1. Only the Beginning
Only the Beginning by Hannah SilverBlood
So, I stand here~ Watching my life evolve in front of my eyes~ People changed~ Places changed~ But I stayed the same~ They tried to change me~ But I wouldn't budge~ I held onto my old life as much as possible~ My heart hated change But that's what life gave me~ Staved and wanting change now~ My heart had adapted ~ So, I stand here~ Watching a new hope evolve in front of my eyes ~Miles away from my own knowledge and home~ A diamond sparkled in a blanket of green
I always knew I wasn't exactly…human. Preteens and teens think it and say it all the time. But when they age they find their perfect spot in society. For me…my society was in a different world that I could never have imagined. Lost in the jungle they call 'teens' I was placed. Although, here in the high class life style of Long Beach, California, the jungle is of lush expensive stores, summer beach houses, and high security neighborhoods. All of which I was surrounded by. My life wasn't always like this. No high end clothes, houses that looked like hotels, maids that came once a week, and a bedroom you could bowl in. I was raised the hard way. A sixteen year old mom raised by heavy Catholic raises a child with her sixteen year old husband and his widowed mother. I didn't understand it myself. My mother Maria never really liked to talk about how I came to be. It reminded her too much of my long dead father. Maybe four years wasn't a long time, but to my family, it seemed like forty years. And that's how I ended up with Chris Clemons as a step- father. But right now I feel as though my story should be told in order. It all started with my ecstatic mother, Maria Ann McCoy at just fourteen going into high school in her new town just off of L.A. As strange enough her family came from northern Minnesota where it's cold even on the hottest day of the year.
Strange, yes. But without my mother falling in love with my father, Cam Adams at fifteen, I wouldn't be here. It only gets stranger as I go on with my life. My father dying when I was only thirteen, two years later Maria meets Chris while she's a waitress at a small coffee shop. Such a fairytale. Chris Clemons is the heir to the biggest relater company around the world. Million dollar houses in Monte Carlo, New York, The Bahamas. You name it and his father Anthony Clemons sells it. Well, he's more of the head boss then anything else. It helps having a rich father to start your own cruise ship line and other boats. What my step-father and step-grandfather was worth all together was about fifty-five to sixty million dollars. And Chris is only thirty- two.
So now, Maria and Chris are married, I've been forced into a life I never wanted, and this is where it begins…
A sunrise. So sweet here in California. The way the sun hits the ocean just right on the beach could take your breath away. I've been in this house for three years going on four now and it's still makes me smile. You had to get up early in the summer mornings to see it, but it was worth it. My early morning dance routine got me up at five in the morning just to roll out of bed, sneak downstairs in this huge house, go to my own personal ballet studio Chris made just for me, and open the large curtain. There, once I did, the sun seeped into the wood and mirror room making it shine like a diamond.
So now I stand here, AnnaBell Nicole Clemons. The one with deep blue set eyes, pale cream, pink, and olive skin, and natural red, copper, and orange hair. The one that was graceful at dancing and smart enough to get into three Ivy league schools and hopefully four if Harvard would write back. I was never the one that couldn't be picked out from a crowd. The deep eyes, the round curves of my face, even the way I talked. Clear soprano but calming and could be an alto. I guess you could say that I was the only real middle sided thing I had to myself. It was either extreme, or too shy to even think about it. Grades were perfect since kindergarten. My dancing was…well…saying I was an expert was putting it lightly. I could out dance my old dance teacher if I could right now. But the night my father was killed by a drunk driver was the last time I danced in front of an audience.
It was New Years and I had probably the biggest dance recital of my life. I was with the advanced group filled with seventeen year olds while I was only thirteen. But as I have said before, I could out dance anyone if I tried. Talent scouts came from l over to see us, but I had Julliard's attention from the beginning. A thirteen year old. After they approached me, congratulated me, they said I was what they were looking for. That night, my father hugged me so tightly, and cried saying how proud he was of me. That was the last happy moment I had with him. So, I guess it's needless to say that my life has been…dramatic. I can't think of another word that I would use. Just plain old dramatic. But even having that kind of past, the real fun in my life was just getting started, and I didn't even know about it yet. The sun rose more and more as I watched it change from a dull purple to a violent pink and orange. All of the signs that I only had so long before Maria and Chris woke up for church. Since Chris met my mother he's changed his ways with faith. Mass on Sundays whenever we could together and prayer before dinner. Sometimes I start to believe that Maria prays for Cam to come back. Not for her, but for me. So I'd be happy with my real father and not Chris. I knew she saw my depression. My morning. I would never have my father walk me down the isle. But I knew he was still looking after me.
