My eyes drooped down as I tried to listen to what the teacher was saying, but with every word and syllable she spoke, the closer I was to sleep. Luckily, I had Julie keeping a hawk eye over me. If my eyelids were to go down, she would shake me or pinch me. The pinching was reserved for when my eyes closed totally, as Sebastian is a hard pincher, and she enjoyed doing it way too much. If I hadn't always had those nightmares, I might be able to sleep at night, but they scare, no, those nightmares terrify me. I would run and run, feeling shaken for a reason unknown, but I just kept thinking 'Run! Run! Get help! Run! Run! Don't let it get me! Run! Run!' Pitch blackness surrounded me, I ran on nothing, and sweat dotted my forehead. After hours and hours of running, my legs would tire, their pace would slow, and I would fall. That wouldn't matter to me. I'd forget my legs and crawl, my arms stretched out, pulling me forward. Inch by inch, I would crawl away from nothing.
An hour later, my arms would become fatigue. There would be nothing else I could do. Nothing surrounded me and I would just let it. Taking my last breath of consciousness, I glanced up, hoping to see light. I see a luminous shape up high in the empty space, but my strength is gone and I can't reach it. The darkness slowly covers my body as the only light in the nothing becomes a white dot.
I hear a shout, another. Light is almost gone. Can't see anything. Where was that person screaming? Can't move. Can't see who it is. I should give up. My mind would slowly begin merging into one with the dark. Eyes are closed. I hear more screams. Can't open my eyes. They're tired too. Why don't I have the will to do anything anymore? That's right, I gave up. Why did I give up, again? I can't remember. Where am I? Did I forget? It's dark. I don't like the dark. No light, no good.
I see a light through my eyelid, and, somehow, find the strength to open them. The light was back. It was eating the darkness away? I hear another scream. Screams of many people. Where are they? Why are they screaming? A voice just came from behind me. Still can't move. Still can't see who it is. Well, whoever it was, was calling my name. More light.
The light floods around me and I squeeze my eyes shut, trying not to be blinded by it. I'm swept away in it. Though I'm still frightened, more sweat trickles down my forehead. The light is turning into scenery. I feel a hard pinch on my arm.
Panicked, my eyes flutter open, back to the real world. Sebastian's hand is on my arm where IO felt the pinch. I look up to her to see her worried expression, "Sorry, Onii-sama. I thought if I let you sleep just a little bit, you would feel better, but then I saw your face and I…" She trailed off with the last part of her words and looked down, "I'm sorry…"
I gave her a weak smile, hoping she wouldn't see through it, "You called me 'Onii-sama'."
Sebastian put her hand on her mouth trying, and failing, to suppress a giggle, "I give you too much respect for your own good,"
Giving her another weak smile, I said, "Yeah," and moved on. I had spent so much time thinking about my nightmares, that it seemed I had gotten myself caught in one. Looking to the clock at the front of the class, I estimated that the bell would ring in…five, four, three, two, one, and zero…zero…zero…zero…zero—now!
The bell rings and I stand to get my things. Julie, who has pretty much claimed the seat next to me, did the same. Sebby sighed as we walked through the hallway, "Seriously, Emily, you've looked tired all the time, ever since that day that I didn't walk home with you after school. What? Did you get all sad because you didn't have your Juju with you?" She gave me a puppy face and I laughed. Sebastian was such a child.
That day she didn't walk home with me. When was that? About a week ago, no, I just realized that it was exactly one week ago. Come to think of it, it was just that week when the nightmares started. It was also the day I met that man, and he had shown me that flower. Maybe that was why I had nightmares? The…flower? No, that's impossible. Could never happen.
"Itachi!" I looked to my left to see Julie, with a very happy expression on her face, waving.
I looked from her to the so-called (AN: So…called…?) then back to Sebastian. She must have noticed that I was confused because she flashed a surprised look to me, but it quickly changed to a smug smile.
"Emily," She said, gesturing to the man in front of us, "This is Itachi Uchiha. He's my—or, umm, my class's Algebra substitute. (AN: Yes, it did have to be Algebra! :3) The old teacher got into an accident."
