Untitled Mystery

[Rache_san]

So, howdy. This is a story I'm currently writing... my friend and I came up with our own version of NaNoWriMo, called AlmoNaNoWriMo, because we felt the need to change a few rules as to adjust to our school schedules... anyways, it's like, from today until December 31st... and this is the story I'm doing for it. I have a chapter so far, but I'm curious to see what others think about it! I haven't shown the entire thing to anyone before, so yeah... here's the first chapter.


Swirls

There it stood. That little ominous piece of ripped paper. I spotted it immediately as I groaned and leaned over to kick my cat, Beau, off the bed. Why did it torment me like this? Why did it exist? In my own room!? Leaned up against my stack of sci-fi, fiction and vampire romance library books by my red, bulky flashlight and the blue bottle of Fabreze room freshener that was on the wooden table near my bed, it held itself up high with one simple half-sentence on it, written in my Mother's handwriting.
Of Silence waved only at Sara.
I stared at that paper, then to my door. How did it get in here? The door was still locked to keep Lewis out. The windows had been sealed shut for a very long time, and nothing else was out of place. It was just there. Whatever small, trivial thoughts had crossed my mind when I woke up were driven out as I saw it.
As I stared at that small, mindboggling paper, I heard my Father go into the bathroom nearby. Maybe it was Lewis. Either way, it was time to get up. Ignoring the further mystery of this random paper, I dragged my feet to my oak dresser and fuddled around to find my grey capris and favorite band t-shirt. Taking the necklace of red organza that had red and black velvet beads on it off of my bin and tying it around my neck, I grabbed the Special Kitty catfood and filled Beau's bowl up. After deciding he would not starve today, I left my room and ran through the hall to the kitchen to get there before anyone else. I would fix my hair and brush my teeth later. There was no way I was about to miss out on a good breakfast.
"Hey, Megnut," my Father said as he walked out of his room and saw me leaning against the counter in the kitchen through the hallway.
Feeling off today, I simply smiled at him as he headed toward the bathroom. It would be impolite for me to say anything to him, because I had a mouthful of waffle.
"Hey, dweeb," Lewis said as he walked past me to get to the refrigerator. He was your typical 19-year-old annoyance. I glared at him with a look of askance as I munched down on the waffle, showing off a slight smirk to wait for his horror.
"Oh," he gasped as he stood up straight after frantically searching through the freezer. "You didn't."
"Yeah, I did," I replied in a laughing voice after taking the last bite, prepared to run for it. He simply walked past me to the other side of the room, reached up to grab the spatula off the hanging rack and came at me with it. I flew out of the room, tearing across the house, running in circles. He stubbed his toe on a chair as we ran through the computer room that held the ancient piano and dining table for the second time around, and I was able to make my escape to the back bathroom.
"I'll get you later!" I heard him yell from across the house. Dad would chew him out for that.
I laughed at my near escape as I stood in the tiny room, then searched to find the light switch. Grabbing the nearest brush I skillfully combed through the left side of my hair as I held the toothbrush in my other hand, thankful that my electric one was back there. Looking up in the mirror, I had to stop. Every single time I saw that face it hurt. I was a constant reminder to myself, a spitting image of my late Mother. It had been almost two years since her mysterious death, and I could not bring myself to stand that face any longer. I had her piercing brown eyes, her soft, wavy brown hair, her slender nose, her small mouth. Every part of me was her. I do not know how my Father stood it.
Fighting back unwanted tears, I hurried to get the rest of my hair decent and gently pushed the door open, going back to the kitchen. Luckily, Lewis had found the salmon and decided to make a salmon and mayonnaise sandwich instead of beat me to a bloody pulp with the plastic spatula. That would have hurt. I sidled past him to get some milk out of the refrigerator, only to find he had finished it off, leaving the lemonade. My most hated drink.
"Thank you," I spewed out in the most sarcastic voice I could muster up. I guess he got his payback after all.
"What's all this?" I heard my Father's strong voice come from behind us. He had just walked in, hearing my saracasm and knew that Lewis was being a jerk again.
"He drank all the milk," I pathetically sighed a complaint.
"Drink water," Lewis rudely suggested before Dad could get a word in.
"Hey, now," he interrupted our feud. "I'll get you some Milo's on the way back from work, alright? You two behave today," he said, walking out of the kitchen and down the hall towards the living room. "If that's possible," he added.
"Jerk," I muttered to Lewis when I heard the door lock.
"Fruitcake," he retorted. I gave him a smack on the shoulder and in return got an even harder one. After making myself some Peppermint Tea I pushed through the swinging red door that only went one way and sat down at the dining table, getting out my history, science, math, Bible, and literature books. The Lord of the Rings study could wait until tonight after I finished the latest chapter, "Flotsam and Jetsam".
The math was not all too hard. I had gotten better lately, going from having a tutor to getting a different, self-teaching book. History was more reading, this time depth about Good Queen Bess and England's defeat over Spain. Science was more Biology. Ick. Bible was another study on the Old Testament, about the lessons to be learned from Ruth. My literature was the best of all, though. Poetry from Poe, Frost, to a short story from Katherine Mansfield. I was addicted to words, and a complete novel junky. My studies seemed easier than they should have been.
It took me about three hours to finish up, but after I did I grabbed my Nikon camera that was a present from Aunt Sophie three Christmas' ago and went to go outside, slowing down as I passed by the TV to annoy Lewis again. Chaining the front door behind me and flipping the lock on the screen door, I looked across the yard and gasped. Apparently, Dad had called his friends to help him move in some monkey grass. The entire yard was full of it. As I walked off the porch, I stood on the marble level and walked to the end of it towards the gated backyard. The flowers were beginning to bloom, and a white blossom had appeared on the tree infront of me. It was my Mother's favorite flower, her favorite tree. I picked the single flower, the only one I could spot on it after searching the tree, and gently placed it in my hair, turning to look in the reflection of the front windows. It looked good. I cringed as I saw my face again, never getting used to it. Taking my camera, I went over to the tree again and snapped a close up of a small white bud.
Looking across the yard, there was not much else to take pictures of. I looked to my left, towards the mass of bushes and saw the red berries appearing. They were coming out to say hello to the sun, too. Trudging through the thorny bushes, stopping to say hello to Lewis's turtle, Leo, I took a couple of pictures of the berries from different angles. It was early afternoon, and the sun was blinding most of my views.
Giving up on my yard, I put the camera back in its case, strapped it around my shoulder and got my tall purple bike from the front porch. It was a pleasant ride to the park. I always loved the feel of the wind in my face. Hardly anyone was out this time of day, other than Mr. Lawler and the other seniors that did not have anything else to do but yardwork. I didn't have to avoid other kids, or people driving home because they were all at work, or school.
It was eight blocks from my house to the park, so it did not take too long. I slowed down as I approached the park, going up the driveway and avoiding the dirt hill to come down on the grassy part of it. I softly rode around the running track twice then went up the sharp hill to the swings, forced to get off my bike and roll it up there. I could not help but smile when I saw they had all showed, once again, as they did every day.
Andrea and Joy were my age. Drea had dark brown curly hair, with green eyes and a strong spirit. Joy had the punk look going on, with a short brown pixie, but her eyes were the "soft, fall in if you aren't paying attention" kind of brown, with her gorgeous dark skin. Guys went insane over her. We had been friends since we were seven, and knew each oher like sisters. Monika was a fairly new friend, having only known her for three years, also being a year younger than us. She had delicate, thin, shoulder-length wispy black hair, and blue eyes. Chester was the oddball of the group, being the only guy, and two years younger than us. To make him even more curious, he was your average light skinned, redhead, freckle faced dork. We love him, though. Together, the five of us made up our own special homeschooled group. After having met at this park around this time for so long, cops stopped asking why we were not in school.
"Meghan!" Drea shouted as she ran up and hugged me. "You're late! Why?"
"Math," I told her while rolling my eyes. She inspected me, looking first in my eyes then pulling away and looking at my entire body. I could not tell what she was looking for, if anything. She hid things very well.
"Is that why you look so beat? Math?"

