~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 2 The next day I walk to school, ready to get the day over with before it even begins. It's a long walk, but it beats having to watch their dreams as the tired ones catch up on sleep. I soon get to school, walking into my art class. I sit there, waiting for the teacher. The students pile in slowly, the teacher entering after the students. "Alright, class," Mr. Morris starts. "On Friday, we are going to the Museum of Art. It will take three days over all to get there and back. I will be passing out permission slips that your parent or guardian must sing or you will not go." "Great," most murmur. I roll my eyes. Two nights watching people's dreams. That will be fun. I slid the slip he gives me into my bag, not even looking at it. "Great," I hear. "A trip." I turn to see the blonde boy again. "You're in my art class?!" I whisper. "Yeah. How do you think I know you?" he whispered back. "Well, I don't know you." "I'm Benjamin. But, I go by Ben." "Alana." I smile at him. "And, thanks for the ride." I hear him murmur something but I don't pay attention, class starting officially. Ben seems so familiar, and so odd. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Short, but I hade to introduce them by name. Hope you like it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 3 School flies by for the rest of the day, until study hall. I sit in the library, waiting. I look around and see a few people, including the blonde boy, Ben. I also see a younger boy lay his head onto the table he's sitting at. "Here we go," I whisper and lay my head on the table, soon my vision going black. He looks around frantically, searching for something. I stand near him, but not too close. I see a figure engulfed in fire, barreling towards us. It pushes the boy into a wall, pinning him there. I stand next to them, watching the black and white figure and the boy. The figure opens his mouth to speak, snakes pouring out of it's mouth. The boy screams, obviously scared out of his mind. The fire dims, soon seeing that the figure is a man. He doesn't have any eyes, spiders crawling from his skull, making the boy scream louder. "You can change this," I whisper. The boy seems to hear me and nods. He looks at the man, smirking. Suddenly, the spiders disappear and the spiders slither away from us. The man let go of the boy, his eyes rolling into their sockets. He smiles at the boy. I soon realize that the two look alike. Must be father and son. They walk away happily, making me realize on how to help everyone's dreams. I smile as the dream fades, the boy's dream ending. "Hey, wake up," I hear and feel someone shaking me. My sight soon returns and I sit up. "Ben? Again?" I ask, shaking my head. I blink a few times and stand, grabbing my bag. "Yeah, are you okay? Do you need a lift so you don't fall asleep at the wheel?" he asks. "I don't drive," I reply. "I walk home." "Ouch. Long walk. Let me take you home. Again," he smiles. "Thanks, again." I walk with him out of the library to his sleek black convertible. "Expensive," I murmur. "Not really. Not with the payments, at least," he replies, unlocking his car. I get in the car and Ben follows suit. He drives off from the school, leaving it behind. I smile happily, the speed reminding me about the day over a year ago. Ben chuckles for a moment, probably at me. "What?" I ask, looking at him. "Nothing, nothing," he smiles. I roll my eyes at him as he slows down, arriving at my home. "Thank, again," I smile and get out of the car. "I'll start picking you up," he says, smirking. "No, thanks. I would rather walk," I say. "Whatever," he smiles, driving off. I shake my head, smiling. He was so nice, and it was so uncalled for. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 4 I walk into my home, seeing my father, drunk. "Oh, lord," I murmur and walk towards him. "Dad, can you sign something for school?" "What? Who are you? Are you the prostitute I called for?" he asks drunkenly. "No. I'm your daughter, Alana. And you have to sign this for school." "Why?" "Dad, sign this damn paper." He lifts his hand and slaps me across the face. "Watch your language, missy. I'll sign the paper. Give it 'ere." I give him the paper, ignoring the pain on my face. He reads over it and signs it, ignoring the fact that I'm extremely pissed off. "'Ere," he says, handing the paper to me. I push it in my bag and stare at him. "Why do you have to be so ****ing drunk all the damn time?" I murmur. He seems to hear it and slaps me again. "Watch your language! I swear, you'll never be like your mother." "That's 'cuz she's never 'round! Why do you have to be such a hard ass all the time?!" I yell and run out of the house, dodging another hit. I sit in my yard, waiting for my father to fall asleep. I feel my cheek, the stinging making me wince. I know that it's going to bruise, like all the other beatings I've had. Except, this one wasn't as brutal as the others. My live is a living hell. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To show her life at home.
