Seven. Let's play a game

It was cold and wet underneath me, which was strange. The last thing I remember doing was falling asleep in my sister's bed, my head hitting the pillows before I closed my eyes. My first thought was that one of us had an unfortunate accident, but then my eyes opened and instead of being met with a dark bedroom it was in fact a dark forest floor.

Where am I?

I looked down at myself to see I was still in my pajamas. Did I somehow sleep walk all the way into the forest? But nothing around me looked familiar. And I couldn't see the house from where I was. Surprisingly enough — as if this wasn't the biggest surprise, I didn't feel cold. And I forsure know that at this time of night it would be freezing and that I should be shaking in my thin oversized T-Shirt.

I moved to stand, but I couldn't as if something was pulling me down. I go to speak, to shout, to say something but couldn't as if I lost my voice.

I'm dreaming.

I don't know why it took me so long to realize this. But for some reason this dream felt so surreal, like I was currently living through it. Why am I dreaming about being alone in the Forest?

It was probably in the top five weirdest dreams I've ever—

A tree branch snaps.

My head whips towards the noise. It was quiet, wherever I was. So quiet that the sound of the branch snapping could've been heard for miles.

I hear something whoosh past me. It was fast whatever it was.

The trees and forest dissolve around me until everything turns black. Then my eyes blinked open to see the ceiling in my sister's bedroom. I turned my head to my left to see my sister's back facing me. I looked to my right at the alarm clock on the nightstand to see it's a quarter past four in the morning. I sighed in annoyance back into my pillow.

What a weird dream.

I couldn't fall back asleep. When I tried to close my eyes that stupid dream would just keep reappearing and sleep wouldn't consume me. Being awake this early wasn't a usual thing for me at all. Instead of lying in bed and hoping to eventually fall asleep, I decided to head downstairs.

I went to the kitchen, flicking on every light in each room that I entered. I decided to get a cup of water as there was a bit of sweat that came from the dream after waking up. It wasn't enough for me to sweat through my thin shirt but enough where I currently felt slightly hotter than usual and my forehead was clammy.

I placed the cold glass against my warm forehead, getting a slight feeling of relief. That weird dream really seemed to take a toll on me. But it wasn't even scary, just eerie.

I looked out the kitchen window that faced the backyard and the deep forest just behind it. It looked sort of peaceful at this early time of day. I would never go in it. Especially this early in the day or even at night. Forks might be a small town where absolutely nothing happens, but I've seen enough horror movies to know to not go in the Forest alone.

After finishing two glasses of water, instead of going back upstairs to attempt to fall back asleep once again, I went into the living room to watch some very early morning television. This consisted of two hours alone watching Spongebob. Which was a morning well spent.

I was sitting in the living room for a while before I heard footsteps padding against the hardwood floors upstairs. I finally heard a set of feet coming down the steps and in came Charlie.

"Morning," he gruffed. He then seemed to realize that it was me he was speaking to. "This is the earliest I've seen you awake."

"I'm as surprised as you are."

Both our eyes landed back on the TV to see Spongebob and Patrick wrestling, making me laugh.

He hums thoughtfully. "I have to go to the station to do some paperwork. I'll be back sometime today."

"Have fun."

"I'll try," he mumbles ruefully. He grabs something in the kitchen and comes out with a bagel in his mouth before leaving out the house. I heard the cruiser rumble to life before driving off down the street.

I glanced up at the clock hanging on the wall to see it was almost eight. I should get ready soon. I'm supposed to be spending my day with Edward. I didn't know what to expect for today. Hopefully it ends with a good day well spent and not one that I'll regret.

Instead of him coming by the house as originally planned by my sister, I decided last minute that we should meet at a place that I recently found out existed in Forks. Bella said she would relay the information to him. Speaking of my sister…

"Morning," she said. She walked into the living room and headed straight for the kitchen. "How long have you been up?"

"Since five."

"Nightmare?" she half shouted half spoke from the kitchen.

"Something like that. So does Edward know we're going to meet at the place instead of here?"

I walked into the kitchen just as my sister was trying to leave. We both seemed to be sharing a brain for five seconds as I tried to move to the side so she could go through. She went the same way I went. We did this three times before she manually had to put both hands on my shoulder making us both laugh as she maneuvered her way around me into the living room.

"I told him last night about the change in plans," She said. She was heading back to the stairs. "What exactly are you planning to do today?"

"It's a surprise."

She didn't look convinced. "Nothing stupid today Roni!" she shouted from the top of the steps.

"No promises!" I shouted back.

The location I decided for Edward and I to have our little 'get together' was at the Forks Athletic Club. Charlie was the one who told me about the newly constructed sports and fitness center. And I thought this would be the perfect place to really get to know my sister's boyfriend. Besides, I'm competitive and really want to see how far I can push him.

"Racquetball?" Edward asked.

I turned to him with a large grin on my face as I attempted to walk backwards but continue on the conversation.

"You ever play?" I quickly glanced behind myself to make sure no one was coming up behind me before quickly turning back to face him. "I can teach you the rules. It's pretty simple and easy to get the hang of."

"No, I've played before It's just been a while that's all."

I nodded. "Good. Don't think because you're rusty that I'll go easy on you. Don't know if my sister has warned or told you, but I'm very competitive so no hard feelings."

