Sugar, Spice and a pinch of Fantasy

Chapter 5

----------- Chapter 5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

               “-a seriously loud scream. Obviously I ran in. And she’s on the bed, my bedside lamp in hand, quivering,” Haden murmurs quietly.

I stiffen as I realise he’s talking about me.

               “So you go up to her...and she warns you about someone?” Matt asks uncertainly.

               “Yeah. She went totally psychotic. It was as if she thought there was someone going to harm her. I suppose that’s why she grabbed my lamp, broke the crystal too,” Haden continues, his voice a little glum.

               “No shit! The crystal is broken?!” Alex exclaims in agitation.

               “Shh! You’ll wake her up,” Matt admonishes as footsteps approach the bed. I pretend to be a sleep, and feel a warm hand brush my hair out of my face.

               “Still asleep,” Haden announces, his voice close to me. I hear the footsteps again, and the next time he speaks, his voice is softer and from further away, probably the couch at the end of his room. “Thing is, now that the crystal is completely destroyed, I can’t even communicate with dad,” Haden mumbles. I can almost imagine him running his hand through his hair.

What? He must be kidding...using a crystal to communicate? Damn it, I must still be asleep!

               “Good thing you barely ever talk to your dad though, huh?” Alex teases, a smile in his voice.

Wait! Haden’s parents died a long time ago, when he was barely 10! Why are the guys talking about his father then? I mean...you can’t talk to the dead...

               “That’s the thing though! Remember I told you she came up here in the middle of the night, seriously freaked out? It was about her nightmare. Apparently something changed,” Haden murmurs, his voice so low I can barely make out what he’s saying.

               “Okay, I may be stoking the flame here...but do you think its coincidence that all of this is happening immediately after Carter shows up?” Alex asks, his voice betraying an emotion I can’t quite describe.

               “There’s no such thing as coincidence,” Haden mumbles cryptically.

The three of them suddenly sink into silence, and I’m afraid to so much as twitch in case they figure out I’m listening.

               “Guess we should wake her up, right?” Matt suggests, getting off the couch. “Jessy?” he murmurs softly, shaking my shoulders.

I open my eyes slowly, pretending to be disoriented. “Mmm?” I mumble. Yeah, yeah, I’m a wannabe actress!

               “Time to get up, Jessy. You need to start getting ready for school,” Matt continues, smiling down at me.

I nod my head and stretch, but make sure not to make eye contact with any of the guys. I’m very disconcerted with what I just heard. Haden’s father...this mysterious crystal...Carter.

I rush out of the room and back down the elegant staircase to my room. I grab my thick, black sweater and skinny jeans and head into the bathroom.

As per usual, Andy comes in, I have my breakfast and in about 45 minutes, I’m in the dining room with the guys. They are going out of their way pretending everything is perfectly fine; a little too cheerful in fact.