Hypnotized to Love Me

9 - Hypnotized to Love Me

     Dane takes me home and I go up to my room to get in bed. He brings me some medicine upstairs before he heads back to school for his last class of the day and football practice afterwards.

"Here, take this. Kyle will be here before too long, so tell Caleb not to get any ideas," Dane says with a warning in his voice while handing me some medicine. I roll my eyes.

"Dane, Caleb has football practice today. I won't be seeing him tonight," I reply with a sigh.

"I said what I said. Be good and get some sleep." He smirks and leaves the room.

At least he can be in a good mood right now. He's all but robbed me of any good times while this babysitting thing is going on. And what's with the overkill? Mom and Dad said that I just couldn't go anywhere before and after school, not that I couldn't be home alone. Getting your best friend to look after your teenage sister is just as dumb as watching your best friend's teenage sister. Kyle plays basketball at OU here in Norman so his season hasn't started yet. This is probably why he has so much free time right now. Still, it's pretty lame. He's been around our family since Dane was in grade school, so it isn't like I'm not used to his presence in our house. We've even played video games together on our own a few times. What worries me now is Kyle's reaction to Caleb. I have no idea what got into both of them after school yesterday. It has to be Dane's doing. He must put Kyle on high alert when another guy comes along. The last time I saw Kyle get so worked up over me was when Landon was around.

Just as I'm about to drift off to asleep, I feel my phone vibrate from the bedside table. Oops, I forgot to text Caleb I'd gotten home. Looking at my home screen, I see that it's not a text from Caleb at all but from Emily.

     The dude is still in the hospital. Norman Regional. Room 218. Apparently he's not doing so good.

     I suck in a breath. This is good news and bad news. It's good for the fact that Caleb and I can finally find the guy who did this to us. It's horrible in the sense that he may not be cognizant enough to break the hypnosis. I quickly text Caleb.

     Made it home okay! Can you still call me later? 

     Immediately I see three dots at the bottom of the screen. Well that was fast. His message pops up quickly. 

     Of course! Let me know when Kyle gets there.

    Huh. Weird. He must have heard what Dane said in the office today about me having a babysitter. Putting my phone down on the nightstand, I go back to trying to get some sleep. I don't really know why he wants to know that so bad, but I'm too tired to wait up on Kyle. As I close my eyes, I remember just a couple hours ago how Caleb sat by my side in the nurse's office. The comforting feelings from that moment quickly put me to sleep.

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     Bzzzzz Bzzzzz Bzzzzz

     I'm effectively woken up from a pretty amazing dream about classic music, gymnasiums, and tender kisses. So when my phone vibrates off the bedside table, I'm unsure if it's my dream or real life. I feel a breeze on my face for a moment and have a distinct feeling that I'm not alone. Before I even get a chance to open my eyes, it's gone. I groan and sit up, trying to get my bearings. Luckily my headache is no longer present and I smile to myself knowing that the call is probably coming from Caleb. I reach down and try to grab my phone before the call drops, but I'm too late. According to the screen, I must have slept quite a while considering it's 6:15 now. Dane might be home after 7 but who knows? If there's someone he wants to hang out with after, it might be more like midnight.