 

[Rache_san]

I could not hide the surprise in my eyes. Had she noticed? I had cried my eyes out all night long last night, and today fought back tears all day. Not to mention that paper. The paper! I had forgotten about it.
"Uhm, yeah," I said in a hurried voice. "Wait, no. I didn't sleep good well last night."
Chester looked up from his book as he swayed on the swings and noticed how I looked. Stuffing it back in his backpack and walking over, he squinted his eyes at me, studying me. Slowly he reached up and touched the skin right under my eyes. He may have been a dork, but he was a genius, and probably knew by now why I did not sleep good the past night. Thankfully, he did not say it aloud just then, probably waiting until there was a moment when he could confront me alone, or give me a break because he knew I cried alot.
"Get some sleep tonight," he told me and nodded his head a little. It was amazing how this 14-year-old kid could be as comforting as he was. You would think he would be an emotionless wizz-kid, but every small action was on purpose with him. I would have felt comfortable telling him about the paper had I known what it meant myself.
After gathering in our prayer circle, Drea making a note to stop on me longer, we made small chitchat in the tot area. It held the slides, and the water fountain.
I could not stop thinking about that paper, now that I remembered it. It looked like it was torn out of a diary. Why would it have her name on it, though? Why would my Mother write her own name? The handwriting looked rushed, almost as if it was not her own writing, but I would know that hand anywhere. Why would it say what it did? 'Silence' was capitalized, as if part of a name. This was not National Treasure, though. Why -was- it capitalized? 'Of' was capitalized, too. Was it a title? 'Of Silence'? Someone Of Silence? I grabbed my head with both hands as the heat made my headache worse, and went to get some water again.
"Dehydrated?" Chester asked.
"Just really hot," I told him as I walked back to our circle. He then further examined me, and made us sit in the shade of a tree.
"You don't look good," he said after a few minutes. "Lack of sleep plus dehydration..."
"I'm fine," I cut him off. I made a note to stop going for water to try to look tough. Big mistake. In about ten minutes, I was beginning to really feel the heat of the sun. It just kept getting hotter and hotter. We were sitting on the ledge near the bridge that crossed from the park to the main road, and Joy was complaining about her boyfriend, Alain, when it happened. I do not remember what she had to say about him, all I remember is fading away. It was not like falling to sleep; I knew it was happening when it was, but could not do anything about it. Everything was suddenly mashed together, in rainbow swirls. As soon as I came back to, I realized I was under the shade of the building. They had moved me to the roofed structure with the picnic tables. Drea had me in her lap as she sat against a stone column, stroking my hair. She always tried to be as motherly as possible towards me.
"She's awake!" Monika shouted as she noticed my eyes open. She was sitting across from me on the ground, her legs crossed. I felt like I had been punched in the back of the head, no doubt caused by the impact of falling backwards.
"My Mom's on the way," Drea told me as I looked around, confused. "You were out for atleast fifteen minutes..."
Chester went to get a Coca-cola from the vending machine. Monika offered to ride my bike to my house so it did not get left behind. She had ridden with Paige on the way there, and there would not be enough room.
"Nah, it's okay, she doesn't have to come. I-" almost trying to tell them I felt fine, I realized I did not. "I don't feel good," I muttered as I closed my eyes.
"Here," I heard Chester walk up to me. I held out my hand so he could give me the coke, opened it and took a long sip. It felt heavy in my hand, so I lazily put it on the ground, not caring to lift my arm up again and sat there for a few minutes. I could hear Drea whispering a prayer for me as we sat there.
"Meghan?" I could tell by Drea's soft voice that she thought I fainted again.
"What?" I whispered.
"My Mom's here," she stated as I heard the noisy car pull up. "Hey, little help here," she said to the others as she tried to pick me up. I did not want to move at all. Sitting there in the shade was fine by me. They had to, though.
"I guess this means I ride with you," I heard Joy talking to Chester. They had to share his bike for the ride home. "See ya'll later," she said to us while they mounting his bike and began down the sidewalk.
"Guess I'll see you in a few," Monika said as she got on my bike with a grim smile and headed down the track.
"Come on, dear," Paige said sweetly as she put her arm around me to help support me. I was leaning against the wall, happy to stay there for a few more minutes. There was something in her eyes, though. Paige was constantly a mystery to me, and Drea never explained her family all that much. It was a sadness, as if she knew today would be rough for me and was expecting something. It was like -she knew-. Knew something was going on that I did not. I avoided looking into her eyes as much as I could, instead taking deliberate steps to her beat up Kia. Another mystery was why they never got a better car when her husband was a doctor.
Drea sat in the front seat of her mom's car as I took up the entire backseat lying down.
"Feeling any better?" Paige asked.
I groaned in response. "Alive," I said sarcastically. I could not see her face because I had my eyes closed, but I knew she was scowling at me. She hated sarcasm.
I peaked my eyes open enough to look over and caught a glimpse of Paige whispering to Drea, who looked back at me a second before I could close my eyes. A few seconds past of her favorite worship music, and I opened my eyes again, only to find that Drea was still looking at me. I smiled with a look oozing guilt and closed my eyes again, sighing and turning the other way. I felt unwanted in that second, like I should not be hearing what they were saying, or see what was happening.
It felt like only a few seconds until I realized that the car had come to a stop, and I realized I must have fallen asleep. I blinked a few times at the sun coming through the back window, shoving my head in the shadow of the space between my arm and the seat, and looked up to see that Paige was not in the car anymore. Drea was lightly singing along to the music. I sighed as I groaned and reached to rub my head, which still hurt.
"Finally awake, sleepy head?" Drea asked lightly as the song ended.
"I guess. What do you mean finally?" It was not that far to my house from the park...
"My mom took a detour to our house," she told me. "We needed to run something by my Father to make sure we had his approval..."
"Oh... how long was I out?" There was no way they went to their house. They lived an hour away.

