Winter stood on a sandy beach, staring off into the distance where the sunlight reflected off the water like city lights.
It was one of those dreams where she could see herself like she was watching everything happen...
Instead of experiencing it truly...
Her black hair blew in the cool breeze, and she could almost feel the relief on her heated skin.
Almost...
But the wind kicked up and sand hit her skin enough to feel like blades...
She almost yelped and waved off some of the debris... maybe attempt to shield her face...
But something caught her eye...
A bundle of flower petals swirled in front of her like a beautiful tornado of pink and red... circling around a section of the sand as if trapping someone...
But it wasn’t “trapping” someone... it was... creating something...
And as she stared... from the tornado of petals, emerged a boy.
It was him again... dark hair... pasty white skin...
The boy from her dreams. The one her mind created...
Winter thought maybe she wanted someone her age to care about her... like she would to them... but he always seemed so... real...
She couldn’t imagine herself creating this... and how her dreams were always calm and remotely... sane.
She took this moment to study the boy as he stared off into the distance, watching the waves drift up the shore and back down...
He was tall, lean, and skinny, but she never saw his face.
It was always covered by shadows... his expression always a mystery...
What was he feeling? Sadness? Happiness? Anger?
And she hadn’t seen him in over a month... never heard his voice...
She wondered what he sounded like... if he had a deep tone that shook the walls or a soft tone that sounded gentle...
The only thing she noticed about him was that he had dark colored hair... though she could never tell if it was black or brown.
He looked to her then, staring at her for a moment.
Winter couldn’t see the look on his face, what color his eyes were... but she could feel the heat of his gaze burn her skin like fire...
“Snowflake,” he whispered to her for the first time, “it is almost time to go. Be cautious.”
Before she could ask him what was coming, the corners of his mouth tilted almost mischievously... and he was gone within seconds.
The only thing left of him were red petals that floated in the humid air.
They almost looked the color of fresh blood…
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*****
Winter’s ears burst when the ring from her alarm clock burned through her dreams, turning them to ash as she sat up on her bed, gasping.
It only took a couple of seconds for her sight to adjust to the darkness, but she noted an outline of large blackout curtains, a writing table with papers scattered across the surface, and her clothes that were thrown across the floor in a hurried mess from the night before.
Just my room... she thought. And only a dream...
She wondered why the mysterious boy had been gone for so long... why he had showed last night...
And he spoke for the first time... and his voice wasn’t deep, dark, or scruffy...
It was low and calm...
Calm in a soothing way... and also in a creepy way...
She shook her head, clearing all thoughts...
Just a dream, Winter, she thought. You’re fine...
But why did he say... “It’s almost time to go”?
Where was he going to take her?
She shook her head again.
Dream, Winter, she told herself again. Stop questioning something that’s not real. You have better things to do like get an A on your Algebra test today.
Stretching out her arms, she let out a big yawn, emptying her lungs before slipping her legs off the bedside.
The ringing still shattered her eardrums, but really, she didn’t care. This happened every morning...
After letting out a big sigh, she groaned...
She wanted to stay in that dream and question the hell out of that boy.
But it wasn’t real...
Part of herself knew that… but the other sent a slight coil to her stomach.
But she picked up her alarm clock off her nightstand, the yellow dwarf’s big black eyes haunting her like she was staring into hell.
She drew her arm back and threw the creepy dwarf at the wall, shattering it into pieces of machinery and plastic.
“Yes!” she exclaimed loudly, mainly to get out of her own head. “It’s finally gone!”
Lazily, she pulled her purple comforter off herself, the cold rushing up her legs like bitter ice.
She rolled off her bed, tempted to fall on the floor, but the better half of herself just had to stand up.
In half-drowsiness, she stumbled to the door.
And she walked out of the entryway, down the hall to the living room where her mom, Sam, sat on the couch, watching one of her game shows like she did every morning.
Winter had to question whether or not her mother got up at two in the morning just to watch the entire thing...
Sam’s eyes focused on Winter the moment she walked into the room.
“Hi, Sweetie! How did you sleep?”
“Meh,” she said, eyes weighing down with exhaustion.
“Still having nightmares?” she said sympathetically.
Winter nodded briefly.
Was it a nightmare...? She still didn’t know if she could answer that question honestly.
“They should stop soon,” Sam assured her. “I know your father’s death still hurts, but it’ll get better, I promise.”
“Did you go through the same thing?” Winter wondered, actually curious.
Sam nodded, smiling softly now. “Yeah.”
So… if she knew how this felt, then she must be right.
“I need a new alarm clock,” Winter stated suddenly, a lazy grin splitting her face.
This seemed to take her mother off guard, as expected. “Another one?” she almost yelled. “This is the seventh one!”
“Maybe you should make them less intimidating and I won’t feel the need to be destructive.” She shrugged innocently.
“So...” Sam’s tone was dripping with sarcasm, “you want a fluffy pink puppy with beating blue eyes?”
“That would be ideal for a five year old,” Winter stated boldly. “I’m sixteen.”