Six thirty.
Maria and Chris would be up soon. They always got up at seven for mass or on off days they would get up then so when the maid Rose came they didn't look like they just got out of bed.
Rose was nice. She had been with Chris's family for about three years and came to help once a week once Chris met Maria. She looked a lot like Fran from The Nanny with big black hair and the voice but we'd always talk when we could. I'd help her sometimes and my bet friends Leah Lalo would come too.
Leah was half Indian and half American and yet she still had a slight accent from her mother. We had known each other since kindergarten and we have been best friends since.
Tearing myself away from the beautiful sunrise, I ran out the door and through the long hallway to the stairs. Once I was up the stairs and out into the giant living room, I had to turn my head to the sliding glass door to the deck. The sunrise was even more perfect then before.
But I had to keep going. Maria and Chris would never know I was out here since the house was virtually soundproof. I could blare my music until my ears bled and all people outside my door would hear would be a light hum of the beat. Yet, I still tried to sneak up the stairs to the other side of the living room as quiet as possible. Being bare foot on a hard wood floor gave me an advantage.
Through the kitchen tucked underneath the balcony of the second floor where my room was. Although it only seemed like a hallway upstairs, the rooms were huge. My room took about more then half of it. The rest was a spare bathroom, a guest bedroom, and my library that was connected by a door in my room. But the hallway balcony gave off enough light from the giant window facing the ocean. My room was at the end near that window.
I sprinted to it, my legs already tired from dancing. But I was able to get to my door, open it slowly so it wouldn't click, then slip inside and close it.
There I was able to flop on my gold printed bed. Everything was either white, gold, or black. But there was only black touches like a black stained nightstand and edging around my picture frames on my wall.
My tempurpedic bed shaped to my seventeen year old figure and so did my pillows to my head. Bella, my small black, white, and brown Papillion dog, was laying on my black small lounge couch pressed against the window letting in a big stream of light. She always loved laying there in the summer because of the heat. I was able to pick her out of a litter of puppies when Chris and Maria first started dating. He let me buy whatever dog I wanted and out of over fifty different breeds of dogs, I chose Bella.
Once she noticed I was back in my room, she jumped down from the couch and trotted like a horse over to my bed. From there she jumped up on the bed and laid down right next to my hip.
Obedience school had shaped her practically into a human since she was trained since she was a puppy. But she was always this calm with me.
That was a gift of mine.
I attracted animals. No one believed me, except for my loving grandmother, Lily. She was my real fathers mother. She'd always drop by or I'd go to her small house with Bella.
Lily was so much like me. She didn't make me feel like I was a stranger a person of a completely different species. We were the same in some ways. I never knew my grandfather on Cam's side. He died of cancer when Cam was in high school. But she was always happy to show me pictures of him.
Bella nuzzled her nose into my side to get my attention. That was the signal that she wanted me to pet her. So, I rubbed under her neck where she loved the most and her- curled -over- her- back- tail started to shake like a pom- pom. Her all black and spots of brown in her perked up ears made her seem unique to me, but also very beautiful.
I let my eyes drift around my sunlit room. Pictures hung around my room of me and Leah, my family, and paintings and drawings I had framed. My trophy case shimmered from multiple trophies from my dancing years. Some were only a few inches and three were over three feet tall.
They all meant so much to Maria and Lily. Whenever they came into my room, they'd stop and stare at them for at least three seconds then come back to life. They were my pride and joy. Along with acceptance letters from Yale, Dartmouth, and Brown. I had a whole pile of letters sitting on my desk. Harvard was my number one pick and I was still waiting on them, praying to God every night I would get in.
