The Ice Cream Pact

Chapter Four

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C O N N O R
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I gasped in a huge gulp of air as my eyes shot open, and I immediately felt the tears rolling down my face and sweat covering me. I sat up frantically and the sheets fell down slightly, letting some air cool my burning skin. My head throbbed as I continued to wheeze in and out unstable breaths.

Shaking, I fell back down and rolled over, burying my face in my pillow and crying into it. A few pieces of the nightmare still flickered in and out of my vision as I gripped the pillow in my hands hard.

The only memory that hadn't faded of my biological mom was the one vivid one that would haunt me for the rest of my life. That was the only memory I had to go off of for what she looked like, and so whenever my brain weaved her into a dream, nightmare or not, that's how she looked. Her face, at least. Covered in blood and looking at me with dead eyes. It turned almost every dream into an excruciating nightmare, let alone the ones that already started out as nightmares.

So much blood. There was always just so much blood.

After god-knows-how-long of this, I dragged myself into the shower and just stood there, feeling the water fall over me and cooling me down. I tried to wash away the feeling of all the imaginary blood that still felt as though it was covering me.

When I finally got dressed and made my way downstairs, I let out a sad sigh and got myself some cereal. My hands shook slightly as I focused on each spoonful at a time, playing some music loudly in my ears to keep my mind distracted. I nearly jumped out of my skin when someone tapped my arm, and when my eyes whipped up, I saw it was my mom. I pulled my earbuds out and apologized for startling.

"Is everything okay?" She asked, and I nodded- too quickly for it to be normal. She frowned at me over her shoulder as she poured her coffee, "you're as bad of a liar as Crystal."

"It was just a nightmare," I forced a smile and attempted to shrug it off, returning to my cereal.

"Do you want to talk about it-"

"No it's okay, thank you," I cut her off, not wanting to think about it anymore. I put my hands below the counter to hide their shaking. "Jake should be here in a sec, so," I added, and she nodded.

"Okay, well, Crystal said she could pick you up today," she told me, taking a sip of her coffee.

"I feel bad," I sighed, fiddling with my fingers under the table.

"Why? Jake's the one who got himself detention," she replied, brushing it off. "He's a trouble maker just like his brother," she added with a little chuckle, and I smiled as if to agree. I always thought it was funny that nobody's parents thought of Layla as a trouble maker- even though their sister was no doubt the craziest out of the three of them.

Jake had told everyone a fake reason for why he beat up Bruce, partially to help me keep some of my dignity and partially because I was only out to Crystal and Ashton. I felt so guilty, but I also knew that Jake simply wouldn't let the story be any other way for my sake, the obnoxiously selfless bastard.

"I could just stay for a few hours after school- I did that yesterday and it was fine," I offered, but she shook her head.

"It's no problem, and you could always find a ride for the other days- do you have any friends with licenses?" She asked.

"Jake," I answered and chuckled. "The rest are just fellow freshmen," I finished my cereal and got up to put it in the sink, but she reached and took the bowl for me. I smiled as thanks and then saw Jake pull up outside. "Bye, I love you," I walked to her and gave her a quick hug before grabbing my backpack and walking swiftly out the door.