AMaZiNg GrAyCE and the Amazing Race!

Chapter 6 : The Dream

Just as every other day, Amazing GrAyCE rode her skateboard down a busy street. When she got home, she parked her board in the front yard and entered her house. Her mom fussed at her for coming in wearing her dirty sneakers. She ignored her mom, wishing that she would be more welcoming instead of always fussing. She looked into the mirror and began combing her hair, still hearing her mother whine about the dirt on the floorboards.

All of a sudden, GrAyCE was entering the home again. For a second time, her mom was fussing as she went upstairs and looked in the mirror. And then just like before, she walks into the home, gets fussed at, then is upstairs looking in the mirror.

"What in the deja vu is going on here?" She yelled out, taking a bewildered look at her surroundings.

Then once again she is entering the front door and starts to go upstairs then—

I wake up and look around my bedroom. What is going on? Was that all a dream?

Shaking off the dream as nothing to worry about, I turn over and drift back to sleep. However, the dream starts all over again and I jolt awake for a second time. Why am I dreaming of the same thing repeatedly? Confused by the experience, I toss and turn in bed, doing my best to fall asleep again. This has always been normal for me. Not the crazy dreams part. Ever since I was a kid, I would wake up in the middle of the night and be up for at least an hour.

Beth and I used to share a bedroom, but we eventually realized that having our own felt better. Beth tends to go to bed earlier than me whenever she isn't on call and I always woke up much earlier than her anyways. She is super neat and I can be quite disorganized. Beth likes natural light and I could pretty much be a vampire in the darkness. As a result, sharing a bedroom doesn't make much sense for us. Sharing our home works great though.

A few minutes later and I am back to sleep. The odd sleeping experience definitely took its toll on me, however. When I get to work, I struggle to keep my eyes open and my movements are noticeably sluggish. As I walk in my classroom, Jely and David bustle in behind me. David fashioned a worried expression upon his face.

"Ms. Donaldson, please talk to Jely. I think that she's lost it!" The boy motioned towards Jely frantically.

In response, Jely only scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "I haven't lost it. I'm just done with this school and this place. I'm moving."

"Wait, what?" My face scrunched up in confusion as I turned towards Jely. "What's going on?"

"I talked to my mom about my adoption and she didn't tell me much. All she told me was that it was closed, but she does know my birth parents. She and my dad decided that they'll disclose everything to me when I'm 18. That's in 2 whole years!"

"You've already waited 16." David pointed out with a modest tilt of the head.

"It's ridiculous!" Jely countered, shaking her head. "It's so dumb. I want out."

Reeling from the information, I sent Jely an inquisitive look. "I thought that you wanted to know your birth parents just to know who they are, not to run off with them."

"I don't want to run off with them, I just don't want to be at my mom's anymore. She's just too secretive."

David let out a huff through his nose. "You're lucky you have a brother and sister that were adopted with you. You have your blood with you and you're all on the same side. Why would you leave them at this point?"

"He brings up a good point, Jely." I nodded. "That's pretty rare. Your parents adopted you all together. You're very lucky and so were your parents. Don't step out on them because you're curious. There is a reason they're making you wait."