Are You Afraid?

Chapter Three: The First One

I open my eyes and look up at my ceiling. A tear slides down my face. Running into Lucas and being partners with him in Chemistry has caused my dreams to expand. I wipe the tear away and stare at my ceiling. I roll over and look at my alarm clock to see it's 2:30 a.m. and groan.

"Damnit." I mutter, looking up at the ceiling.

I try to fall asleep, but give up after awhile thanks to a headache and just get up, deciding to make breakfast for Al and dad before our days actually start. I walk down stairs and go in the kitchen, then stop when my vision blurs slightly. I close my eyes tightly and put my hands on both temples as I double over. My eyes feel like they're swelling up.

"Lucas! What are you doing here?" I hiss. 

"We need to talk." He whispers. 

"Why? Four years of silence should tell you that we're not friends anymore. I mean, your the one who told me to leave that day I ran to your house in the rain and looked at me as if you didn't know who I was." 

"That's what I wanna talk about!"

I curl up tighter on the floor as a visual appears to match up with the words that continue to play inside my head.

"About what? You said it all when you told me to just go that day." I cross my arms over my chest, glaring at him. 

"Why I stopped talking to you." 

"I don't care why, anymore. If I did then I'd still keep asking you why, not just ignore you. Or maybe it's because I'm ignoring you too is why you decide you wanna talk to me." He touches my elbows with his hands and I jerk away even though I want to stay there with his warm hands touching my softly.

Then the sound goes away and I'm only left with the visual.

He tries touching me again, and I pull away again until he finally grabs my elbows so I can't pull away and just looks at me. I see his lips move, but I suck at reading lips so I have no clues what he's saying. I say something back, but I still can't hear it.

I feel someone beside me and wince when they touch my side.

I start yelling at Lucas, pointing towards the door. He looks at me with a sad expression and tries to keep talking to me. I just shake my head though, still pointing. Tears start to fall down my face and he tries to hug me, but I just push him and shake my head sharply. 

"Get out!" I hear myself yell at him.

"Soph? Sophie? Can you hear me?" Someone whispers to me, gently touching my side. I curl up tighter, trying to get away from the painful touch. I hear something whine as whoever it is tries to touch my side again. "Sophie, sweetie, open your eyes."

"Dad, she has blood on her face." Someone else whispers.

"Sophie, please wake up."

I slowly open my eyes, but my vision is tinted red. I look at my dad without curling up and I hear someone gasp, so I turn my head and look at my little brother. His eyes widen, staring at my eyes.

"Soph...?" He whispers, and I close my eyes, my headache getting worse.

"Al go get a wet washcloth with hot water." Dad says softly, then whispers to me. "Sophie, are you okay?" I crack my eyes and look at him, not answering. "Turn the light off Al." The light turns off and I look at my dad, the light from the upstairs hallway shining on us so we can see but not hurting my eyes. "Sophie close your eyes please." I nod and do as I'm told, then feel something warm and wet be laid on my eyes. "This should help." Dad says.