Thank you Benny! Sorry for not updating, cuz I haven't been around lately to update, thanks to HOMEWORK! But, anyway, here is an update. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 5 The next few days, I went to school, my bruise covered up. On Friday, I'm late, thanks to my father's drunkenness the night before. I push clothes and other essentials into a duffle bag. Then I heard a knock on the door. "Shit," I mumbled. I put a hand on my bruise, covering it, and walk to the door. I open it, seeing Ben. "Hey," I say, leaning on the threshold. "Did something happen to your jaw or something?" he asks, pointing at my hand. "You could, uh, say that, I guess." I stumbled over my words, wanting to get this exchange over with. "What happened?" he asks. "Oh, nothing." I motion him in with my free hand and head back inside. "Sorry for not having this place picked up. If I knew I had company coming over, I would have picked up all the vodka glasses and beer cans." "Do your parents drink?" "Father. Mom left when I was little." "Oh." I walk into my room and remove my hand, zipping up the duffle bag. "Okay, what the hell happened?" Ben asks, walking over to me, putting a light hand on my cheek. "Nothing. Just, family problems," I say, pushing him away lightly. Ben looks into the living room and the next few rooms to come back and stare at me. "Does your father beat you?" he whispers, already coming to the conclusion. But, that's what most drunken fathers did. Beat their defenseless wives, and, if they don't have wives, daughters. I close my eyes and push the question out of my mind. I cover up my bruise with make up and grab the duffle bag. I push by him and head outside, waiting for him to follow suit. He walks outside and I lock the door, hoping my father won't try to break down the door. "You didn't answer me," he says as I start walking. He follows me, making me look back and see that his car isn't parked in front of my house. "I did that for a reason. Maybe I don't want you going to the cops where it becomes worse," I answer. "So, is that a yes?" he asks, now next to me. "No. But here it is, since your so damn far into my business. Yes, he does beat me. But keep your nose out of my business, alright?!" I yell at him and walk off, him standing at the spot I left him at. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She's pissed...
Another update, cuz I feel like making up for the time I didn't update. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 6 I get to school and wait for the bus to come. Suddenly everyone stands and heads out the door. I follow them, knowing that it's time to get going. I sit in the back when I get on, sitting by myself. "Hey, you okay?" I hear. I look to see Ben. "Go away. You've done enough damage today," I mumble. He sits next to me anyway. "Are you okay, though?" he asks. "Fine. Why wouldn't I be? Oh, wait. Maybe it's the beating I took just to get on this trip," I say sarcastically. The bus pulls off, already heading out. I cross my arms, not wanting to talk anymore. "I won't tell. I promise," he says, patting my head. "Don't touch my hair," I grumble. He smirks and ruffles my hair, causing it to look messy. "Quit!" I exclaim, fixing my hair. He laughs and shakes his head. I fix my hair back to normal. Suddenly, my vision blacks, pulling me into a dream. Everything is white at first. Then I see that I am walking in a corridor with a boy. It is Darren Preston, quarterback for our football team. He has a scared look on his face. Suddenly, the ugliest creature I have ever seen jumps out of the darkness, landing on Preston. The creature has the face of a boar, the body of a lizard, the legs of a leopard, the tail of a cat, and the wings of a crow. The thing roars-or bellows. I'm not sure what it sounds like, really-and jumps off of Preston. Preston crawls back into a wall. He is terrified, he face clearly showing it. His blonde hair covers his grey eyes, but I know that they show fear as well. The creature jumps in front of him, but I stand between them. I glare at the hideous creature. Then I turn towards Preston, crouching next to him. "Preston, you are a quarterback with the power to control your dream," I tell him. I smile and step back. Preston smiles back at me and stands. He closes his eyes, thinking. Suddenly, the creature shakes uncontrollably. The creature breaks, like a cracked egg, and pieces of it falls apart. A part that is leaned up is pushed aside it see a black German Shepard. He barks and barrels towards Preston, leaping and landing on him. Preston smiles and ruffles his dog's fur. The dream fades slowly. The smile on Preston's face fading last. "Alana?" I hear. I blink a few times, my sight soon coming back. "Hmm? What?" I ask. "Are you okay?" Ben asks, fear on his face. I look at where I am laying. I am on the floor of the bus and everyone is off except us. "Fine. Why? And why are you looking at me like that?" "You passed out. And fell onto the floor. It was exactly after I stopped laughing." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What a coincidence...
Another update! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 7 "Well, I have black outs sometimes. Like in the library. I always have black outs in the library," I lie-well,partially-getting off the floor. "Then, stay here. I'll get you some food. I don't want you passing out in the middle of a McDonald's," he says wearily. I look out the window to see that he's right about where we are. And the sun is touching the horizon. "He dreamt for that long?" I whisper. "Who?" "No one. Just talking to myself. And I'll be fine. No one is going to be asleep with we are in there." I murmur the last sentence to myself, knowing that Ben won't hear it. "No way. I'm not risking it. Even Mr. Morris said that when you wake up, and if you wake up during this stop, to get you food for you," Ben says. "God, you are so stubborn. Fine. Better than going inside that place anyway." He nods and opens his mouth to say something, but shakes his head. He walks off the bus, leaving me to myself. After ten minutes, he comes back and hands me a Happy Meal. "Seriously? Do I look like I'm five?" I ask him. "Everyone loves Happy Meals!" he laughs. I shake my head and open the back. Then I act like a little kid and squeal. "Oh, look! A Spongebob toy!" I squeal sarcastically. He sticks his tongue out at me and I just eat. Soon, we start tearing bag paper off of it and start throwing it at each other, having a good time. It's like nothing ever happened this morning. Soon, we run out of paper, so we run out of the bus and he starts chasing me, like we are little kids. Ben picks me up when he catches me and carries me back onto the bus. I just smile at him as he sits me down. He sits down next to me and other students soon pile onto the bus, making me frown. I was really enjoying the time I had with him. It seemed so perfect, but it had to end. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ How amazing...