Once again, I procrastinate instead of doing homework like I should. Enjoy!

Chapter 3

My alarm clock just barely woke me up. I had run too hard the day before. I usually tried to get four or five miles in a couple times a week, but I hadn't in a while- what with rehearsals and homework and now boyfriend drama- and I was feeling it today as soon as I rolled over on bed. I hit the snooze button so if I fell back to sleep, it wouldn't be for very long. My muscles ached and as I started to stretch, I wondered if I'd be able to pull off some of the dancing during rehearsal that day. I continued to loosen up, trying not to fall back asleep. I had stayed up too late struggling to fill out college applications while thinking about Jason… and Ty. I only had a few more applications to finish, thankfully, but I was nowhere near deciding about what I felt towards Ty and what I was going to do about Jason, let alone which university I wanted to go to. It hadn't been a productive night and I had finally given up for the day when I had realized I had been staring at the same question for an hour.

I turned the snooze button off and flipped the light on. I stood up and just listened for a moment. It was quiet. My parents were on a business trip somewhere in Europe, and I was an only child so the house was silent except for the odd creak and groan of the old but beautiful house I lived in. It was kind of strange to not hear their snores resonating through the house, even though they'd been gone for a few weeks already. It was a long trip. I loved them, but I really enjoyed being on my own. I ate a quick breakfast and put some makeup on and hurried out to my car.

The floodlights came on, shining on the frost that had settled on the hood of my car. It was chilly, but I felt a colder tingle run up my spine. A rose sat on my windshield, the stem under one of the wipers. The frost had coated it and it sparkled with the light. Even though I could see my breath when I exhaled, the rose was still perfect and beautiful, not wilted from the cold. My first inclination was to take a picture of it for my Instagram, but I was too angry to move. I stood there staring at the rose until my phone vibrated. It was Jason. He had texted me asking for a ride. I told him that I would be there in five minutes and that the rose was unappreciated and that if he didn't leave me alone for at least a couple of days after that, I was going to beat his butt up, or tell his mother. He could pick. I picked the rose up and placed it in the back floor of my car so that it wouldn't melt all over the seat. It was a few minutes before I got a reply, but by then I was already driving. It kept vibrating so I picked it up to see who was blowing up my phone. To my surprise, I was getting a call, and it looked like Ty's number. I thought I recognized the order of the numbers from where I had stared at the paper he had given me the day before. I answered and put it on speaker phone so I wouldn't have to hold it. It was too cold in my car to do anything but keep my hands on the wheel near the vents blowing warm air.

"She finally picks up." Ty's voice answered.

"You've called me more than once?" I asked.

He laughed. "No. Well, I texted you a couple of times."

"Oh, okay. So, what's up?"

"Nothing, really. I was just wondering when you were gonna get here."

I glanced at my car's clock. It read 6:50. "Wow, you're there really early.-" I said as he laughed again. Transfer students that came in this late in the semester didn't have to live on campus. "I'll probably be there around 7:00. I have to pick up Jason." I couldn't hide the irritation in my voice. Why he couldnt get his truck fixed or live on campus I didn't know. But his parents were rich enough to bribe their way around that rule. There was a long silence. "Ty?" I asked. "Hello?" When he answered, the levity was gone from his voice.

"I thought you were done with him. I mean you've got to stay away if you want to get over him." He tried to joke, but I could hear the strain in his voice.

"I am, Ty. I'm definitely trying. He just asked for a ride and I don't want to be rude so I said yes. His truck's in the shop. Or, at least, it was last Friday. Otherwise I would have said no. I'm not an idiot."

"Right. So, see you when you get here?" He asked. I murmured my assent and we hung up. I typed his name into my contacts while I sat at the stop sign before I turned onto Jason's street and into his driveway. I had always admired his house. It was a huge three story building that was beautiful on the outside and doubly so on the inside, thanks to his mom's interior design expertise. I texted him telling him I was in his driveway and considered about the rotten start to my day. Jason knocked on the passenger side door. I unlocked the door while staring straight out the windshield. As he ducked in he asked, "What rose?" I glared at him, hating that he couldn't even give me a week to build a mental mask over my heart and face so he couldn't get to me.

"You didn't put-" I reached into my back seat and shoved the rose at him, "this on my car?"

"No! I wouldn't do that. I know you, Emily." Obviously not well enough, unless his asking me for a ride was a way to get me to listen to why he broke up with me. Then I noticed the slip of paper curled around the stem of the rose as I started to toss it back away from me. I'd have to look at it later.

