The Road to Nowhere

Chapter 19: Compound

Chapter 19

"Psst. Wake up." My body shakes violently and my eyes snap open. I look around the dark van, only to see Layke's beautiful eyes peering down at me.

"We're leaving soon." He says as the corners of his mouth curl up.

What happened? Why did I have such a horrible dream?

I sit up still shaking from the things that haunted my nightmare. I try to crack my neck. It feels really tight from sleeping in that position. It feels like my heart is beating out of my chest. So much, it's making my head hurt.

I quickly scan the van to look for Wilbur's cage. It's still in the place I put it and Wilbur is inside grooming himself.

"Are you okay? You were breathing pretty heavily." Layke asks.

I can feel my face get hot and my pulse begins to speed up even faster than it was before. "Yeah, I just had a bad dream."

"You want to talk about it?"

I really don't want him knowing about my dream. I feel like it would freak him out. I mean, it sure as hell freaked me out. I shake my head quickly and he nods his head to show me he's acknowledged my answer.

To break the silence he clears his throat awkwardly. After about a couple more seconds of agonizing silence, he moves over so I'm not right in front of him. He stretches his legs and lets out a sigh of relief. "Thank God, my legs are sore."

"What have you been doing?" I ask, my voice is shaky. I try and blow my dream off and act like it didn't happen.

"Well, after watching you sleep for hours," He smirks. "I just laid against the wall and slept myself."

I roll my eyes as Layke scoots back over to me. He gets so close to me that I can feel his breath on my neck. Honestly, It's kind of creeping me out a little. "Uh, what are you doing?"

He ignores my question and makes a silly face. I raise my eyebrow and give him a weird look. He laughs and leans his forehead against mine as he did in the barn. I blush a little. I can tell that he's just trying to make me feel better.

His hand then rubs up my arm causing me to get goosebumps. He quickly slides his hand in-between my underarm and begins to tickle me.

I burst out laughing and thrust my body back. I lay down and try to roll around but Layke doesn't stop. I laugh so hard I begin to snort. He straddles me and continues to poke at my stomach. I gasp for air and he stops when he realizes I can't breathe. I inhale heavily to catch my breath. He puts one hand on each side of my head and leans over me. He smiles as I calm down a little.

"I really like you Summer."

I can feel my cheeks get red and the only thing I can do is smile but it fades quickly. Why is he doing his? Is he just trying to make Cameron jealous? Or worse, get in my pants?

His ambitious look diminishes and he breaks eye contact with me. "What's wrong? Is it Cameron?"

Is it Cameron? We're just friends, but I still feel something for him. Even if it's a little. I just get this gut awful feeling when I think of being with Layke. I can't hurt Cameron. He's my best friend.