Back home in Phoenix, I used to play this a lot. There was a specified racquetball and tennis center in walking distance of the house that I would go to. I forced my sister once to come play with me and what a bad decision that was. After ten minutes she had cut her knee and bruised her hand. She wasn't too happy, but I told her it was all part of the game — maybe not in the first ten minutes but this is my sister we're talking about. She can take one step and twist her ankle by default.

Edward had me pick the format. I decided to do best out of three. Being the gentleman he was, he let me serve first. And so the game began. It seemed like we were both testing the waters for one another before I decided to add a little force into my swing. It caught Edward off guard causing me to get my point.

"Point," I spoke confidently. "Should I keep track or do you—"

"I got it."

I raised a brow. "Alright, my serve." And so we went again.

I've played this game countless times against many people. I don't know how long it's been for Edward since he last played, but for a guy that was considered rusty he was very quickly growing into the game.

"My serve," he said once the ball skipped causing a slight twinge of irritation in me, but I regrouped. He serves. "How long have you been playing for?"

I hit the ball back against the wall. "For three years now. The only reason I–" the ball came back to me. "Started, was because my coach suggested it for me for tennis."

"You play tennis?" He hits the ball.

"I'm on temporary hiatus, but yes I've been playing since—" Hit. "I was a nine."

"You planning to—" Hit. "Continue when you get back home?"

"No," I sighed out. I completely miss the ball. "Shit."

"My point." I throw the ball back to him and he catches it effortlessly. "And why not?"

I let out another sigh, the racquet hanging loosely in my hand. "I don't know," I said honestly. "I just kind of don't want to play anymore. I'm not as excited whenever I play now."

"Then stop playing if you don't want to anymore."

"Unfortunately it's not that easy. My parents— well Phil and my mom want me to continue. The plan was for me to continue throughout high school so I can get a scholarship. I'm not bad, to be honest I'm really good. Not to toot my own horn or anything." He chuckles. "But, I recently got into theatre and really enjoyed taking those classes, but Phil and Renee don't see it as my future."

I then realized how long we were talking for and had completely stopped the game. "Alright, pretty boy. Let's talk and play."

He serves.

"Why don't you tell them this? They seem reasonable enough to understand."

I hit the ball.

"They are! But, it's not just them, it's me too. Seeing their faces when they come to my games— which is very rare with Phil's schedule." Hit. "Seeing their faces brings something in me. It's hard to explain."

My only real accomplishment is what I do with tennis. It's the only time I feel like they are proud of me. Which they say they always are but being there and seeing me resonates more with me than words. I don't know how this game turned into a therapy session.

"No, I understand," Edward said. He hits the ball.

I need to put an end to this.

"Less talk," I hit the ball. "More play."

And so the game went on putting an end to a conversation I was not expecting it to lead to.

We played until one of us won which ended up overall being Edward, much to my disappointment. I was drowning in sweat while he looked like he got finished doing a photoshoot for Men's Health.

"You played well," Edward teased as we stood in line to return our racquets at the rental station.

I rolled my eyes. "That's how winners try to make losers feel better. You smoked me and I lost, end of."

He laughs. "Fair enough."

The longer I stand the more I couldn't wait to take a shower.

"I can return the racquets if you want to go wash up."

"You sure?"

"Go ahead. Once I'm finished here we can meet up at the front."

I walked out of the line and headed to the women's locker room where a hot shower awaited for me. The door opened as a woman walked out. I walked in the locker room and walked down a couple of rows before stopping in front of a half locker on the bottom. I unlocked it with the combination and took out my gym bag before shutting the locker.

I headed to the showers through the propped door intending to get my hot shower. There was one stall open that I happily took. There was enough room in the shower where my bag could hang on a hook and not get drenched in water. I stripped out of my clothes and threw them in a small trash bag that I whipped out of my duffle.

I splurged the body wash all over my body making sure to scrub everywhere as the hot water poured over me. I could hear the curtain next to me screech open and closed and heard feet padding out of the showers.

I was alone for a little over a minute before someone else walked into the hall.

My back was facing away from the shower head, looking toward the curtain. I happened to glance down and see the pair of brown booted feet walk in. It made me tilt my head, scrutinizing the woman wearing boots in a shower room. But who was I to judge?

My eyes closed for a moment as I leaned my head back so the water could run down my head and body. I moved out of the water and wiped away the water dripping down my face and eyes. The brown boots were standing directly in front of my stall behind the current.

Now I was annoyed.

"There are other stalls that are opened. No point standing there like a weirdo."

The feet didn't budge.

I rolled my eyes.

"You have five seconds to move, or me and you are going to have a real problem."

They stood still as a stone.

I turn the water off, now highly irritable at my hot shower being cut short by some annoying bint. I wrapped a towel around my body and snatched the curtain open.

"Now, I don't know what your deal is but I—"

They were gone. Nowhere to be seen.

The curtains to the other stalls were opened and empty of anyone being there. The door leading to the showers opened and a woman with a towel wrapped around her body, walked in with sandals on her feet and a shower caddy filled with her things in her hand. She stared at me in confusion with probably the same expression she had on my face.

"Did someone just walk out through that door?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No, why?"

"I—nevermind."

She walks to an open shower stall and closes the curtain shut behind her. I heard the shower turn on and music begin to play.

I closed my shower curtain and then opened it quickly as if expecting to see the pair of boots and the person wearing them standing in front of me. I shake my head.

I think I'm losing it.