"Em, I need you to hear me out, okay?"

Of course. I looked over the back seat as I backed out of his driveway. "What." I kept my voice flat.

"It's about why we had to break up."

I glanced over at him, "Duh. Listen," I said. "just wait 'til we get to school, because if you start talking about this and I become a little too emotional, you're going to drive because, obviously, that wouldn't end well if I ran into a stop sign 'cause you were making me cry."

"Why not just pull over for a minute?" He asked, ignoring the jab.

"Just wait until we get to school." I didn't want to have to be in the car any longer than I had to with him.

"Please, Emily?" He asked. I made the mistake of looking over at him for a moment and my resolve crumbled as his eyes caught mine. I pulled over onto the grass and glanced at the clock.

"Hurry up. You have five minutes." I muttered, refusing to look at him again.

"Last Thursday, I got a phone call. The screen didn't show a number, or a name from my contacts so I answered, half expecting it to be Nathan, you know Nathan, right? I thought he was pranking me." He stopped. I glanced over at him. He was staring straight ahead, out of the windshield.

"It wasn't him." He grew quiet again and I almost wanted to tell him to get a move on when he spoke again. "Em, I was scared, okay? I need you to understand that." I felt a shiver go down my spine. Jason never got scared. Of anything. Ever. I reached over to grab his hand on an impulse, because that was what I did all the time whenever he was upset about something. Well, before last Friday. I felt my hand start to tingle as if a low voltage current was coursing through Jason and into me. I thought, 'That's strange,' before the memory assaulted me.

I hunched over the books that were probably going to kill my GPA this year. Why I had decided to take Calculus and Trigonometry together during my senior year in high school, I didn't know. I groaned as I finished the last few problems, thankfully, and stretched out my stiff muscles. Today's shoulder workout had not felt that great. I glanced at my phone dock. It was 6:39, plenty of time to call Emily up and see if she wanted to grab some dinner and watch a movie. I'd probably pick up one of those cheesy chick flick movies she loved so much from Redbox. I had to admit, though, it was worth it to watch those with her and hear her laugh like she did and… they were beginning to grow on me, not that I would ever tell any of the guys that. I grabbed my phone to call her, when it started ringing. I figured she probably had the same idea. So, without paying attention to the name on the screen, I answered. "Hey." I said, expecting to hear her voice. I was stopped cold when I heard, "She will get hurt if you don't do exactly as I say."

"What? Who is this?" I asked. I didn't get an answer, didn't really expect one. There was silence for a moment, then:

"Break up with Emily."

This had to be my friend Nathan. He was always prank calling me, but this was the weirdest he'd ever been. "Nathan?" I asked. "Dude, quit being weird. I know you like her and all, but trying to freak me out isn't going to work."

"I'm not going to repeat myself."

"Well, neither am I. Cut it out." I heard a sigh on the static filled background. "Fine. I'll give you until, say, Saturday, to break up with her. If you don't…" He paused. "Let me just say that it won't be good for either of you."

"I swear, Nathan, if you don't quit-"

The guy cut me off, "Quit being stupid, Jason. You know I'm not Nathan." Condescension dripped from every word he spoke. "I thought you were smarter than that." His voice turned ice cold and his words were so sharp, I felt like they should have been able to cut me through the phone. "Here's a little incentive to do as I say. If you don't, you may find her missing something important. Her life, maybe? Or perhaps you just won't see her anymore. She might get taken. And I think that would throw a wrench into your plan of proposing to her at graduation. I think choosing the first option is your best bet. Two days." I started whispering furiously into the phone, but he had hung up. I stared at it in disbelief before flinging it across the room where it bounced off my wall and onto my bed. I yelled, "What exactly am I supposed to do now?" at my wall. "How am I supposed to deal with this?" I had never been so angry at someone before.

I stumbled over to my desk and collapsed in the chair. I buried my face in my hands and felt my elbow knock something off the desk top. It was a few moments before I looked over at the floor. It was the picture Emily and I had taken at prom the previous year. Around the frame was her favorite quote, "Don't lose hope, you never know what tomorrow will bring." I looked over at my phone. I couldn't call the police. They wouldn't believe me. I'd made the mistake of prank calling the cops with Nathan a little too often when I was younger. I guess I'd just have to do as the person said; at least, until I could get Emily to listen to me again about what was going on. Because if I know her, she's going to be ticked off like never before…