Although, getting into these schools wasn't a big deal in my school. I drifted from class to class without being noticed. When you're in a school with people who live next to big movie stars, a million dollar heiress isn't much. But that's what I liked. I hated having the spotlight that wasn't mine. I had that opportunity years ago that gave me all the attention I wanted.
Six forty five.
I grabbed my short silk black robe that laid next to me on the bed. Rolling out of bed, I held my robe over my body until my feet hit the floor so I was sitting. Then I pulled it on. Sure, it wasn't cold in the hose since it was June, but I didn't want Maria to notice I was in shorts and a tank top that I always danced in. so it was a necessity.
Bella jumped off the bed and went to the door, her tail shaking like a fountain in the wind. She knew I was going downstairs.
I stood up and tied my robe then went over to the door and opened it. Coffee sounded so good right now. Bella followed me down the stairs and into the kitchen. Her nails clicked like tap shoes on the light wood floor.
My fingers trailed along the deep marble counter top as I walked to the coffeepot. A few minutes later, I leaned on the counter, inhaling the sweet coffee that was in the mug that I held.
"Good morning early bird." I hear my mother call out. When I looked up, she was walking towards me from her room a little down the same side of the house.
Even with her same colored hair as me messed up, she still looked nothing like any thirty four year old mother. My double ganger. My beautiful hair came from her and so did my eyes. But she had a tan now from the many years sunbathing in California sunlight. Yet, I only burned red.
She was shorter then me, about five-two maybe if you rounded up. I was one of the lucky one's that took after their father in the height department. Cam was the tallest man I knew and ever saw. Six-three, skinny, blue eyed, brown haired normal father. Every picture they took together, Cam had to bend down so it looked better.
"Mmmmm, I smell coffee." Maria oozed, walking over to me, then she leaned on the counter like me.
She looked like she could be Miss America even without make-up on. How I could come from a beauty like that and look exactly like her, yet never had a serious boyfriend in my life was a mystery.
I turned around, opened the cabinet above the coffeepot, and grabbed her favorite mug.
I had customized it with pictures of our family for her last birthday in March. It was kind of thing Maria liked, from the heart and crafty.
I filled it up with coffee then slid it across the counter for Maria.
"Thanks sweetie." she thanked after she took a sip.
"No problem. Anyway, I might as well enjoy these moments before I go to college in the fall." I reminded.
Maria groaned. "You just turned seventeen. I'm not ready to give you up yet."
"Mom," I laid my arms on the table, keeping myself up, "I turned seventeen in April. You've seen me seventeen for almost two months now. Besides, a lot of these colleges want me. I'm a seventeen year old girl going to college already. That's pretty amazing. But I'll be back all the time. And you still have awhile to see me still."
"Well," Maria put her hand on top of mine, "I want this to be a special summer. Something I know you'll never forget."
"What, did you buy me a boyfriend?" I smirked.
"You can't buy love sweetie. If we could, a lot of people would be miserable. And you'd have a husband already," she pulled her hand away in a sharp motion, but I was too fast for her. I always was. So I slapped her hand as she pulled it back to her mug.
"You guys would be dead if you did that." I hissed.
"We'd get you a cute guy, don't worry. We'll let fate decide that for you now I guess."
"I think fate wants me to be alone." I mumbled.
No dates, no real boyfriend, I didn't have a love life. I never did and I knew I never would. Guys just didn't seem to like me. I wasn't a big thing like other popular girls. They all had plastic surgery of some kind and most were bleach blonds. No one ever liked the redhead.
"Please, you look like me, sweetie. Out in world a lot of guys would kill for you. You just have to wait for the right guy."
I rolled my eyes. When she was growing up it was different. She didn't have my personality that I have now. She didn't have the ability to connect with animals on a deep level. She was normal. And I took the feeling of not being normal well. I kept my mouth shut.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Chris walking out of their bedroom and walking to us.
Messed up dark blond hair, perfectly tan skin, and hazel eyes. Nothing like me a all. And that's how it was supposed to be. I didn't want to be anything like him. I wanted people to know he wasn't my real father.
"And what guy wouldn't want a girl with a little cash in her bank?" Chris laughed.
"I don't know. Lets ask the man who married a widow that had a teenage daughter," I sneered.