Sam let out a long sigh. “Anyways. You have school to go to, don’t you?”
“Yep.” Winter pushed the urge to snap when Sam changed the subject... again...
“Then go wear your most beautiful pink dress!” Her mother batted her eyelashes innocently.
“Once again,” she stated. “Not five.”
“Fine then.” Her lips twitched. She was clearly fighting a smile. “Go wear your teenage crop top and torn jeans.”
“I’m not popular either, mom.”
“Black death metal shirt, and torn jeans?”
“Nor am I emo or goth,” she stated.
“Just go,” she looked back at the TV and waved her hand lazily, indicating for her to leave, “shoo, shoo.”
Winter rolled her eyes again and stepped to her bathroom to get ready for school.
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*****
It only took fifteen minutes to get to school, but Winter was there, standing in the middle of a giant crowd of high schoolers.
For some reason, these teenagers always found it easy to stop and talk to their friends in other people’s ways.
The double doors rested in front of her, she stared at them for a moment, hesitating to go inside.
It was the first day of school after a ridiculously short fall break.
Why did her school specifically have to have a Friday off in October, and call it a break?
She never really understood that.
On a scale of one to ten, she was excited a one and irritated a nine.
She always hated school... And no, it was not the reason why other kids hated it.
It wasn’t the school work or homework or just anything learning related.
It was the stupid teenagers that treated others like trash.
Build them up, get them to spill their secrets, and gossip their personal stuff they told you to other students.
And, no, this did not happen to her. She saw it happen to one of her older friends. She had an abusive problem at home that she expressed to the wrong people, and the news was in the entire social media network. People called her names, weak, deranged, stupid, submissive.
And... that led her to her death... She just couldn’t stand it anymore, Winter guessed...
After her, Winter refused to make any friends, talk to anyone, and try to get alternative assignments so she didn’t have to do group projects. She honestly didn’t care about the extra work, just as long as she could stay quiet.
The thought of her being stereotypical never crossed her mind... she had one personality placed on every child in the school...
It really wasn’t them... it was mainly her...
She had major trust issues.
Eventually, enough people got out of the way so Winter could open the door, and she stepped in.
This school smelled overwhelmingly like perfume, cologne, and sweat mixed in one odor.
She wasn’t sure if she should’ve been surprised or not.
When she stood in the entryway, she stared up into the ceiling, examining the color scheme of the school like she had never been there before.
Just blue... grey... green... Nothing remotely interesting...
“Hey,” a man’s voice echoed from behind her, “you dropped this.”
She turned to see a tall teenage boy standing in front of her. He had light blue eyes that held something dark in them.
He also had dark hair, a slight lighter color than hers, he was lean, skinny, and had pale skin.
He reminded Winter of someone... though she couldn’t think of it at the moment...
“You okay...?” He tilted his head to the side, studying her with a small smile.
Something about him didn’t sit well with her... Especially with the look in his eyes...
“Umm... yes...” she managed to mutter, hoping he heard her.
“You dropped this,” he said again, holding out her wallet.
Whoa... any teenage boy would keep the money for themselves... and buy a car... especially with the money she had in there...
Why was he different...? This surely was odd...
“What’s your name?” he wondered.
“Oh... Winter....”
She was being very hesitant, and she could tell by the way he talked to her that he noticed it.
“I like that name,” the boy said. “It’s my favorite season.”
“Thanks,” she whispered, though she knew she didn’t sound like she meant it.
She couldn’t get attached to him. He looked a little scary...
“Do you recognize me?” he quizzed.
A shock of surprise hit her gut. “No,” she almost sounded defensive, but really she was confused, “what are you talking about?”
He did seem familiar, though.
The boy only smiled. “I’m Cameron, but I go by Cam.”
She tried complementing him back. “I like your name, as well.”
“Thanks,” he said. “I appreciate it.”
“You have a little red on your chin,” Winter said, pointing to her face as an indication.
He wiped it off with his thumb. “Hmm… so I do.”
“What is it?” she quizzed.
“Aren’t you nosey?” Cam smiled, though not innocently.
When she was quiet, he exhaled a low chuckle. “It’s just tomato juice.”
“Gross…” she commented, sticking out her tongue. “You drink tomato juice?”
“You don’t like tomato’s?” he wondered, dodging her question.
“No, they’re gross.”
“That’s good to know, Winter Evans. Thanks for the input.”
“You’re welc—” She broke off, staring up at him then. “Hold on… I didn’t tell you my last name. And I don’t have a ID card in there….”
She snatched her wallet out of his hand seconds later, and he smiled at the harsh response.
“The bell’s going to ring soon,” Cam warned. “It’s almost time to go, Snowflake.”
She froze, ice sticking her feet to the ground, but he continued walking to his class as if he didn’t notice her being phased at all.
But he was smiling... and it clearly was lethal around the edges...
What did he just say? It was almost like the boy from her dream... but, no... that couldn’t be possible...
It was a dream… and dreams couldn’t come to life…
Snowflake, it’s almost time to go. Be cautious.
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