48 HOURS LATER
"It has been over 48 hours since I last saw Colt," Mom said. "More importantly, it has been over 48 hours since I last saw my phone."
I was in Barley's room at the time, after he had promised to help me with my homework. So far, his help had not been very effective.
Noticing that I seemed a bit distracted, he asked what was wrong.
"Uh… well…" I said, quickly trying to make something was up. I could say "nothing", but it was clear that there was something.
"Have you ever been bullied at school?" I asked.
"What? Of course not!" Barley laughed. "I was the most popular kid, and everybody loved me!"
"Yeah, sure. Okay," I said.
Barley quickly stopped laughing. "Wait! Why do you ask? Are you being bullied at school?"
"What? No, no, no…" I said. "Never mind…"
"Why, if I ever find out who's bullying my little brother!" Barley shouted, standing up.
"No, it's fine! Forget I said anything!" I said.
"Okay… whatever," Barley said, sitting back down.
And now, he was fast asleep and snoring.
"Barley, wake up!" I said.
"Huh? Oh…." Barley said.
"I can't find my phone. Are you sure you haven't seen it?" Mom said.
"Yes! I'm sure!" Barley said. "Is this going to be like the time that you thought I stole your glasses?"
"Oh, I remember that!" I laughed. "Didn't Colt come in to search your room after that?"
"Well, I guess you'll have to get a new phone, Mom!" Barley said, ignoring me.
"No, no!" I said. "That's a terrible idea!"
"He's right. Let's not make such drastic decisions so quickly," Mom said. "Ugh! I don't have time for this!"
She went into the kitchen and started pacing. Then, she peered into the sink and started yelling.
"WHY ARE THERE DICE IN THE SINK?!"
"Oh, Barley was just letting those soak," I said. "He said they were dirty."
"Well, he needs to take them out," Mom said. "NOW!"
Barley opened his door and peeked out.
"Yes! You, young man!" Mom said.
"Okay, okay!" Barley said. "There's no need to get so angry!"
"Yes, there is!" Mom said. "I just want to have a nice dinner with my friend, and everything's going wrong."
Barley went over to the sink and started scooping up all of his dice.
"Got 'em!" Barley said, grinning nervously and holding up two handfuls of soaking wet dice.
He headed back towards his room, but the dice began slipping out of his hands and clattering to the floor.
"Oops! Oopsies!" Barley said. "Don't worry, I got this!"
"Don't be getting under anyone's hooves!" I joked as he bent over to retrieve the dropped dice.
"And now you're crawling around on the ground? Have some decency! What if my guest saw this?!" Mom asked.
"Well, they're not here right now," said Barley, smirking. "Or are they?"
"Colt's not a guest! He's family!" Mom said.
"Yeah, sure. Whatever," Barley said. "I'm leaving."
"And I'm coming, too!" I said.
Barley let me into his van, but he was silent the whole time.
"So… where are we going, anyways?" I asked.
No answer.
"Burgers again?"
Still no answer.
I curled up and pretended that I didn't exist.
Then, I fell asleep.
I woke up to a familiar smell.
Yep. Definitely burgers.
"Ian, wake up!"
"Oh! How long was I asleep for?"
Barley chuckled. "Over an hour."
"That's a long drive!" I said. "Was there a lot of traffic?"
"Just take the burger, Ian!" Barley said.
I woke up extra early in the morning because I'd had a nightmare that Barley was dead.
"Hey, Mom. I was wondering about something," I said.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Is Barley dead?"
"No! Why would he be?" she asked.
"He's been very quiet lately," I said.
"Well, maybe he's sleeping!" Mom said.
"But he usually snores really loudly!" I said.
"That's the least of my concerns right now," Mom said. "I have to get ready to go to…"
I didn't hear the rest of what she was saying, because I was screaming and crying too loudly.
"Stop all that noise!" she said.
"Only if you check to make sure Barley's still alive!" I said.
Mom sighed. "Fine!"
She went to Barley's door, opened it, peeked in for one second, and then closed it.
"Yep," she said. "He's still alive."
"Okay," I said, yawning. "I'm gonna go back to bed now."
What I didn't tell her is that this nightmare somehow felt… different.
In the nightmare, I was Barley. And it just felt real somehow. I was sweating heavily, my head was pounding, and I had a heaviness in my chest that made it hard to breathe.
Something bad is going to happen. I just know it.
When I got back from school that day, Mom was gone and only Colt was there.
"Where's Mom?" I asked.
"In jail," he said.
"WHAT?!" I asked.
"Just kidding," he said. "Here have a cookie."
"Uh… no," I said. "I'm not hungry."
I tried to sneak past him, but he blocked my way.
"Sit down. I have something to tell you."
"Ugh. Fine."
I sat down.
"Barley is in the hospital."
"WHAT?!"