I never meant to treat him like this. It was only natural. I didn't like it that he had taken the spot of Cam. Though, Chris did make Maria happy and our lives better.
"Bell, I was kidding. I know a lot of boy's that would love to date you." Chris said. He was now to the counter next to Maria. My eyes widened.
"And you never told me who these boys were why?" I asked, my tone snapping.
Maria bit her lip, smiling at Chris. They were up to something. Did they really buy me a boyfriend? No, that wasn't possible. I was too smart to ask myself that question.
"He lives out of town." Chris explained.
"Out of state is more like it." Maria corrected.
"Then how does he know me?"
"His father is a very good friend of mine. We went to college together actually. Noah Keath. He has a son J.J.,"
"And he's the one with the crush on me?" I asked interrupting Chris. "J.J. has a crush on me?"
"That's what Nikki's told me." Maria mumbled holding her mug up to her lips, her eyes wandered around the room.
My eyebrows crinkled when they were saying their names. They said them like they had known them their whole lives and I had no idea who they were. I had heard of Noah before since Chris always talked to him on the phone and Nikki…I had to think back to when Maria would spend hours on the phone. That name had came up once and a while. But I had never met them. I didn't even know they had a child.
But I was betting this 'J.J.' wasn't my type. He probably was a spoiled kid since Noah was his father. I could see him as fancy and proper as a price of a country. That's probably what Maria and Chris wanted for me. Someone that could support me so I wouldn't have to lift a finger my whole life.
"We've never told you about the Keaths?" Chris asked.
"No, you've told me nothing about the Keith's." I snapped.
"Keath sweetie. You have to say it with an 'eh' sound. Not a long 'e'. Never call them Keith. It annoys them all." Maria instructed me.
"Okay, you've never told me anything about the Keaths." I corrected myself.
"They live in Oregon. Nikki is Noah's wife and they have two children; Joseph James and Jayla. Noah is one of the head workers with me and he goes on cruises a lot with his wife and kids." Chris explained.
"You forgot that James has the hots for our daughter." Maria reminded Chris taking the coffee mug away from her lips.
"You're forgetting something!" I screeched. "How does he know me? I've never met him in my life!"
Maria looked down, guilty faced.
"I might have had a few things to do with that." she admitted. "We send them Christmas cards and I always talked to Nikki about you and how well you were doing in school and she mentioned that James was an A student as well and that led to more and more and…" Maria shrugged. "Nikki told James about you and I guess I kept him a secret from you…"
"Mom! Why would you do that? I could have at least talked to him!" I shouted. "He probably isn't my type anyway. He's probably spoiled like every child is."
"James is not like that. He's a fine young man. You're age too. I should have told you about him a long time ago, but I thought you wouldn't be interested since you were so dedicated in school." Maria apologized.
I could feel my skin tingle in rage. Why was I getting this way over a boy? He was probably a stuck up kid that only liked me for my money. But he was a boy that liked me for once. Maybe my inner teenager was showing through my adult cover up.
"How long has he liked me?" I asked, my voice calm now.
"A couple months. Since April I think." Maria admitted and I punched my teeth together.
A couple months? Really Maria? Really? I could have at least gotten to know him in a couple months. Maybe be friends. Not close to a relationship but at least I would be able to say that I had a guy-friend.
"But Maria came up with a great way to make up for that." Chris promised.
"What? Are you going to fly him out here so I can meet him so you guys will be happy?" I asked through my teeth.
"No…lets sit down and talk about this." Chris suggested.
Chris and Maria started walking to the living room and Bella came running past them and to me. She waited at my legs cocking her head as if she was as confused as me.
I think we're supposed to follow them. I thought.
Right when I thought that, Bella slowly started walking to the living room. I didn't think much of it. These kind of things happened all the time. It wasn't anything special.
I started walking with Bella and once we were in the living room, she jumped up on the love seat across from the long white couch Maria and Chris were sitting. A glass coffee table separated the two couches. I sat down on the love seat next to Bella and she laid her head on my lap.
"Can you just tell me what's going on? This is turning into one hell of a morning." I moaned setting my coffee mug on the coffee table on a coaster. Maria hated it when you didn't use a coaster. She would freak out.
