Andromeda

Chapter Seven

Somehow, Anna had avoided waking anybody up with the outburst of her sudden nightmare, and she was glad for that. She was in no mood to receive another lecture from Lynn, or put up with the constant nagging and jeering from Abigail. Nevertheless, she carried the stress of the dream with her all the way to school the next day. She hardly said a word as Lynn drove the three of them to school, preferring to stare quietly out the window as they drove through the already busy town center.

Lynn pulled into the circle in front of the high school where dozens of cars and buses were cycling through to drop off students. When the car came to a stop, Anna cast a quick sideways smile at Lynn before slipping out of the passenger seat.

"Bye, Mom!" Abigail said as she exited the car behind her.

"Abigail!" Lynn called after her. "Do you have your book report?"

"Yes!" Abigail answered in an annoyed voice.

"Ok, have a good day, sweetie!"

Abigail waved as Lynn drove off with Daisy before running to catch up with Anna.

"So!" Abigail said cheerily. "Where's this boyfriend of yours? When do I get to meet him?"

"You don't," Anna responded, not willing to entertain her teasing. "Just go to class and leave me alone."

"Why?" Abigail pressed. "Are you embarrassed by him? He's a nerd, isn't he?"

"No!" Anna said, offended. "Now go away!"

"Anna, hey!"

Both Anna and Abigail turned to see Jason catching up with them.

"Oh no," Anna muttered to herself before quickly putting on a smile.

"How's it going?" Jason said as they walked through the doors into the atrium.

Anna opened her mouth to answer but was immediately cut off by Abigail chiming in at her side. "Are you the boyfriend?"

Anna shot an angry and horrified look at Abigail. "Shut up!" she gasped before returning her attention to Jason, a cold wave sweeping across her body. "I'm sorry. She's my sister, and she was just leaving!" She grabbed Abigail's backpack and pushed her ahead.

"No wait!" Abigail purred. "I have questions! Is it true she beat you at Lacrosse?"

"Go!" Anna shouted at her. Abigail let out a giggle as she turned and skipped toward the nearest stairwell. "Sorry," Anna repeated to Jason. "She likes to poke fun at me because she has nothing better to do."

"It's okay," Jason laughed. "My little sister's the same way. So, where are you heading first?"

"Biology," Anna answered. "I have a lab to finish today."

"Nice," Jason said. "Mr. Todd's labs are always fun. So, see you in homeroom, then?"

"Yeah, sounds good," Anna replied awkwardly, waving to him as they parted ways in the atrium. Anna turned down the hallway leading to the B-Wing. Thanks to Jason, she had already forgotten about the horrific dream of the night before, but her thoughts were interrupted when she was suddenly shoved from behind. Anna gasped as she stumbled into the lockers along the wall. She spun around angrily to see what had happened, thinking somebody had slammed into her without paying attention to where they were going, but her heart sank when she found herself face to face with Tamara.

"Hey!" Anna exclaimed. "What's your problem?"

"You are my problem!" Tamara hissed in rage. "I told you to stay away from Jason! Why am I hearing that you asked him out?"