From Me to You [Complete]

65

I'm standing on the beach. No, I'm walking. It's dark and windy, but the water doesn't feel cold as it slides over my feet.

"You have to be careful," Robert says beside me. I look at him. He's carrying his sandals in one hand, as he walks beside me, feet in the water.

"Careful of what?" I ask.

He looks at me, and his face changes. Michael stands beside me, his eyes watching me again, like they always are.

"Michael, I'm sorry," I say. I reach out a hand to him.

He turns away, walking up the beach. I try to reach him before he goes too far, but he starts to run, and for once I can't catch up. I follow him into a forest of trees, trying to see where he went. Several paths lead away from where I am standing, and I try to decide which way to go. I pick a path at random, trying to find Michael in the distance. The pathway gets smaller, the forest getting thicker around me. I slow down, realizing this wasn't the right way. He went somewhere else. But suddenly I see a figure sitting on a tree stump up ahead. I run toward the figure.

"Michael!" I yell.

"Why didn't you follow the rules?" asks Andy, turning toward me. I skid to a stop in front of him, barely missing a giant root at the base of the stump.

"What? I tried! I just forgot about the time," I plead, but feeling like it's in vain.

I feel a drop of rain on my head and look up. The branches overhead are tightly packed, but I still see rain coming down. It hits off of the trees leaves, sounding like clicks and knocks. When I look back down, Andy is gone.

"Amanda?" says a curious voice behind me.

I turn to see Mick trying to pick berries off of a tree.

"Hey could you help me with this?" he asks, and I wander over to pick up a nearby basket and give it to him.

"Why did you hurt Michael?" Mick asks. He peers into the basket like it might be full of something bad.

"I didn't mean to," I plead, still certain I won't be believed. "I promise I didn't mean to."

"You said you wouldn't!" Mick says menacingly.

Suddenly the berries start to fall from the tree, the noise deafening. They land on the ground around us, while the rain gets even heavier. Mick becomes indistinguishable even though he's standing so close. There's a loud boom in the distance.

I sit up quickly, my heart racing. My blankets slide off of me as I look around. I'm in the Lyons' cottage. Lightning flashes outside, and I stare out the window, breathing heavily. It's pouring rain outside. I slowly let myself slide back down onto the couch bed, my heart starting to return to its normal speed. At least the dream makes more sense now that I know about the thunderstorm happening outside. Still not a pleasant one.

I doubt I'll be able to fall back asleep now. Not when I've started to think again. Started to remember what I pushed away before I fell asleep. Stretching my arms above my head, I watch the rain come down outside. Then I slowly stand up. I look down at the pile of clothes underneath the couch bed, wondering what to do with them. I pick up Michael's sweater and breathe it in, wondering what on earth to do. About Michael, about this sweater, about how I feel, about what happened... Looking around, I figure out a way to deposit Michael's sweater so that no one will think I had it. I walk over to the chair across the room and drape the sweater over it.

"Couldn't sleep through the storm?"

I jump at the sound of Joe's voice from above the stairs, snatching my hand away from Michael's sweater. I look up at him standing in his pyjamas.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he says with his hands in a gesture of apology. His eyes watch me though, and I get an eerie feeling, wondering how long he's been standing there.

I swallow and clear my throat. I have a bad taste in my mouth. "Yea, it woke me up," I finally reply. I wander back over to my bed, realizing how much sand I have in my hair and on my body as I sit down. "Hey, is Ann awake?" I ask, feeling purposeful for a minute.

"Nah, she sleeps through everything," Joe says with a short laugh. He comes down the stairs to look out the window, as lightning flashes again in the distance. The storm must not be very close.

"Okay. I think I might go grab my stuff to shower."

"Good idea, before everyone needs to use it," Joe says. I'm thankful for this logical understanding of my situation. While his back is turned I grab up my clothes from underneath the couch bed. I can bring them to Ann's room where they should be when everyone wakes up. I head up the stairs and down the hall.

Ann doesn't wake up when I come in, as Joe suspected. The rain continues to fall outside as I quickly drop off the clothes from yesterday and grab up my showering stuff. I feel like I'm leaving a trail of sand all over the cottage, and try to go a little faster. Ann makes a noise and turns over. I look at her, wondering what she would think if she found me in here. I manage to find my shampoo in the drawer, which was stuffed at the back for some reason. As I creep out the door, I see Joe down at the end of the hall. He gives me a slight nod and I nod back. I shut the door behind me and walk quietly to the bathroom, looking forward to getting all of the sand off of me. And also hopefully taking enough time that everyone else will be awake when I'm done, meaning I might be able to avoid seeing Michael right away. I have no idea what to say to him.