"It's gonna get crazier," Maria mumbled under her breath.
Now I was confused. I wasn't getting anything from them. They were talking in tongues to me.
"Bell, we're offering a one in a lifetime chance here. And we'd love for you to say yes to it." Chris said in a calming voice.
It was something I wouldn't want to do. I knew it. They only talked like that when they wanted me to do something I didn't. Like go with them to a boat show or something like that.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Well, we thought since you loved studying about the world and other countries, we thought you'd like to go on a little cruise."
A cruise? Why would they think I would hate that? Cruises lasted for what? Two weeks maybe? I had all summer left to devote to my family and Leah. A little break on a cruise wouldn't be bad at all.
"When are we leaving and for how long?" I asked. "I'd love to go with you guys."
Maria leaned back into the couch with a nervous look on her face.
"You tell her honey."
"Tell me what? You guys are going too right?" I asked franticly.
Chris fidgeted in his seat with his hands together. He looked exactly how he looked when he was talking to his business partners. It had to be serious.
"We're not going. We want you to…go by yourself. But the Keaths are going to be your legal guardians while you're gone. You'll get to know them better. I know you'll like Jayla. She likes dancing just like you." Chris said trying to be convincing.
He was talking as though I already had a ticket. They didn't know if I was going to say yes yet. It was a lot to think about. I wouldn't see Chris and Maria for at least two weeks. And I would be with another family I didn't even know. How would I know if they liked me at all? I knew James did already, but what about this Jayla? Was she older? Younger? Were Nikki and Noah mean or easy going? Why didn't Chris and Maria tell me this before?
"Okay, let me think about it. How long is it?" I asked again.
Maria slapped Chris on the arm and Chris sighed.
"She's not going to go." Chris hissed at Maria softly, but I could still here them.
"Just say it." Maria hissed.
Chris rolled his eyes at her then looked back at me.
"Bell,…it's for a year." Chris finally explained.
My eyes widened. My heart dropped. My mouth felt as though it was shoved full of peanut butter.
A year? But that meant I wouldn't be able to go to college this year. I wouldn't be the famous seventeen year old college freshman. I would be just another eighteen year old next year.
How could they ask me to do this? They knew I wanted to go to college this year. They knew how excited I was to get out of this place and meet other people. I wanted to stay here this summer to get as much time with Leah, Chris, and Maria. Not go away and not see them for a whole year. This summer was my last chance to hang out with Leah as a free teenager. This was supposed to be the best summer.
"A year?" I screamed ripping up from my seat. Bella moved away just in time so she wouldn't fall to the floor. "Do you not know I want to go to college now? I've told you so many times I want to stay here and spend as much time with you as possible!" I looked at Maria who was deep in the couch now. "Mom, I thought you wanted me to stay here. Why would you want me to go away from a year where you can't see me? At least at college you can come and visit."
"We thought that…you'd want to see new people. See the world. Most seventeen year olds don't get this chance. We just want to see you happy. I know you'd love this." Maria explained softly.
"Do you want me to meet James? Is that it? You want to set me up with this guy? Because if you want me to meet him so much, fly him out here! Not send me on a stupid boat where I don't want to be."
"Bell, its not that. We don't want to try and set you up with someone. We just think that you'd enjoy having freedom. It'd be a taste of freedom. We don't want you diving straight into college where you have to do everything on your own. On the boat you'll be supervised but you'll still be on your own." Chris explained.
"It's kinda like training for college." Maria added. "We just fear that you're too young right now. We're so proud of you, trust me, we are. But we want you to give yourself another year to mature."
"I am mature. I've never gotten into trouble in and out of school, I volunteer at the church with the kids once a month, I want to get a job, but you won't let me. What more do you want?"
"We just think that it's a great opportunity for you." Chris sighed. "Since you want to see the world…and you'll be alone on a cruise in first class…"
He was trying to convince me to go. I had seen him play this card with other people too many times to fall for it. He truly was a business man at heart.