 

[Rache_san]

"A while," she laughed. Before I could get another question in Drea suddenly opened her door and walked out.
"Come on, dweeb," Lewis said as he opened the door that my feet were nearest.
"What are you doing?" I asked indignantly, hearing myself sound extra groggy as I attempted to sit up straight.
"Getting you out," came his reply. He was being nice, so apparently Paige had told him what happened. After all the annoying fights, we did still love each other, and I was thankful for his strong build. He carried me in his arms so I would not have to use any strength, which was a little bit off, even for him.
"Why are you being so..." my voice trailed off as I noticed something, letting out a small gasp and making him put me down.
"What are you doing?" he said as he tried to get me down without much harm done.
I could not answer him. I was stunned. Why was it there? How? There was only one flower left on that tree, I made sure of it. I had searched that tree, taking a picture of only the single small bud that was blooming. This flower was in full bloom, and being almost as mysterious as the paper.
I lagged, running, trying to get my way a few feet to my Mother's favorite tree. Feeling completely out of it, as if I had been drugged, I picked up the flower that was near the old side-garden that should not have been there.
It smelled wonderful. I looked back to see Lewis standing by our front tree, giving me a look like I was insane that quickly changed, just as he started dashing towards me. I was falling over again. Everything went into swirls. Why was this happening again?
"Will she be alright?" I could only faintly swear that was Monika.
"Yes." Paige, definitely. "I think she's just been having a hard time lately."
She thinks? I wondered how long Monika had been waiting, or if she had to endure much of Lewis. A trip to the Fitzgerald's house would keep her here a good while, if Drea was telling the truth. Why would they go that far? How did I stay asleep that long? All I could think about was the pain in my head...
"Hey, Meg?" Lewis was sitting on the ground next to me, and began stroking my arm. Today was very off.
"That stupid flower," I muttered. It was all I could think of. Why would there be a flower on the stone next to the tree, when there was no bloom other than the one I had taken and put in my hair this morning? It should not have existed, at all. I yawned and tried to turn on my side, only to find that my head hurt when I moved the tiniest bit. I had not had my head hurt this bad since I went to the hospital when I was seven, and then when I had to take all this pain meds for my knee surgery...
"I always thought she had a crush on him!" Lewis was laughing. What was he laughing about? Had I fallen asleep again and missed something?
"I give her more credit than that," Monika said. I would have thanked her if I could. For what, I did not know yet.
"He's a good kid," Paige said, obviously still here. "He's been brought up well by his mother." I could hear her smile in the way she complimented him. Whoever he was.
"Who?" I coughed out, trying to get my brain to move some part of me.
"Chester," Lewis replied in his usual moking voice.
"Chester?" I muttered the name, trying to remember who he was, as I thought about getting up from the couch. It did not seem like a good idea at all.
"Yeah, that's right," Lewis said. "Your boyfriend."
He began laughing some more, and obviously felt no need to continue being nice. I used all the strength left in my body to fling my arm out in the direction I heard his voice come from, and had to smile when he let out a yelp of surprise as I smacked his head.
"Weasel."
"Knucklebrain," I retorted.
"Hey, come now. Be nice," Paige said. "I would have thought your father would..."
Suddenly, all was quiet. Very quiet. I took a long, deep breath in. The room smelled amazing. It was like someone released Spring from a bottle. A soft, grassy dew auroma mixed in with a mess of different flowers, all coming in bloom at the same time. There was fruit in there, somewhere, deep in the recesses of a nice fresh rain. How someone could actually bottle the scent of freshly formed warmth that was in a heated battle killing out the cold in the twilight of a perfect day in Spring was beyond my knowledge. I did not want to think about how it was done, I just wanted to continue inhaling it. Every exhale was a wasted moment to breathe the impossible smell in. I sat still for a few minutes, not caring to look around, just continuing this intoxicating moment.
"Come now, take it easy."
I jumped out of my skin as my eyes popped wide open from fear of not recognizing the voice and being startled that someone was in the room with me. I looked over and realized I was not in my home, and had no clue as to what this place was.
"Peace," the man said as he leaned over from his bedside chair to gently stroke my hand. I jerked back violently. Who was he?
I was about to ask what in the world was going on before I realized who exactly he was. I could tell that face anywhere, and suddenly realized that I had never seen him before. A spark flew in my brain and I immediately knew exactly where I was.
"Mr. Fitzgerald?" I asked warily.
He smiled a gentle smile, far nicer than I would think anyone could conjure up by the way I felt.
"Yes," he replied. "How are you feeling?"
I caught myself before I blurted out that I was fine when I remembered that he was a doctor, and knew I would be lying if I said I felt okay. I was just about to tell him straightforwardly all the places that ached in extravagant pain when Drea snuck into the room.
"Oh," she halfway gasped when she looked up and saw I was sitting up on the bed. She staggered for a second. "You're awake."
I could not reply to her, only sit in wonder and blink as if that would help my brain work better. She stared at me with a pained expression on her face. A look of sorrow that meshed with horror sparked in her eyes for a second, quickly gone when she realized it was showing through.
"Drea," her father said in a majestic, smooth voice, "Will you please stay here while I go downstairs so I can talk to your mother?"
"Of course." She gulped.
"Thanks, dear," he said as he lithely got up from the chair, stopping to whisper something in her ear, and left. Drea wasted no time in sitting down in the bedside chair. She stared intently ahead, ignoring the fact that I existed as she tapped her fingers on the arm of the chair.
"What's going on?" I asked as forcefully as I could.
She looked over and met my gaze with a practiced stone look on her face, one that I could not look at. She was not the person I had befriended so many years ago. She was not my Drea, the single person I could trust with everything. She had changed in this little amount of time. This entire day had been off.
I rethought what I had just said to myself. The entire day. It had been an entire day from eating that stupid waffle until I was on my couch, going in and out of consciousness. It had been nearly dusk the last I remembered. The sun was shining violently through the window, no doubt around high afternoon. What was going on? I had never slept this much in such a short time in my entire life. I was beginning to get a headache on top of everything else from the confusion I felt.
"Drea," I asked hesitantly, "What's going on? What day is it?"
She held her head down, inclining it towards me as if trying to meet my eyes, but unable to. She continued to tap her fingers against the arm of the chair, approaching allegro. I could not tell what was bothering her so much. She always told me everything that was serious. What was going on?
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"Sorry?" I asked. "For what? What's going on?" I demanded.
"Please," she began, "Stay still."
I did not know what in the world was going on, but I knew that I was going to follow her orders. I trusted her with my life, and it did not matter what she could not tell me, I would do what she asked. I stood stone still as she roughly got from the chair and walked to the other side of the bed, opening the drawer to the nightstand and sitting down behind me.
"I'm sorry if you've been in pain," she added, her voice giving her away as she started crying. I knew I could not turn around to look at her. It would be too much to bear. I let out a controlled sigh as she let out a heavier one in unison. I felt a small prick on my right arm, and immediately recognized the swirls that suddenly filled the room.

