Chapter 21
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Almost as if the universe wanted to further taunt me, my mind had been flooded with a different kind of bad dream last night...
As I slipped into a deep slumber, the world began to open up around me in glowing colors. I was lying in my bed back in Boston, only I wasn't alone.
A few moments later, Ashton appeared above me, his hand cupping my jaw and then tracing down my neck and chest. I bit my lip and arched up into him as he pressed his lips to my cheek, then my neck, then my collarbone.
I breathed out his name as his hand gripped my waist and he brought his lips above mine, looking deep into my eyes as I stared back up at him. He whispered my name, deep and sensual, and I nearly moaned at that sound alone. His lips lightly brushed mine as he genuinely slid his hands to mine and interlocked our fingers.
He began to plant long kisses down my neck again, lingering on a sensitive spot and sucking gently. I breathed his name again, and he brought his hands back out from mine again to lift up my shirt and begin kissing down my stomach. I felt my fingers through his soft hair as he continued lower, and lower, and lower.
As he began to kiss along my pants line, my heavy breathing began to blend with the sound of my alarm clock, and suddenly I was being pulled from the euphoric state I had been in.
When I opened my eyes, all I saw was brightness. I had forgotten to close the shades the night before.
I flipped my legs off of the side of the bed and went to stand up. Halfway through standing up, I slipped on a stray magazine and flopped onto the ground.
"Jesus Christ..." I mumbled as I climbed off of the ground.
I pulled out a pair of light shorts and a cute shirt that I got from 'TJ-Max', the love of my life. After I threw on some natural makeup, I ran downstairs to get some food.
After a couple bites of cheerios, I grabbed my backpack and ran out to my car.
On my way to school, I thought back to ice cream with Ashton. I tried to remember if it was a dream or reality. It definitely felt like a dream... I knew that it wasn't though.
I pulled into my normal parking spot next to Scarlett's spot. She got out of her car when I pulled in.
"Hurry up we're almost late," Scarlett ushered me out of my car. She seemed sadder and less put together that day. I figured that I would just ask her what was wrong at lunch. I had a feeling that whatever was wrong with her had something to do with the night that she had to leave dinner early.
When we sat down in home room, a substitute teacher walked in the room. She was a middle-aged woman, probably in her 40s, and she was wearing glasses that strung around her neck. Let's just say that she looked like a bitch...
"Good morning class. My name is Martha and I'll be your substitute today," she said as she sat down. "Your teacher let a list of what to accomplish today, but since none of it is graded I guess there's no point in doing it..." She went on. I liked her. "So I already did all of the worksheets and you guys can just look it over whenever... You can just talk to each other or study this period."
Scarlett and I looked at each other in awe. Excited squeals were heard all over the classroom and high fives clapped all throughout.
I got up and went to Martha's desk. "Excuse me, would you mind if my friend and I went to the library?" I asked her.
I wanted to get Scarlett and I alone, since I decided not to wait till lunch to ask her. I didn't know if she would be willing to tell me what was wrong in front of everyone else.
"Of course! Just don't look too suspicious," she said and smiled. I smiled back and then went back over to Scarlett.
"Let's go," I said and grabbed her wrist, pulling her toward the door.
"What? Where are we going?" She asked.
"Library," I replied.
When we got to the library, we sat down at the farthest table from the front desk. When we sat down, she pulled out her phone. I quickly snatched it out of her hands and she looked at me like I just killed her cat.
"Hey!" She said.
"You will get this back when you tell me what's wrong," I said and she looked at me confused.
"I don't know what your talking about."
"C'mon Scarlett, you can tell me. It will make you feel better, I promise." I said. I handed her phone back and she looked up at me sadly. She sighed.
"It's kind of a long story,"
"I got time," I said and smiled. After a pause, she continued.
"A while back, Savanah's parents got in a car crash. The hospital told us that they would be in a coma for five months tops, but in reality it was way longer. They were out years and years. during this time, Savanah was being raised by my Grandmother. My parents offered to take her in, but my Grandmother was more fit to take on a child. She quickly became Savanah's mother and best friend. The other night at dinner, we found out that she had been hospitalized. Apparently she had fallen down her stairs and broken some ribs or something." She paused. "She was 83, and her ability to heal wasn't strong enough. She, um, passed away yesterday."
I felt the sinking feeling in my chest return. "Shit. I'm so sorry."
"It's fine. Well I mean it's not fine, but I'll accept it. Eventually," she sighed and slightly smiled.
"How's Savanah dealing?" I asked.
"She's not in school today. She's strong though, stronger than anyone I've ever known. She'll heal."
I nodded and looked down. My heart ached for them. I knew what it felt like to lose someone you are close too, and there is no way to describe it. You either know what it feels like, or you can't even begin to imagine it.
I brought Scarlett in for a hug and she hugged me back. I could sense her calming down in my embrace. I guess Ashton was right- a hug feels better from someone who knows what it feels like to need one. It also works the other way... because the hug made me feel more at ease, too.
Hugging Scarlett made me crave a warm embrace from Ashton. I know that makes me sound like a crazy psychopath, but it was true.
She pulled away and I noticed that her eyes were red and puffy. I smiled sympathetically and she returned it.
We talked and played on our phones for the remainder of the period. God bless Martha...
I hadn't seen George at all that day. To be honest, I hadn't seen him since the incident occurred. I felt safer heading down to lunch, knowing that soon I would be surrounded by my friends.
I was walking alone to lunch 5 minutes later than everyone else. I had some locker troubles so I took a lot longer to deal with my books.
As I was walking in the hallway by myself, I began to feel a little anxious to get to lunch.
Suddenly, I felt an iron grip around my wrist. My reflexes tried to free me of the grasp, but whoever was grabbing me was too strong.
My arm felt as if it had been pulled out of it's socket as I was jerked into a small, dark corridor. I felt someone push my body up against the wall and cover my mouth with a large, rough hand.
Terror exploded through my entire body as I stared up at a male, who was hard to identify due to the lack of light. I still knew who it was. George.
"Don't make a noise." He said and slowly took his hand off of my mouth. I glared at him with more furry burning through my veins than a wildfire.
"What the fuck do you want?" I growled.
"I want you to stay away from my friends."
"They're not your friends!"
"Thanks to you," He said and glared back at me. "So you don't get to be friends with them, either."
"Last I checked, you don't control my life." I said through clenched teeth.
"Last I checked, I told you that if you didn't do as I say I will hurt the people you care about."
"As if you would stand a chance in a fight between any of the guys,"
"I never said anything about the guys." He said and smirked. My heartrate began to pick back up again.
"What are you trying to accomplish?" I asked.
"To ruin your life just like you ruined mine," he answered. "Stay away from them."
"Or what?"
"Or I'll hurt you. Badly."
"I thought you said you would hurt the people I care about," I commented, not letting him see that I was scared.
"That's only if you tell people." He said. "I'll say this one last time. Stay. Away. From them."
He stopped pushing me into the wall but still held on to my shoulders. I shoved him off of me and walked back into the hallway, hurrying to the safety of the cafeteria.
I didn't say anything or do anything, including eating, all lunch. I didn't think to seem less suspicious considering Ashton was sitting at the table.
I didn't know how to deal with the situation. I wanted to tell someone, but I didn't want anyone getting hurt.