I opened my eyes and blinked against the faint light of the rising sun. I was barely aware of someone shaking me, and it seemed to me that they were shouting something but, I was still half in the state of unconsciousness. I couldn't focus on what they were saying. 'What just happened?' I wondered. It all came rushing back, and with the new-not-my-own memory, an exceedingly sharp focus on the here and now, but I felt strange. I couldn't feel anything, emotionally. I was completely indifferent that someone had threatened to kill me, or kidnap me, or whatever. I sat up as Jason sputtered, "Are you alright? You just… slumped over after you touched my hand and… are you okay?" I nodded, debating if I would have to tell him about this strange thing that was happening to me. I considered that a stupid thought. I mean come on! I just passed out in front of the guy! I snapped back to reality when I realized Jason was waving his hand in front of me. "Do I need to call an ambulance?"

"What? No! I'm fine. But, Jason, I have something I need to tell you. You're probably not going to believe me, but…" I trailed off. "What?" He demanded. I realized something before I began speaking. I had caused him a few days of heartache… well so had he, to me, but that was beside the point. I am such an idiot sometimes. "I'm sorry." I whispered. With the tears that snaked down my cheek, my feelings came snaking back into my reality. This memory thing just kept getting weirder and weirder. Would it ever stop?

Jason looked at me and then leaned over and hugged me tightly. "Are you okay? And what do you have to apologize for?"

"I'm fine. I saw what happened... that guy... he called you...me...-"

"What guy? What are you talking about? You sure you're okay?"

I nodded. He opened his mouth to speak but I continued talking before he had a chance to say anything.

"There have been incidents where my surroundings have matched an emotional memory. It's happened four- five times now. I relive the memories as if they were happening again. When I grabbed your hand, it happened. I relived your memory of when the guy called you and told you that if you didn't do as he asked, I would lose my life or..." My last words dropped to a whisper.

Jason wrapped me in his arms. "I will never let anything happen to you. Never. That's why I agreed to what he said, Em." He sighed. "I've missed holding you so much- even though it's only been a couple of days." He paused. "I hope you really are okay..."

I sat back in my seat. "You don't believe me?"

"I do." He looked serious, but there was a question in his eyes. "I didn't even get to tell you about the rest of the call and you already know about all of it. How could I not believe you?"

I almost laughed, if not for the situation. "Yeah it is. I don't know why I'm having these blackout things. I just hope it doesn't happen while I'm driving or something. That would be bad."

"Yeah, that is why you are not going to drive today. I am."

That elicited a nervous laugh while I traded seats with him. Even though I was just outside for a brief moment, the chill outside was enough to get me shivering. I pulled my coat closer to me as I situated myself in my car. When Jason pulled the door closed, I grabbed his hand, tentatively, not wanting another blackout. Relieved when one didn't happen, I glanced over at Jason. The words from the blackout/memory echoed around my head. "Jason, what are we going to do about this guy?"

"I don't know... but I do know that no one will take you from me. No one. I love you, Emily."

"I know."

I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Jason held me in a hug and didn't let go until I yelled, "We're gonna be late!" The clock read 7:05. Jason started to drive. I started to think. What if the guy was at our school? What if he was a student or- gross- a teacher? What were we going to do? I asked. "So are we going to pretend that we aren't together?"

Jason nodded. "Unfortunately, babe, I think we should go on acting like we have been." I bristled at his term of endearment. "Don't call me that. You know I don't like it." He looked over at me and laughed. "I know. I've just missed getting to tease you." I sighed, almost content with how my day had taken a slight turn for the better. Besides getting a death threat. "What's wrong?" Jason asked.

"Nothing. I'm glad it happened, too. Now I understand why. You don't know how happy that makes me. You understand me now and that's all that matters."

The warmth of the car gradually chased the shivers away as he drove. I was, in this moment, almost completely happy. I looked outside at the oncoming stop sign. When he stopped, Jason grabbed my hand. I looked over at him, and drew back a little when his face was just inches from mine.

"I love you, Emily. I never lied when I said forever."

My breath caught in my throat. "I know. I love you, too."

Jason leaned forward and kissed me softly on the lips. I pulled away, head spinning. "We should go. Remember? We're gonna be late." I told him, my voice faint. He laughed softly. It had been a while since he last kissed me. It wasn't a regular thing, his kisses. He only did it every so often, just enough that it would make my head spin every time.