 

[crazycigirl]

I personally can not stand it when something serious is happening and nobody will tell me what's going on!

Well, its good, clear, strange, and confusing...all at the same time. Although if Drea lives a hour away, how does she get to the "meetings" everyday? (If they are everyday.) Or am I reading this wrong?

 

[Rache_san]

Thanks! It's nice to get some feedback... aaand, yeah. I halfway thought about it when I was looking over it, and decided to make mention to it in the second chapter. They are everyday, and she gets taken by her mother, Paige, because she works close by =]

 

[narnian reader]

I lıke your story because ıt ıs ıntrıguıng but ıt made me really confused. I mean all these things happening it almost seems like she is going in and out of different realities or something like that. i hope whatever is going on will be explained soon.

 

[crazycigirl]

she gets taken by her mother, Paige, because she works close by =]

Oh ok. The next question I was going to ask was why does her mom take her. lol You'll probualy have to make the next chapter were clear. But you probualy know that.

 

[Rache_san]

I lıke your story because ıt ıs ıntrıguıng but ıt made me really confused. I mean all these things happening it almost seems like she is going in and out of different realities or something like that. i hope whatever is going on will be explained soon.

Well, it's almost supposed to be like that. It'll clear up pretty soon, though, so don't worry =]

Oh ok. The next question I was going to ask was why does her mom take her. lol You'll probualy have to make the next chapter were clear. But you probualy know that.

Oohhh... yeah. Lol. Well, it's on her way to work, y'know? The other four live fairly close by, so it isn't a problem for them to go alone. Paige works near the park, so it isn't a problem to drop her off on her way to work... get it?

 

[crazycigirl]

Yup! Although I am still confused as to how the main character (does she have a name yet? Or did I miss that too...) gets to the meetings. As in she rides her bike, but the whole landscape that she rides through is confusing. Do I make any sense? I'm starting to confuse myself...

 

[Rache_san]

Mmm, her name is Meghan, and she uhm.. just... rides to the park. I probably need to add more detail to the fact that they live near the city The park is almost like a neighborhood park, I guess....

 

[crazycigirl]

Maghan. Right. I knew that...sorta. Sorry, what I meant was:

I slowed down as I approached the park, going up the driveway and avoiding the dirt hill to come down on the grassy part of it. I softly rode around the running track twice then went up the sharp hill to the swings, forced to get off my bike and roll it up there.

This part is confusing. It could just be because I don't live in town but what is the driveway? The rest I don't follow.Sorry for being a nuisance

 

[Rache_san]

Lol... uhm.. right. I should have worded that differently.. uhm.. well, it's like... hm. There are three different ways to get to the park... one from near the tennis court, it opens up from a deadend neighborhood... one is from the parking lot, near the pavilion.. and the other is down a gravel driveway that leads to some neighborhoods... yeah. I should have probably added that Sorry. I really will try to make it more clear... and I don't think you're a nuisance at all. I really, really wanted someone to read it and ask questions so I could see how to make it better and more clear =]

 

[crazycigirl]

lol ok then. I don't think I had anymore questions... Otherwise it is very clearly wrote. So, since your writting about this, are you homeschooled and a Christian?

 

[Rache_san]

Heh, thanks. Uhm... yeah, I am actually. What happens in the beginning is fairly similar to day-to-day life with me and my friend, whom the main character is named after. It'll go completely off the wall pretty soon, though I'm about half way done with the second chapter...