"And James would be there. He's the cutest boy I've ever seen Bell. And the sweetest. He takes care of his cousins everyday when their parents are gone and he's studying to be a doctor. Come one Bell, you'd love him." Maria begged. "Please just do this for us. We want you to be happy. It's killing me to send you on this cruise since I won't be able to see you, but it's a sacrifice I'm making for you."
"For what?" I asked easing my tone. Sure, it might not be that bad. I still wanted to go to college more then this. But James was sounding more and more like…me. The kind of boy I wanted.
"For you to get a boyfriend!" Maria stood up like me. "I want you to have the experience of having a boyfriend for once. I don't like hearing you say that you'll never get a boyfriend. I'm sick of it. Now you have a great ass boy who really likes you and wants to meet you and date you and you're giving that up! College will always be there for you, but this is a once a life time chance to meet a boy like this! I want you to at least try and get a boyfriend before I turn forty because I do not want you to be twenty-three and not have had one boyfriend in you life.
"You're gorgeous! A man out there will love you, but you already have one hooked on you and you are not going to let him slide! You're going on that cruise tomorrow and you're gonna meet that boy and say to yourself that I was right that you'd like him. Do I make myself clear?"
I sat back down, shaking. Maria yelled like that sometimes, but never about something like her wanting me to get a boyfriend. That one was a new one on the list.
But tomorrow? I'd have to leave tomorrow? I couldn't get my goodbyes done by then. I thought it would be in a week, but tomorrow?
"Tomorrow? I'd have to leave tomorrow?" I asked, my voice quiet now.
Maria sat back down.
"Yes, but we'll help you pack. You have enough clothes to last you three years in your closet already. It can't be that hard." Maria explained.
"I'll go I guess." I admitted defeat. "Does he really like me?"
Maria smiled at me. "Nikki tells me that he asks for your phone number everyday and that he loves a girl with red hair."
I blushed peering at the ends of my elbow length hair. How a man could love red hair I could never know. I was always made fun of it when I was younger. They thought my hair was on fire.
"I know you'll love him. A mother know what her daughter wants in a man. And don't worry, we'll pay for the wedding." Maria laughed.
I rolled my eyes. Why was she so worked up about this? It was a one and a million chance that James and I would even go on a date.
"Good to know. I'll make sure to run you out of money there." I joked. "Can I go upstairs? I need to start packing I guess."
"Go right ahead."
"I can not believe you get to go on a cruise with a hot guy by yourself." Leah gushed as she walked around in my walk in closet.
It was noon now and I was able to take a shower, get dressed, and pack one huge black suitcase already before Leah got here.
And she lived next door.
She wasn't big on the whole wake up for the sunrise. She was more into the sleep in until noon kind of thing. And so was her sister Adriana. She was Leah's thirteen year old sister that always hung out with us. She just liked that she was friends with seventeen year olds. Even if we weren't popular.
"That's like amazing." Adriana gushed, sounding exactly like Leah. Accent and all. A tee shirt came flying out of my closet and slapped Adriana in the back of her head. But her thick curly black hair made sure she wasn't hurt by it. Adriana snapped her head back to the closet.
"That wasn't nice!" She snapped but was hit in the face with a scarf tied into a ball.
"Oh you know I'm just joking around." Leah coed as she walked out of the closet and stood next to Adriana who was sitting by the doors. The same heavy hair as Adriana, deep set brown eyes, and curvy body. Although, Leah was the only one like that in her family. Adriana was normal sized for a thirteen year old and her mother was the same. Her father didn't have much to do with that either.
"That is amazing that you can go on a cruise for a year alone. Our parents would never let us do that." Leah gushed sitting down next to Adriana in a heap of my clothes.
They were 'helping' me pack my clothes, but it was more of a relax and talk kind of thing. I sat on my bed surrounded my clothes as well.
"They tricked me into going." I objected.
"Tricked? Please! If I had a cute boy with crush on me and he was going to be on a cruise that I could go on, I would say yes in a heartbeat. He could be the one, Bell." Leah crushed her hands to her chest and fell backwards on a heap of sweaters. "Oh James, I love you too! Kiss me you fool!" Leah joked in a dramatic way.
Adriana and I laughed and so did Leah.
