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196Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb1hv22fnTg
Siya196Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUe2qsKRxrJ
"I'm never gonna leave your side," he said as he stared at me, "trust me."
I wake up, my chest rising and falling. It was the third nightmare of the week. I rushed to open my desk and pull out my diary to write all the details I had just seen. I held the pen, my hand shivering. I could remember him so vividly that I could even draw him. Water droplets dripped down his face, and his slightly parted ruby lips spoke to me while I stared into his dark orbs. His ruffled raven hair resembled the night sky, adding something more to his beauty.
I don't know what I should do. Why does he keep appearing in my dreams? I scribbled on the notebook, just letting my hands run. He was not a human. He could not be a human. A human couldn't be so enchanting. He talks to me as if we know each other. I don't understand. I've never met this guy, but I keep seeing him in my dreams.
"Wake up!" yelled my sister into the room.
"I told you to knock, Ellie!" I yelled back at her, closing my diary in haste. She giggled and said, "Mom called you for breakfast, come downstairs," she ran away laughing. I sighed, turning back to my diary, feeling a sense of eeriness run through me after I heard my sister climb downstairs.
I must be overthinking. Nothing is happening. My nightmares could not mean anything. After all, they are just dreams. I put my diary back in my study and stepped into the bathroom. I've got school, homework, my family, maybe some friends and that's all. That's my life. There's nothing else. I live an ordinary life. I washed my face and climbed downstairs after I heard my mum yell at me. Yep, I'm normal.
"Yes, Mom," I replied, indolent to what she was saying at the dining table.
"And don't forget that we have visitors today. Be home soon. Understood?"
"Yes, yes," I said as I picked up my school bag hurriedly to leave. The instructions were too much to follow.
"Wait, are you really full? You did not eat much," my mom asked me. "Mom, I'm running late to school. I'll see you later," my voice came out muffled as I stepped out of the house, chewing the last slice of buttered bread. The usual urban road greeted me, and I walked to my school alongside the pavement, like I usually do.
"Take care, Siya!" I heard my mom yell. I walked only wishing for this day to pass without much attention and trouble.
I'm in my third year of high school. My priorities are grades and only grades. Of course, I have friends, but most of them are not in the state, so we rarely meet. On the opposite pavement in front of me, I see James. He puts his earphones on and continues walking. I live close to my school, so I see my classmates who use this road every day. I know them all, well mostly see, but I don’t think I can say the same for them too.
I heard giggles and waves of laughter. Students in the same uniform as me chatted away with their friends, most of whom I didn’t know. It got more crowded as I walked, and soon I made my way through the throng that entered the vast white building.
"Rail Academy." The entrance had bold letters on top.
"Siya!" someone yanked my hand, "Did you do the homework Mr. Smitz gave us?"
"Yeah," I said to Dana, the girl I've been associating with lately. She's a transfer student. Despite being new, she has gathered a considerable amount of good friends.
"Seriously? It took me an hour to just understand what we were supposed to write," she replied to me, her hand still tangled in mine, "Yeah, just keep revising and you'll not feel that way again," I could have done better than the lame reply but I chose to ignore the rational thought and walked to the hallway in the school.
"Oh, I see. So tell me more about your evening," she followed me.
We strolled to our lockers, chatting. I must say, Dana's conversation skills were impeccable. She could continue our chat with anything stupid and curt I said.
"Let's meet at the break then," she replied as I said something about running late to class, "Uh, sure," I responded. She seems interested in what I say, which I find pretty quirky. Unlike all the other students who want to know more about the popular girls, Jade and Max, Dana wants to know more about me. The day passed by fast, with some pop quizzes, heavy homework assigned, and some sleepy lessons. Autumn days were always like these.
In the evening, I packed my bag to leave when I saw Dana waiting outside the classroom for me.
"You didn't have to wait," I told her.
"It's fine, I just wanted to walk along with you," she replied.
We were on the road, walking side to side. The wind blew softly over us. She tucked her hair strands behind her ear as she said, "The season is changing faster than ever, isn't it?"
"Yeah, I suppose," I replied, looking at her brown eyes. She smiled. We just had our summer vacation and now it's autumn telling us our midterms were closer.
I grew silent, waiting for her to start another conversation. But she didn't say anything We walked and pained to bear the silence any longer, I looked at her. When I saw her face–I had the first shock of the day–I was nonplussed. She was stressed. Her face stiffened, her brows twitched, and her eyes widened. "Hey," taken aback, I called her, "Are you alright?" I was quite astonished to see a substantial change in her countenance. The mood promptly changed lousy in the blink of an eye.
She averted to me. She blinked a few times, making efforts to pull back her thoughts from somewhere else–trying to process what I had asked. "Oh," she chuckled, "why not?”
She smiled, concealing her distress moments ago. I nodded my head and returned to my normal view–the road ahead and walked along, acting like I didn't notice there was a problem.