 

[Rache_san]

Overlap

I took in a sharp breath as I woke up from my nightmare. I had not had one scar my night like that, so vivid, so intense, in a very long time. I looked around the room, noted that everything was still in place, and that the door was locked. I stretched, yawning, and sat up to see that Beau was peacefully sleeping at my feet. I turned my body around to look over the end of the bed and saw that his food bowl was empty. Groggy from the morning, I gently slide my feet from under the blankets, trying not to wake him. I went over to my dresser, quickly changing into my grey capris pants and light blue blouse. Picking the catfood bag up from the floor, I went over and filled Beau's bowl up until I was content with it.
"Good morning," I cooed as I walked over to his usual sleeping spot, gently stroking his fur. A rumble of purring came through in the silence, and I leaned over to kiss the top of his head. He was still purring as I left the room to go for the front bathroom. After taking a five minute bath, washing my face, combing my hair, brushing my teeth, and adding a small braid to the front of my hair, I went back in my room to exchange my pink slippers for my red Converse, signed by my favorite band.
As I was putting on my striped socks, Beau violently attacked me, rubbing against my back and sitting in my lap. He dug his claws into my legs as he expressed his joy. I had to let out a couple of yelps as he dug a little too deep, and put him down when he started attacking the shoe strings. He looked up at me with a pathetically pained look, meowing like I had just denied him of his favorite toy.
"Hey, come on," I said to him, "Ease up."
He jumped on the bed when I started talking to him, and I finally gave up, settling for my zip up boots, spending a good fifteen minutes petting him. I walked him to the kitchen to feed him, getting the last waffle out of the freezer for myself.
The house was unusually quiet. My nightmare had woken me up a good hour before anyone else would wake. I picked the waffle out of the toaster, burning my hand in the process, and began smothering it with butter when I suddenly stopped. Beau had jumped on the counter, and I did not even bother to shoo him away as he began licking the waffle. I ran as fast as I could to my room, stopping to look at my bedside table. There was nothing out of place, at all. All my library books were in the same exact position, the Fabreze was there, the flashlight was there. The paper was not.
It had to have been a dream. Nothing like that would ever happen, not in this life. My mother had not kept a secret diary, let alone kept a secret in her life. I had never fainted before, ever. There was no way any of that was real. It really was my nightmare.
The similarity in my days was a coincidence, purely based on routine. I had probably remembered looking to see that there was only one waffle left last night, and it registered in my brain while I slept. I considered whether or not I should try to create a story from my nightmare. It would be a best seller, I was sure. A great horror novel of our time.
As I mused at the thought, I could not help but whine when I walked back to the kitchen and found that Beau had gotten my waffle on the floor and was licking it to no end. I walked over to the fridge and opened the side door, spotting some salmon and deciding to make salmon and mayonnaise sandwiches for breakfast for everyone, pouring out a glass of lemonade for Lewis and some milk for myself, finishing it off. The similarity between my nightmare and my current day was bugging me, but I refused to let it get to me. I would have a normal day, like any other.
"Good morning," I said to my Father as I heard his door open, not bothering to look back. I had been right so far, to an eerie extent. Today was very normal.
After breakfast I sat down at the schooltable, finishing off the last bite of my sandwich, and began my schoolwork. I opened my history book, blowing the random eraser flakes from the middle of the page, and started reading. It was about Good Queen Bess today, to my horror. Another mind trick, undoubtedly. I even remembered looking at my next lesson the day before and thinking about how fun it would be to read about her again. Todays lessons were easy, so I finished in only a mere two hours.
"Goin' to the park," I said as I got up from the table and passed Lewis in the living room.
"Isn't it a little early?" he asked. I responded with a shrug, not caring enough that I would be atleast half an hour early. I would rather spend time at the park than watch television with Lewis anyday.
I walked outside to find the yard in the same condition it had been in for the last sixteen years. Half of me expected the monkey grass, but it was not there. I grimaced as I peaked over to my right and saw my Mother's favorite tree. I let out a sigh when I noticed atleast three small blooms on it at first sight. I did not stop to take pictures of anything, nor to even get my camera. I went to the far left of the porch, grabbed my bike, and took it to the sidewalk to begin my journey.
If all that had really happened, I would not feel up to riding. I tested myself. My usual calmness was completely gone. I stood up as I rode, going as fast as I felt safe with, taking the longest route I could find. It still was not long enough. I got there in ten minutes, and decided to go around the track as many times as I could until everyone else got there. I slowed down my pace out of exhuastion, and by the time I was halfway down the track I almost fell off my bike in surprise as I balked.
"Hello, Meghan."
I could hear the smile in his voice. He was always nicer to me than I deserved. It did not matter if I had done something wrong or not, he was just too nice. He sat on the light blue bleachers, smiling innocently.
"Uh," I staggered, "Hey, Chester. You're early."
He smiled again, jumping down two seats at a time. I hugged him when he got down, and he took a step back to examine me as he had done in my nightmare. I tensed.
"Huh," he muttered to himself, looking almost as confused as I felt. I probably would have gotten offended by his lack of explination had I not seen the complete confusion in his eyes. Something was off with him, too.
"Sleep well?" he asked warily.
"Mmhm," I muttered, blinking back my lie that did not convince him at all. His face mashed together as if trying to understand something, the corner of his mouth rising slightly and his eyebrows almost joining. I thought about his confusion for a second.
"How about you?" I asked. "Did you sleep well?"
He stared up at me in surprise for a few seconds, trying to understand what I was saying as if I was speaking in a different language he did not know.
"No," he told me, the pain of confusion seeming like it was permanent on his face. He was always a better person than me. I could not recall one time when he had lied.
"Nightmare?" I asked sarcastically. There was not much need for me to ask, though. I knew the reason he would not sleep well. Trying to keep the grades he did with a baby sister in the house had to take a toll on him. Lucy was adorable, but needed alot of caretaking like any other ten month old.
To my surprise, his face fell to the point where he looked almost emotionless. He simply nodded his head lightly, his eyes becoming glued to the ground. He walked over to get his backpack and began the walk to the swings near the tot area. I kept silently beside him, walking my bike the rest of the way.
"What was your nightmare about?" I asked him as we were walking up the grass hill that led to the tot area. I looked over to him to see that he was shaking his head back and forth. Why would he not tell me?
"Was I in it?" I asked hopelessly. I felt like I would probably not get much out of him today.
He slowed his pace a little and looked over to me. "Was I in yours?" he asked. Ouch. I took a sharp breath in and opened my mouth to answer, but could not find the words. I wanted to explain everything to him, but I could not. I would not.
"Exactly," he whispered, although I could not swear that is what he said. We sat silently for a few seconds as we looked at the empty tot area, and I took the plunge first, going over to the swings and began swinging.
He walked over to me slowly, taking the seat next to me and began swinging. He was only lightly pushing off of the ground, swaying more than swinging. Something was bugging him, and I could not tell what was wrong. I knew what was wrong with me, my nightmare, my day. My mind was completely messed up, because I was probably going insane. Chester was the most clear minded person I knew. There was no way something was going on wrong in his brain.
I felt like a kid again, swinging along with him. I had not taken a good day off to just think about nothing in a while, and apart from the pressing issue of having no clue what was going on, I was fairly content. We continued swinging in silence for a few minutes.
"Do you ever feel like you're going insane?" he asked me suddenly. I was swinging foward when he did, and as I registered what he said I fell off the swing as I was heading backwards. He balked his slow swing and hurried over to help me up.
"Are you alright?" he asked me, looking very worried on top of everything else.
"What did you say?" I muttered as I sat in the dirt of the ground underneath the swing that sank me deeper because of the use of it.
"Are you alright?" he repeated.