"What did you say?" Adriana asked, trying to sound like me. "You want to go steady too?" Adriana slapped her hands on her chest too and fell back just like Leah did. "I thought you'd never ask! Of course you can go to second base on me!"
My stomach hurt from laughing so hard, but I fell back with my hands on my chest too with my legs in the air.
"Oh James, you're amazing! Don't ever leave my side! Lets grow old together!" I laughed.
"I bet he's super hot." Leah gushed then she landed next to me on the bed on her stomach.
"I bet he's super smart and hot." Adriana said landed next to me on my right.
"I bet he was made just for me." I joked trying to sound all mushy in love.
"It's destiny, Bell." Leah sung. "He was made for you."
"I don't know…"
"Come on," Adriana whined. "He loves redheads, he wants to be a doctor, he loves kids like you do, and his father is best friends with Chris. You're all set!"
"What guy wouldn't want to date you, Bell? You're the perfect girl. Athletic, smart, beautiful, skinny, rich, kind hearted. I swear sometimes I start to believe you're not human."
You and me both. I thought.
It took us all day to get packed because we would stop and talk all the time and we took a lunch break. But it was worth it. I would miss them terribly. I would miss the laughter we shared and the jokes. But I promised them I would call all the time no matter what the bill was. They told me to inform them about James and how we were doing. I promised I would.
After dinner I was exhausted and collapsed on my bed once I had my sleepwear on and my faced was washed. And it was only eight at night.
But what came later in my sleep was the bazaar part.
As I slept, an image of a young man that seemed to be eighteen or nineteen came across my eyes. He stood in a forest of green with his back leaning against what seemed to be a rocky mountain side covered in weird markings and images of wolves. But the boy was the main object here.
His dark black hair was short yet shaggy and spiked at the same time. His tan skin was like caramel and his face was so smoothed on the edges, but yet defined perfectly. Nice sized muscles made him look older then what his face said, but he was…amazing. God like. But his deep blue eyes were the one thing that caught my eye. The same deep blue mine were. They looked copy and pasted from my face to his. But his eyelashes were black and more manly.
He did look unreal though. Like he shouldn't be standing there. But he was. He stood there looking around like it was nothing. He would look up at the almost full moon once and a while then stare back down at me as though I was standing right in front of him.
But at the end…that was the weird part.
From nowhere, a large black wolf seemed to split from the boy and stand in front of him. It was up to the boys waist and full of black fur. My eyes were also marked into the wolves skull. It was inhuman. They were both inhuman. Beautifuly inhuman. Those eyes stared back at me…then I woke up.
Sweat rolled down my forehead as I gasped for air in the cold room. How could I be sweating? I always kept it at sixty in my room at night, but I was on fire. My skin burned under the covers. I tossed them away and felt a sharp hot sting in my right hand that made me cringe and hold it. What was happening? I couldn't explain anything.
But the boy in my dream…his face wouldn't go away from my memory. I could remember him perfectly. And my mind wasn't going to let him slide.
I rolled out of bed, still gripping my hand and I was able to find my way over to my easel and desk and turn on a lamp. There was where I could see a light scratch over top of the 'M' lines in my hand. It was pink as though it was only scratched lightly. After I saw it, the burning stopped. I could feel the coldness of the room once again. It was as though nothing had happened. The pink marks in my hand started to fade at a rapid speed and I waited until they were complety gone to grab my wood box filled with drawing materials and sit down on the chair in front of my easel. That's when I started to draw the boy I had seen.
It was all in black except for his eyes which I made our blue. That was the one thing I knew I could determine him by. I made the wolves eyes blue as well.
I made everything like I had seen it. The way his face was shaped, the way his hair was spiked and messy, even the coat on the wolf I made perfect. The markings and drawings on the rock were an exact match as well. When I was done, it had only taken me half an hour and it was exactly what I had seen in my dream. It was one in the morning now and I was wide awake. But when I tore the picture out from the giant notepad carefully and rolled up and put it in a pocket in my already stuffed full suitcase, my eyes went heavy. My body ached like I just had a boxing match and lost miserably.
How I was able to crawl back in bed was amazing. Why I felt a strong connection to the boy in my dream, I didn't know. But if I would have, I still never would have expected anything like this to happen to me.