A hand clamped down on my wrist and pulled me up. Grey yanked me through the woods.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"I don't know," he said honestly. "I don't even know why I'm helping you." I could hear the rushing water behind me, edging up the shore, knocking down some of the weaker trees. It towered above us about two feet.
I tried to move faster, but my legs slowly turned into lead. I couldn't push them any further, and they stiffened.
I fell, making the wave behind me look even more daunting.
"Don't look back," he ordered, yanking me back up. "Just keep moving."
"I can't," I managed to say before the water collapsed onto us. It dragged me across the ground, more cuts forming on my skin. My body contorted, flipped, twisted, and shot through the rushing water. I couldn't get up, resurface, or even breathe. I squeezed my eyes shut and held my breath for as long as possible, my lungs burning.
A hand grabbed my soaking wet clothing and pulled me out of the water. I gasped for air, my back pressed against Grey's stomach as he labored for air and mumbled to himself, "Lucid nightmares are terrifying." His voice strained as he used one arm to hold onto a tree, the water rushing around us. It was starting to smell saltier.
"Grey! Whatever happens to me, don't let go," I heard a woman's voice order.
"No," he whispered. The pine trees across us started forming into palm trees, a woman and child attached to one of them. She had a striking resemblance to Grey, and the little boy looked like he could be Grey's brother. The woman's grip slipped several times. Panic flashed in her eyes, but she covered it with a smile to her presumed son.
"Mommy, I'm scared," he whined.
"Don't you dare let go of this tree, Grey," she ordered, flooding me with shock. "Do you hear me? Please, for me. Don't let go." He nodded. She looked like she couldn't thoroughly flush herself against the tree, her arms not strong enough to hold on.
"What about Cecelia?" he asked, his eyes wide with fear. "Won't she drown?" Her other arm rubbing his back, let go to touch her stomach. She was pregnant.
"She's okay, honey," she said after a moment. She gave Grey a weak smile. "She's still kick—" A sudden rough current tore her away from the tree. She let out a scream, young Grey calling after her as she was dragged off into the tumultuous waters, her head disappearing from view.
"Mommy!" young Grey screamed, frantically looking around. He wailed as he continued searching for her. A lump in my throat formed, and I knew what this was.
A memory. A dark, horrible memory. And whether or not Grey realized it, he'd let me see it.
Grey's arms tightened around me and the tree. "Damn it," he muttered. His younger self kept screaming and ripped a hole in my heart.
So this is what he held inside of him. I thought he was so obnoxious and didn't know what it was like to feel anything because he was rich. But he experienced loss in such a horrific manner.
"Are you okay?" I whispered.
"No," he said, and his voice cracked. "I'm not."
YOU ARE READING
Little Sweet Dreamer - Wattys Edition
Teen Fiction"Oh," he said, as my back hit the wooden wall. Damn it, of course. With nowhere to go, his arms locked me in between him and the wall. He stared down at me as he said, "So you're trying to piss me off?" His lips were surprisingly close to mine. No g...