 

[Rache_san]

All I could do was shake my head. I did not mean that. I meant before it. He thought he was insane? This was crazy, not to mention making no sense at all. A sudden look of realization came into his face, and he immediately looked horrified.
"I'm sorry," he said. I could not find the words to tell him it was alright. I could not find any words at all. He helped me walk over to the pavilion and examined my knee and back, for they had taken the most damage.
"Well, you didn't get hurt very much," he told me. "Try to stay on the swing next time, will you?"
I laughed in response, no able to do much. He looked at me for a second, then over to my right arm, his head tilted.
"You're elbow," he muttered, walking around to my side and lifting up my sleeve to my shoulder. I could not tell what he was doing, but it was completely weirding me out. I immediately thought back to my nightmare. Drea had done something to my right arm. What, though? What was he looking for right now? It was a nightmare, not actual. People did not have scars from their nightmares. I had realized that I almost convinced myself it was just a nightmare, but the nagging curiousity was giving me a headache in the back of my mind. I really did not know if it was a nightmare or not.
"Impossible," I muttered. Chester let go of the sleeve when I did, walking over to sit on the bench across from the one I sat on. I looked over to him to see a look on his face that clearly said, "Nothing is impossible." I was beginning to get scared.
"Suuuuuuuuuuey!"
I had to let out a laugh and roll my eyes as I heard Joy's call. In a couple of minutes she came to where we were, curious as to what was going on.
"Howdy," she said to us as she sat down on a bench next to ours. I smiled at her, unable to do anything else. She was the goof of the group, always able to make us laugh.
"Hey, Joy," I said lightly. Chester gave her a similar greeting, although I knew something was still bugging him.
"So, what have ya'll been up this early?" she asked. I looked down at my watch and realized that she was early, too.
"Finished school early," I told her. I saw Chester twitch slightly out of the corner of my eye, but Joy was oblivious. "What about you?" I asked her before she could get another question in. "Aren't you early, too?"
"Well, yeah. I wanted to get here before anyone else to say I was early, but nooo," she said, waving her hand around. "You guys had to beat me! Who was here first?" she asked.
"Chester," I told her. "And sorry," I added, laughing. "If I had known I would have stayed home a little longer to watch television with Lewis."
"Suuure," she said. "Either of you know if Drea's coming?" she asked.
A little stab went through my body when she asked, and I saw Chester move uncomfortably. I looked between the both of them, and saw that Chester was keeping an eye on me. Joy starting looking between both of us, looking utterly confused.
"I have no clue," I said as I looked over to her. "Does her mom have the day off?"
"Dunno, that's why I was asking."
"She'll be here," Chester said, speaking for the first time in a while. I looked at him, wondering why he sounded so confident. He did not meet my gaze.
Joy kept up a light conversation until Monika came, and then I was able to almost fade away while they made small chit-chat. Chester had not spoken since he greeted Monika. I would stare at Monika, her hair just as whispy as it always was, and just as beautiful. Joy was the same way. They both had light faces, geniune smiles, and were pleased to be continuing our routine. Chester was the only one who did not want to exist in that moment. He looked horrible, completely beat, like he was given a math problem he could not figure out, or had lost a chess game ten times in a row without knowing what had happened.
"I still can't believe Alain... oh gosh! Hey, Drea!"
I was halfway paying attention to Joy, complaining about her boyfriend again, when she called out to greet Drea. I looked up to the parking lot nearby, and noticed that Chester did too. It was the first time he had come to attention in a long while, same as me. We were both drifting in our thoughts...
"Hey, guys," she called over to us, telling her mother goodbye as she left for work.
"Hey, Drea! You're late," Monika said. Drea lightly skipped up to the pavilion and hugged us one by one. I could tell she was lightly worried when Chester acted completely normal, and I was losing my mind. I do not know how he did it, but he acted at ease with perfection, like he had been waiting for this moment for so long and it had finally come, so he would not mess it up. I guessed he was using all his strength to keep so tranquil.
Joy prayed this time, unlike my dream. It was probably the first thing that had happened that day which was not deja vu to my nightmare. Everything within me hoped that it was simply just a nightmare, and that I was losing my mind to the extent of needing to go to the hospital. It felt too real, but it was just too unreal to be real. I really was losing my mind.
I could not help but think about what had happened so far today. I suddenly realized that I felt there was a new connection between me and Chester, like we were sharing something we both did not sign up for. Kids had nightmares all the time, so why should it be that odd that we both had one last night? If only we could talk about what was going on. I wished we could have a moment to ourselves. If only I could get him alone for...
"Meg? Meggy Meg Meggerson! Wake up!"
I looked up to see that everyone was staring at me. I immediately felt awkward, like I might be missing some clothing article or something similar, but I had just drooped my head in thought and Drea assumed I had fallen asleep. I sighed in relief that it was not anything embarrassing.
"Hmm?" I asked stupidly, pretending to have been tired. Everyone but Chester was convinced.
"I think you fell asleep," Drea said the obvious. She looked worried, almost to a fault. There was that look in her eyes again, of horror and worry. No, not again. It had not happened. My brain knew I had seen that look before, though. What if it really did happen? I could not tell myself that, it was just too far fetched. I shoved the thought away to the very back of my brain, as far as it would go, and tried to pay attention to the conversation.
It surprised me to find out that every day was simply the same questions, asked over and over again, like a pattern etched in stone. There was never much excitement. We were just happy to be together, and talk about our lives. As I started paying more attention, I noticed that Chester was paying attention too, but he was obviously far away. He was much better with things like that than I was. He could be figuring out a mystery and keep up with a conversation at the same time.
"Hey, Meg, I need to talk to you," Chester said suddenly when Joy was taking a breather from her rants. I looked at him, completely startled but amazingly thankful. I needed to talk with him, too. We needed to know what was going on. He looked excited, like he might actually have figured something out, or thought that we could make some sense of things. I was getting very eager. There was not much anyone could do so that we would not get a moment alone. Monika looked at the eager expressions on our faces with extreme curiosity.
"Come on, anything you have to say to her you can say infront of us," Drea teased lightly. There it was. The excuse for us not getting to speak. I looked at Chester, sitting across from me in our small circle on the ground. His mouth fell open when she spoke. I could tell my eyes bugged out as I let out a sigh of horror and disappointment and let my eyes wonder frantically, as if searching what I could see in front of me for some answer to getting a moment alone. Chester realized he was showing his surprise at being shot down, and shut his mouth, gulping down a lump in his throat. He and I both knew at that moment that this would be harder than he thought.
"What, were you gonna ask her out?" Joy teased. Chester shot her a glare that made her lift her hands in surrender and drop the subject. He did not try again.
I rode my bike home as fast as I could, so I could get a hold of Chester before anything could stop me. I had to call him. It was not like I would be making a friendly phone call, this was serious. I knew how important it was. He could figure things out, and stop my insanity before it became permanent. I wondered if he was just messing with my head for laughs, but that was not his nature. He was a good kid, and if something was up, he would figure it out.
I was almost to my house when I stopped, my right foot becoming glued to the ground as I leaned on it. How could I have not guessed? Paige's beat up Kia was on the curb. Drea was waving frantically with a friendly smile as she waited with her mom for my arrival. I really should have known. She was not giving in that easily. As if anything else was not, this one act was proof enough to make my nights sleepless until I figured out what was going on. I would figure it out. Rather, Chester would help me.
"Hey!" I shouted, a look of friendly horror stamped on my face. I knew they could not hear me through the music of the car which blared into the streets. I lightly pedaled to the car as Drea got out and hugged me like she always would. She had come for a sleepover.

