Falling

o n e

I sat upright in bed. Only flashes of my dream remained, drifting away from my memory with every rapid heartbeat that pounded in my chest.

Red lights, a scream, the flash of teeth, rushing wind.

I ran a shaking hand through my hair as the images faded only leaving the terror behind.

The nightmares had been happening for a week now. I had mentioned it to my mother over breakfast after the first occurrence and received a raised eyebrow over the rim of her coffee cup. A conversation ender in our house. I had not breached the subject with her again. Instead I had taken to chugging coffee in the morning and adding a layer of concealer under my eyes to my daily routine.

I looked at the faintly glowing numbers by my bed, it was 5:30. School didn't start until 8. My hands had stopped shaking so I threw my covers to the side and got out of bed. I might as well take a shower, clear my head and look over my Spanish notes before going downstairs and alerting the whole house to that fact that I was awake.

Henry, my older brother, lived in the basement and was the world's lightest sleeper. He woke up whenever anyone moved around the main floor, and he was a menace in the morning. My mother was probably already awake, beginning her two hour beauty routine before she went to work. Charlie, the youngest, went to a fancy private school meaning he was not to be disturbed until 8:00 when he would get ready for school. Henry and I had to tiptoe around his room, that is, if we wanted to be fed when we were home. Kyle, my step-father, was away on a business trip. Frankly, I didn't care where he was, only mom and Charlie ever missed him.

When I got into the shower I stuck my head under the water. The water calmed me, cleared my head. Even though I never remembered any real details from my nightmares I was always tense when I woke up. Taking my time in the shower helped me to ground myself in the present, to reality.

When I got out of the shower I pulled on the first clothes I found in my closet. A red bralet and white v-neck with black, high waisted leggings that had mesh stripes running down the sides. I sat back down on my bed combing out my hair as I checked my phone. There were no notifications except the alarm that I had set for 7.

I switched it off and toweled off my wet hair before returning to the bathroom. I closed the door to help keep the sound down as I dried my hair and then pulled up half of the dirty blonde strands into a messy bun. I threw on some mascara and concealer, touched up my eyebrows and backed up from the mirror, looking myself over. I cocked my head to the side, pulled a face at myself and then turned on my heel and returned to my room.

Pulling out my Spanish notes, I read over the vocabulary and quizzed myself on conjugations. I had a test today and if I failed it, mom would be pissed.

Soon it was 7:15, so I packed up my notes, pulled on some socks, and threw my backpack over my shoulder before heading downstairs to grab some food.

When I arrived Henry was already eating toast at the table. He gave me a nod—his mouth was too full of food to say anything. I returned the gesture and grabbed a bowl and filled it with some cereal that was sitting out on the counter. I slid into the seat across from my brother and checked my phone again.

"Shouldn't you be leaving?" I asked him softly. He waved a hand dismissively at me and I rolled my eyes at him. He worked at a hole-in-the-wall bookstore a few miles away from our house, to the disappointment of our mother. He had graduated college and come back to live with us instead of disappearing into the workforce like she probably wished he would. I, for one, was happy he was here. If only so I had someone I could actually talk to in the house.

He got up and quietly put his dishes into the dishwasher, disappearing back down into the depths of the basement. I had almost finished my cereal by the time he resurfaced.

"Have a good day, Metal," he said, giving me a quick kiss on the head followed quickly by a flick of the ear.

"You too, mother-Hen," I muttered, rubbing my ear as he slipped out the front door. My real name was Martin, but he had dubbed me Metal after he had learned about the properties of metals, and therefore tin, in chemistry.

My mom floated down the stairs not long after he was gone. She had placed her long blonde hair up in a professional twist and her face was flawless as usual, her no-makeup makeup look being perfected years ago.

She barely spared me a glance before beginning to make eggs. I placed my empty cereal bowl in the dishwasher and moved to tie up my shoes.

"Did you study for your test?"

"Yes."

"Hmm." A dismissive little hum, she looked up from her cooking to eye me as I straightened up, grabbing my backpack again. "Charlie has a doctor's appointment at 4 so we won't be home until late. You can find your own dinner."

I would have just nodded but she had already looked away so I said, "okay, bye."

I only received another hum as I left the house. I breathed in the fresh air and walked down to the end of the driveway to my old Ford Focus. His name was Fernando and even though he had been through a lot he was still chugging along.

The drive to school was short, we lived about ten minutes away from the public high school. Poor Fernando never went far as he was prone to shaking furiously if pushed too hard in one go.

The drive was uneventful. I pulled into the school parking lot and found a spot relatively close to the building. When I put the car in park and turned off the engine I heard a loud laugh from somewhere behind Fernando. Grabbing my backpack I got out of my car and turned, looking towards the sound.

It was Macy Fischer and her on-again-off-again boyfriend Will Harper, they were with another guy that I didn't recognize. Macy seemed to be loving the attention from the two good looking boys—yes I'll admit it. Will Harper was good looking, sandy blonde hair and dark green eyes, a grin that seemed too perfect. He was the goalie of Thornbrook High's hockey team and carried himself like he had no fears or doubts. And the other guy was handsome—beyond handsome. He had dark hair that was effortlessly tousled and matched his all black outfit. His skin was tanned and he had light colored eyes that stood out against everything else about him. I could easily label him as one of the hottest people I have ever laid eyes on. He also looked bored.

A horn honked making me jump.

"Hey, bitch!" It was Julie, the pretty red head who had been friends with me since middle school.

"Hey, Jules," I gave her a soft smile as she climbed out of her red car. She was a heavier set girl and flaunted it. Today she was wearing a yellow shirt under a denim overall dress. Her staple green high tops were loosely tied around her feet.

"Bout to go fail my gov test," she said, pulling a face.

"I highly doubt that."

"Swear on my chubby, freckled ass." She sighed.

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes, "can't wait to see the 100 on it on Monday."

She stuck her tongue out at me and began walking towards the building. I glanced back towards Macy, Will and the other guy before I followed her and almost choked on my own spit. Those light eyes were staring straight at me.

I blinked, trying to play it off as I sped up to walk beside Julie, but I could swear I felt his gaze the whole way up to the school.

My first few classes passed without much happening. My Spanish test took the whole hour to complete and when I handed it in I was holding back a grimace.

Oh well, what's done is done.

I walked down the hall to my senior AP English class, the one class in the morning that I had friends in.

Jules and I would sit in the back corner with our friend Timber whom we had met our freshmen year at Thornbrook. Timber was a shy, petite girl who had moved to our town in Michigan from Canada.

When I entered the room I saw an immediate dilemma. Someone was sitting in Jules' spot.

And that someone was the guy from the parking lot.