The Dreamer

Chapter one

She stood on the bridge, leaning against the side of it with her eyes closed. She breathed in the fresh air and tried to let it calm her thoughts. Just do it, her thoughts said. She shook her head and quickly put her headphones back on, resuming the song she had been listening to previously, trying to drown out her thoughts. It was a song by NF. She hadn't listened to him much before the accident, but he was her brother's favorite singer, and listening to him made her feel more connected to Aiden.

The song finished and she decided she needed to start heading back home. She opened her eyes and looked out over the bridge and down into the deep rocky river below. She felt a tear escape her eyes and turned away, hopping on her bike. She rode back into the main part of town, passing a few people she knew from school and the occasional elderly couple out on their evening walk. She ignored all of them and continued pedaling, turning onto the side street that lead to her small neighborhood. A few blocks down, she reached her house.

She quickly leaned her bike up against the front of the small shed they had on the side of their house and ran inside through the front door.

"Aurelia, is that you?" she heard her mom call from somewhere further in the house. She rolled her eyes.

"No, it's a random stranger that decided to walk in without knocking," she said back. She set her backpack down next to the coat closet by the front door and then walked to the kitchen to grab a snack. Her mom was sitting at the table, sorting through some mail.

"I thought we agreed that you would be back by 4.00. It's now 5.30. What were you doing?"

"My phone died, so I couldn't tell what time it was, that's why I'm late," she said, avoiding the actual question. It was a lie, and she knew her mom could tell, but she didn't say anything. "Well, I'm going to go up to my room now. I have lots of homework to do." That was a lie too. She hadn't been doing any of the assignments since the accident happened a couple months ago. She'd either talk to the teachers and get out of doing it, or just didn't bother to turn it in.

"Alright, well, dinner's in the oven and will be ready in about twenty minutes if you want to join me and your dad."

"I'll think about it," Aurelia said, already walking up the stairs to her room.

She opened the door and let out a sigh, pausing before she walked in, looking down the hall. She looked at the door that led to Aiden's room and felt a sharp pang of sadness shoot through her heart. She turned away and walked into her room, shutting the door behind her. She sat down on her bed and allowed the tears that had gathered in her eyes to roll down her face. She brought her hands up to her hair, running them through it, trying to calm down.

After a couple of minutes she had stopped crying and laid down on her bed, mentally drained. I'll just take a quick nap, then I'll go and find something to eat, she thought, knowing that's not what would really happen, but it made her feel better about going to bed at 5.45 in the afternoon.