 

[Rache_san]

"Bye, Mom!" Drea shouted as Paige drove away. She was carrying her large pink backpack. She looked at me, a huge smile on her face. I smiled back, silently walking to the porch and putting my bike back to its place. Tonight would be a nightmare worse than anything I had thought possible. It just was not fair. Why did she have to do this to me?
"So! What do you wanna do?" Drea asked as she swung her backpack on the couch and speedily sat down in it, smiling a huge smile again. The vibe she gave off was completely normal, as if nothing had ever happened. It actually did make me wonder if anything had happened or not. I was getting a severe headache.
"Uh, I'll be right back," I told her. I walked through the computer room to the china cabinet in the hall, hoping to quickly make it to the phone in the kitchen. She watched me get some Asprin out, and I nodded to her as I went for the kitchen. After getting the pill down with some lemonade, I quickly but quietly walked over to the stove, and reached up for the phone.
"... don't worry about it, Mom. You can come pick me up at the usual time tomorrow at the park."
Of course. She was talking on the other phone. How did I not see it coming? She would not let me have a moment alone no matter what. Maybe it was my imagination. Parents usually called to check when to pick their children up, right? Why was this so strange? It just seemed like she was determined to keep me to herself and not let me talk to anyone else.
After a few seconds of debating in my head, I decided that I really was losing my mind, and it was all just really coincidental. Tonight we would have fun.
I was still holding the phone up to my ear when I heard Drea drop the line. I silently panicked, only to be horrified when Paige told me goodbye, too. I was caught, and guilty. I rushed back into the living room to find that Drea had taken the entire contents of her backpack out on the couch, and was sorting through them. She did have quite a night prepared for us.
"Hey!" she called as she spotted my return. I smiled at her pathetically, hoping she did not notice any difference. If she did, she completely ignored it.
"So, what about you schoolwork? You do it at night, right?" I asked her as I tried to fold a crane.
"I'll just do two days tomorrow," she shrugged, making her fifth.
"You know, this is harder than it looks," I said, getting frustrated that my origami looked like a crumpled up ball of paper. She looked over the table at me and laughed at my disaster.
"You'll get the hang of it soon enough," she promised. As soon as she finished her sentence, I heard the door unlocking.
"Hey, Megnut," my Father said as he locked the door behind himself. "Hey, Drea! Your mom called me earlier," he told us. "Glad to have you," he added, smiling.
"Thanks," she said, smiling a wide grin at him. We finished our origami and then began some video games, consuming most of our night. We both slept in the living room, taking up both couches. The television was left on the music channel so we could have some music to sleep by.
The last thing I remembered before drifting away was that I wanted to wake up before she would so I could call Chester. I had thought it was so important before, and now I could not even remember why I wanted to call him. I was sure he would remind me, though.
"Pssst!"
It was an annoyance, whatever that noise was. I started shaking involuntarily, and I realized that Drea was trying to wake me up.
"Hmm?" I asked, lazily opening one eye.
"Come on!" she squealed, excited. "Get up, hurry, we'll be late."
I did not know what she was talking about, but I knew I would not want to be late, so I groggily sat up. I looked in the computer room, checking the grandfather clock and saw that it was way too early to be late for anything.
"What are you talking about?" I mumbled.
"The park! We're walking," she said, smiling. Was she serious? She honestly planned on walking to the park today?
"Oh," I said. She must have taken that as a sign of approval from me, because she ran to my room and got a change of clothes for me.
"Here," she said, still smiling. She ran to the back bathroom to change, and by the time I was actually able to stand up and make my way to my room, she was ready.
"What about my schoolwork?" I asked her.
"We'll do it when we get home," she told me. "Have the whole night to work on it," she added. I simply smiled and walked into my room, locking myself in. I let my back fall against the door and slid down to floor. This was not happening. Why would she do this to me? She had never spent two nights in a row before. What was going on? Drea had left her backpack in my room, and I got up and searched through is unapologetically. Her school books were there, along with enough supplies to last for about a week. Did she plan on moving in? There was no way I would get a word in with Chester now, not way at all. It would be impossible. A light knock on the door interrupted my thoughts.
"You ready?" she called.
"Gimmie a minute," I yelled back to her. This would definitely be an interesting day.
I was right, of course. If it had to do with Drea recently, it was interesting. She made my day very routine. We walked to the park, and she explained that her mom was planning on taking us to my house again that day.
"You're totally cool with it, right?" she had asked.
"Yeah!" was my reply, oozing fake enthusiasm. I could not tell if she bought it or not. It was like that the entire walk there. We were the first ones there, of course. Joy came with Monika.
"Hey, where's Chester?" Joy asked as they walked up. Drea simply shrugged, pushing the subject lightly away. He was half an hour late.
"Hey guys!" I heard him call from behind it. It was like a trumpet bell, knowing he did show up. We would find a way to talk, no matter what. I quickly turned around, trying not to seem too enthusiastic.
"Chester!" I called out. "Hey!" He came up and hugged me first, then got around to hugging the rest like we all did. The first few minutes together after prayer were normal. Monika was complaining about how much Joy complained about her boyfriend.
"Let up, man," I said. "You wouldn't know what it's like to have a boyfriend and the problems that come with it, would you?" I laughed.
"Of course not," she retorted. "I'm too young," she said very formally.
"Sometimes I just wanna spend all my time with my friends who don't have any of that drama," Joy added.
"Like sleepovers?" I said. She could not help but laugh and roll her eyes. I could tell that was a very good idea for her. "Maybe you could come over to my house tonight," I said, watching Drea out of the corner of my eye. "We're having a sleepover, Drea and I," I added.
Drea simply smiled, and Joy was enthusiastic. I noticed that Chesters ears perked up when I said that. It was my message to him. I honestly did not care if Joy came over, I needed him to know that I was being held captive and could not talk.
"Hey, Meg," he began slowly, "Can I have a word with you?"
Drea rolled her eyes again, and was about to repeat what she had said when Chester held up his hand. "Privately," he added, making himself look embarrassed and biting his lip for effect. Drea appeared to be convinced, and Joy gasped loudly. I guess she figured she was right yesterday, and he would ask me out. As I thought that, I laughed aloud and simply followed him as he walked away from ledge of the wall and towards the slide.
"Alright, listen," he said as we were at the castle slide. "You had a nightmare, and I had a nightmare, and everything is completely messed up. Drea is acting really weird, and I need to know if this is just a really big, bad coincidence, or if something truly is going on here."
I shook my head rapidly up and down. He was so forceful and determined, even if I did not want to figure out what was going on, I would have nodded.
Chester sighed and took a deep breath, then let it out through his nostrils. I waited patiently as he thought.
"Two days ago, or in your nightmare, or whenever it was, did really strange things happen that you could not explain? That only would matter to you?"
I nodded. What he said sounded stupid and cliche, but it was true.
"You fainted..." his voice trailed off, waiting for an answer.
"Three times," I told him. He looked up at me, horrified. I knew something was going on now. Maybe we really would figure out what it was. The thought terrified me.

