Chapter 2
Cala - Dreams
The screen in front of me is glaringly white, it’s giving me a headache.
I feel as if I didn’t sleep at all even though I went to bed early, just so I could be rested enough to write this stupid essay for my college applications.
I might have slept, but my dreams seemed so real, like I was having an out of body experience.
They all started when I found this doll in the closet.
I’m not sure where she came from, but it must have been a forgotten birthday gift because it was in a white box, the doll covered in black tissue paper.
The box was wrapped with a red bow and it had my name on it.
I asked Mom but she blew me off, saying something about how she must have put it there and forgot about it.
She’s a cute doll, vintage looking with a cat ear headband. But it seemed like as soon as I put her on my shelf, my dreams turned real. Or at least, they seem real. Ugh.
I wake up with bruises that I can’t explain. This morning I found my back all scratched up. I’m losing my mind, I think. Or it might be stress. Yeah, let's go with stress.
I smash my head on my desk in frustration, knowing this isn’t going to get done right now.
And I have to get to school. Just a few more weeks and I’m done.
I need to get out of here, far away. A new start in a new city sounds great to me and nothing is going to stand in the way. Not even the bullies at school.
I run down the stairs, grabbing my backpack on the way.
Mom says bye, but I don’t reply back. Lately her and Dad have been acting strangely.
I started noticing it after I found the doll.
They have whispered conversations that seem to stop when I enter a room.
If I bring up the doll, they change the subject.
That might not sound like weird stuff to others, but it’s just one more thing that doesn’t make sense.
My phone pings as I slide into the seat of my car and I check it. It’s a news headline and the name catches my eye:
CHAD DESTIN MISSING, PRESUMED TO BE DEAD !
What is this? Chad is dead? He’s Dad’s best friend. Creepy but seemed nice. But he’s dead, how? Who does something like that?
At that moment, my headache pounds and images of things I’ve done flash in my head. Chad is in the image. A figure of a girl is in the image, she looks like me. Did I do this? Am I sleep walking at night?
No, I’m not sleep walking. I’m a good girl, I do what I’m supposed to do. I couldn’t have done this. The story even says he was last seen several cities away, a city I’ve never been to.
Okay, I need to take a breath and calm down. I have to get to school.
As I back out of the driveway, I glance in the window and Dad is crying, Mom is trying to console him. I feel bad for my dad, they were good friends. I’ll text him later, but right now I have to get to HELL.
I like school but hate the girls there. The ones that make my life miserable and have been for years.
The first couple of times I brought it up, Mom said they were probably jealous.
Maybe. I get good grades, have a lot of accomplishments and awards.
Am I pretty? I’ve been told that, but I haven’t been on a date and I’ve said no to prom and other dances.
I’m a homebody, shy, and try to keep to myself.
There are three guys that seem to be everywhere I am and they have stepped in a couple times, but we’ve never really talked.
I wouldn’t know what to say to guys like them.
They’re what some would call tall, dark and dangerous and in romance novels, that’s meant to be a good thing.
They are good looking, but I’m a girl that they wouldn’t take a second look at.
I park in the back of the school, heading in, trying to avoid people. I don’t have a first period, so I usually hang out in the library. As I walk through the halls, the mood is weird, somber maybe.
Chad’s daughter does go to school here. She’s one of my tormentors despite our father’s friendship.
But the news has reached everyone and it’s a somber mood.
I would say, hopefully I get a pass today but that would be a little rude.
Misty, Chad’s daughter, might be mean to me, but her dad did just die. Murdered actually.
Pushing open the library doors gives me a chance to breathe.
It was quiet in the halls, but for a different reason.
But this quiet is peaceful. I find my corner, the same one I’ve sat at everyday since freshman year.
On the table is a coffee and a breakfast sandwich.
The guys probably left it for me. I think that started one day when I was hungry and forgot to grab something to eat.
I might not talk to them, but they seem like nice guys.
I settle in and try to read my history pages, but I still can’t seem to focus. My mind wanders back to my dreams, the news story, and the fact that I might be crazy.