Jason laughed and drove ahead to school. He parked my car and told me, "Stay here for a second." He got out of the car and walked around to my side. He opened the door and offered his hand to me. I took it and he helped me out of the car. I smiled and he kissed me on the back of my hand, and then on my forehead. I couldn't help but notice that my hand wasn't tingling like it had yesterday when Ty kissed it, however, I would take a Jason over a Ty right now, tingles aside.

"Three kisses in one day? I feel special."

He laughed again and said, "You are special. You want to go in first, or should I?" I grabbed my bag out of the back and caught sight of the rose. And the paper wrapped around it.

"You go on. I'll be there soon."

He waved goodbye and walked into the school. I slid into the backseat and picked up the rose. I unfurled the thin sheet of paper wrapped along the stem. Brava. In flowing script. That's all it said. Creepy. I sat it carefully aside as I looked at my phone. I locked my car and glanced at my phone. The temperature was starting to drop, and my breath was hanging on the air like small clouds. I had five messages from Ty. How had he gotten my phone number anyways? I hadn't given it to him. I figured he probably asked Mrs. Radley for it since I assumed he was now a part of the cast, so I put the slight weirdness aside and read the messages.

Tyler L'Ange-When are you getting here?-

Tyler L'Ange-What's taking so long?-

Tyler L'Ange-Emily? Hurry up! I have something important to tell you!-

Tyler L'Ange-Why is it taking you two so long?-

Tyler L'Ange-Can you text me back? I need to talk to you.-

I had completely forgotten about my conversation with Ty before I picked up Jason, what with the whole blackout thing. I texted him back telling him I was there and walking in. I walked up the old steps, opened the door to the school, shivered as the heat from the building hit me and looked around for Ty, only to see him right in front of me.

"Hey." I said. "Why did you get so irritated about me giving Jason a ride?"

I thought he was ignoring me when he started walking to the theater, but he motioned for me to follow him. I sat next to him when he stopped right outside one of the doors. I waited for him to speak. I was starting to think I wouldn't get an answer when he spoke, "I like you, Emily. After yesterday I thought I might have a chance. You guys broke up, remember?"

"Ty, I like you, but only as a friend," I think, "considering I just met you yesterday. Isn't that a little fast? And I listened to what Jason had to say... well I didn't have a choice considering I gave him a ride," And the fact that I actually saw it happen, I thought, "and his explanation was a very good and convincing one. Everything's fine now."

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" I asked. Ty muttered something about already talking about it. Suddenly he spoke up, "So I guess you still love him?"

"I would guess so considering he told me, went to such lengths to tell me, and made sure I believed him, yeah."

Ty looked over at me, "Well I think you should watch him tonight at rehearsal- from what I can tell from yesterday's class, he's playing Raoul in your school production right? See if you know for sure about that last question, or in that case, both of them."

"There's theater rehearsal tonight?! When did that happen?" I hated it when teachers called in things last minute, even if it was necessary.

"It was announced a few minutes ago."

"Oh... okay. Well, I have to go anyways. I play Christine. I think I had all yesterday off."

Yes, I got to play the lead female role in my favorite musical. (Insert girly squeal here.) Jason was the Vicomte de Chagny, Raoul. The guy who had gotten the role of the phantom had quit a few weeks back saying it was too much for him to handle. I didn't think he fit the role of the phantom anyway. I was a total nerd when it came to The Phantom of the Opera. I knew all the words and lyrics, contemplated almost daily on Christine's love for Raoul and/or the Phantom, and tried to decide who she loved better or if her love for Roul was just an infatuation… I was a Christine x Phantom fan, but in the case that my boyfriend (unofficially official now, happy sigh) played Raoul, I had made an exception for this production. I think it made my acting a bit better when I had to act in love with Raoul. No problem there. But rehearsals had been difficult. There were times when Mrs. Radley threatened to call it off because there wasn't anyone else who could play the Phantom and us pull off our usual quality performances. She usually just said things like that when the cast wouldn't quiet down. She had told us the day after that she had a guy who could play him but it would be a few weeks. The day of though, everyone was a wreck. We had already worked so hard for this? Thinking of that, the guy was supposed to be here today at the latest. I looked over at Ty. Could he be-?

Ty met my gaze as he said, "If you're Christine, then I could be your Angel of Music." He laughed and I felt my heart beat a little faster. He started humming a completely irrelevant song, but I noticed that he wasn't bad. Far from it, actually. "Wait, are you-?" I started to ask. He shook his head just as the bell rang and he got up and waved goodbye. I trudged off to my first class, dreading the rest of the day.

Okay. I'm going to make this the last time I post until my finals are over next week. Thanks y'all!- Aralara