 

[Rache_san]

"I rode my bike home-," he began.
"With Joy," I interrupted him.
"Yes! Oh man... all right. You..." he paused. "You got to meet Mr. Fitzgerald, didn't you?" he asked, slightly smirking.
My eyes widened. I was completely shocked. "Yeah," I said. Maybe there was more to this that I was not thinking of. Whatever had happened, Chester knew the things that occured in my nightmare.
He laughed. It was not a worried laugh, or a nervous laugh, it was a hearty one. I felt like everything was coming together and getting confused at the same time, while the horror that my nightmare may have been true was ever increasing.
"What's going on?" I asked him after a few seconds of silence.
"I had the same nightmare you did, so I think it really did happen," he told me. "I have the same mark as you do," he added, walking behind the slide so he was out of sight of the others. I slowly followed him into the shadows, and saw that he had lifted the sleeve of his left arm up and there was a small red dot on his skin there. I immediately lifted my right sleeve, and the same exact dot was in the same exact place.
"What'd she do?!" I yelled out. He quickly covered my mouth with his hand, not daring to peak over and see if the others had heard.
"I don't know, all right?" he said, looking me in the eyes. He looked just about as freaked out as I felt. "I don't know," he repeated.
"You think this is why she would not let us talk yesterday? So that we would not find out that it all happened?" I stopped as I heard what I had just said. That entire day did happen, no matter how much I wanted it to be a nightmare.
"I know that's why," he said. "Call me psycho, but there's a conspiracy theory going on here."
I had to laugh at that. This could not be happening. It was just so fake, so much like what you would see in the movies. It was like fiction. I felt as if I was going in between different realities.
"So, what do we tell them we were talking about?" I said, slightly moving back into their view.
"Well... see, that's the thing. If things like this keep happening, we'll need to be able to talk to each other, right?" he said, quickening his words as he started pacing.
"Yeaaah," I said, getting a little bit worried. What was he about to say?
"Uh, well," he began, "Will... you...-"
"Oh no! No, no, no," I began. The look on his face gave him away immediately. "No."
"Let me finish!" he said, overly embarrassed. "Will you pretend to date me?"
I paused, thinking about it. He waited impatiently. Suddenly, it hit me. He was a real genius. We would get to talk whenever we needed, and there were others already implying it.
"Yes," I told him, surprised to hear myself say it. "I will," I added smiling. We both cracked up in unison at our evil plan. It would work perfectly.
"Cool," he said. "This is going to get awkward, though," he warned.
"Oh, I know. But I'm willing to risk it so we can brainstorm and have privacy." We both smiled at each other, and walked back to the group.

 

[crazycigirl]

Uhm... yeah, I am actually.

Cool, me too.

It'll go completely off the wall pretty soon, though

You don't believe in lying do you? It is warped! Strange, funny, confusing, attention grabbing and warped! Only how was it real if Chester dreamed about what was happening to Meghan? So to say. Umm... if (in the dream) Meghan went to Dea's and Chester wasn't there, then he dreamed about what was happening to Meghan. Except it did happen to her. And if he was dreaming about what happened to her, then where did he get his sore? lol Or should I just wait for Chapter 3? But in a way it adds to the story, because your trying to figure out what's happening and you don't have all the pieces. Oh and I like it. lol

 

[narnian reader]

This story i have a feeling is going to have some pressure relievers in it pretty soon. like Merry and Pippin were in LOTR so this pretend dating could get to be quite hillarious.