Itachi Uchiha, huh? I looked up to him, observantly. He was tall and had a line on either side of his face, but her didn't look over twenty five, or at the most, thirty. Itachi also had long, dark black hair that was currently tied into a neat, low, ponytail behind him (An: Because that's sexy…Yes, I was paid to say that…) and black eyes that looked like they were staring into you. (AN: MAYBE THEY ARE?)
He looked down to me with a bright smile planted on his face, "Nice to meet you," he said, "You can call me Mr. Uchiha."
"Alright," I said, warily, "Mr. Uchiha…" (AN: At this point, while I was writing this (I was in my school's library) a class of boys walked in and I left my stuff (Binder, pencil bag, etc.) on the couches and they started going through it all! Luckily, they didn't steal anything, but it was funny when they tried to act as if nothing ever happened! Oh, the joys of working in the library!)
Itachi turned away from me and look directly sat Sebastian, "Julie, are you coming to tutoring, again?" (AN: And that's why I chose Algebra…)
Sebby looked from me to him, "Uh, actually," She stumbled over her words, "I thought that maybe I could skip today, you know? Please, Itachi, please?"
I could have sworn that Itachi had glance at me for a second, and if not a second, then a millisecond. He put a hand on his hip in annoyance and sighed, (AN: Because that is also sexy…again, I was paid.) "Fine, fine. Just remember we have a test tomorrow, and it's a major grade."
Julie's face immediately brightened, "Thank you!" She grabbed my arm and began to pull me through the hallway, but I wouldn't budge.
"Sebastian," I said, pulling he next to me, "If you have a test, then you should study for it."
Julie gave me a sad face, but groaned in defeat, "Okay! I'll go to torturing," She wined and turned from me to go with Itachi. (AN: Oh, but remember, children, never go with strange men with lines on their faces… I'm only doing this because it is needed. Got it? Kay, bye.)
I watched them go as Julie looked up to speak to Itachi, I guessed, though I couldn't hear it if she had said anything. Sighing, my feet continued thumping down the bare hallway, alone. It was when I reached the glass doors, and looked through them to see the crowd, that I got a strange sense of Déjà vu. Automatically knowing what it was, I busted through the doors and began pushing past the students in the crowd. Ignoring the 'Hey's and 'Watch it's, along with some colorful language, (AN: Gotta' keep it real) that I passed, I found my way to the shortcut to my house.
Already out of breath from pushing through the crowd, I huffed as I started to jog down the sidewalk. This time, though, I didn't bother with the cracks. (AN: You're welcome, Mom.) It may seem strange, that I was running so fast and bumping into so many people, just to see if a flower was still alive, but, to me, this wasn't just a flower. I wasn't sure how to describe it, it but the flower gave out an aura of peace and tranquility. Like, if I were to just stand there and stare at it, I would be filled with immense joy. Saying it like that made me feel so stupid and cliché, but that was really how I felt!
My feet touching the ground for only a heartbeat each, I flew down the sidewalk. I had bumped into so many people, now, that I had just stopped apologizing to them entirely. Stumbling and tripping under my feet, I slowed my pace as I reached my desired destination.
The bitter cold of the leaving winter combined with running and not stopping all the way here, had begun to make my throat burn intensely. I gave a weak attempt t helping myself by swallowing the saliva that was forming in my mouth. (AN: Yes, I just went there.) The cold sweat was starting to start, which was good, because I was already cold enough and all I had on was a light jacket. Looking straight forward, I was afraid to look down to see what was below me. Was it still there? Is it dead? What do I do if it's dead? Move on? Get a hold of yourself, Emily! It's only a flower! Somehow, my thoughts couldn't convince myself that that's all it was.
So, I looked down, preparing for the worst, eyes widening when I saw it. The Diamond Flower was gone. In its place stood a plain white flower, petals wilting, one of them had already made its resting place on the dirt below it. It laid there, still, lifeless. I noticed, looking a little closer, that the petal had been torn in two. It didn't really look like a natural cut. Not that I know what a natural cut was or what it looked like, but I knew the rip was no accident. It looked like someone had purposely torn it! Right in two!
My heart pounded furiously, anger flowing through my veins, "It's only a flower," I told myself, "Only a flower. Only a flower. Flowers die."
I continued to whisper this to myself as I walked down the sidewalk, my arms hugging myself to keep me warm. All memories of the man I thought would never come back pushed to the back of my mind. Shivering, I felt another shred of warmth roll down my cheek.