And ahead of the road was someone I never expected to see. Daniel.
"By the way, where do you live?" she asked me, pulling back from my thoughts as they began to trail to what he was doing here.
"End of this street," I said.
"Oh, then let me drop you off.”
"No, thanks. Don’t bother," I replied, a little flabbergasted at her abrupt request.
"It's really fine, Siya. My home is just around here. Let’s reach the end of the street. It's no trouble," she said, keen on convincing me. But I somehow knew there was a different reason for her to insist.
"Are you okay?" I asked her out of the blue, looking at her in instant regret. "No," she whispered and looked at me startled, "Oh, yes, of course. Why would you ask that?" she concealed her discomfort with a laugh.
"You seemed distressed,” her eyebrows narrowed and her lips turned to a fine line, her face making the same countenance she had previously, "Is it because of him?" I asked as I pointed to Daniel. He was far ahead of us on the same side of the road. He looked like any other kid who would walk down the street after school. I wouldn't have heeded him had Dana not stared at him.
"No, no," she swiftly denied, "I actually don't know him," she confessed. That wasn't a surprise because Daniel was always aloof. I did not see him with anybody in school. Now that I was looking at him, I saw his pecan-brown hair that stood out. He wasn't muscular but well-toned. He was in our school uniform but I don’t remember seeing him today. I could feel Dana walking faster–or maybe it was just me busy looking at him–nevertheless, I tried to catch up with her.
"Well, he is pretty indifferent," I stated, feeling the need to say something about him. Dana hummed in response, "Maybe."
I knew something was wrong. No, everything was wrong. It was the first time in the day I heard her give me a single-worded reply and she had refused to tell me the problem when I asked her. "How long is your home from here?" she asked me still focused on Daniel, still rushing to him.
"Very near. Actually, Daniel… is standing in front of my house," I replied.
"Oh," she stopped to look at me, "That's your house?" she asked sceptically and I stood there not knowing how to react.
"Yeah..." I said, "Why would he be standing there?"
She walked after hearing me, "Oh, uh, no idea."
"But I'll see you later," she told me as we neared my home.
"Yeah, where's your house from here?" I asked her.
"Just near," she assured me.
We reached my house and Daniel was looking at us. He stood still in front of the house, staring expressionlessly at both of us. I sauntered to the door, looking at him, pondering why he would be so interested in standing at someone’s door whom he had never even looked at. He maintained eye contact and I felt the need to look away somewhere else.
"Do you guys live near each other?” I asked looking at Dana, there were a lot of things I wanted to ask her. She was yet perturbed as she stood next to Daniel.
"Yep," she briefly answered me, cueing me to get into my house.
"I'll see you then, Dana," I said as I stood at the entrance, preparing to go inside.
She nodded and smiled at me. Forcibly. Her breath was heavy–as if from a shock. She and Daniel stood by to see me inside. I have so many questions want to ask Dana. Why does she look so scared? Does Daniel know her? They seem like they do know each other.
I smiled at them and turned around to get into my home. I guess I'll ask her later. I removed my shoes, hearing someone chat inside. There must be a guest. I headlong rushed into the drawing room, wanting to know what the chatters were about.
"Oh, this is my daughter, Siya. Siya, say hello to Mr. Cruz and Mr. Hart," said my father as he laid his first look on me. I looked at the other two middle-aged men in the hall. A casually dressed man smiled at me while the other looked at me up and down with deadpan eyes. I gave them a tight-lipped smile and stood awkwardly. Who were they? I hurried over to my mother, who had her typical smile, sitting next to my father.
"Who are they, Mom?" I asked her.
Her smile vanished for a second, and she whispered, "What do you mean? Didn't I tell you in the morning? They're our new neighbours," she looked at me disappointed.
"Neighbours?" I asked astounded, "So can I go to my room?"
"What?" she glared at me, “They've come here to meet us, you're staying."
"Mom, I have homework. Please?" I pleaded.
"Siya," one of them called.
"Yes," I jerked my head towards them awkwardly.
“That’s a nice name,” murmured the cordial-looking old man. I looked at both of them and their gazes were fixed, looking at me, trying to find something in me. I looked down, feeling uneasy at their glances. I want to be out of here soon.
"How long have you been living here, Mr. Alvarez?" asked the dour man, his hair grizzled and his face wrinkled.
"Almost ten years, I believe. We lived in Spain and it's not long since we came here," my dad explained.
"Oh, my grandson lives in Spain, you see," said the other man. I don't understand my part in this conversation.
The next few hours, my mother had a proud simper on her face most of the time, while my dad’s inner political critic was brought out with the momentum of the conversation.
The evening passed by, and the showcase to the neighbours that this is one nice family came to an end. In other words, the evening was wasted efficiently.
"Well, I think we'll get going," said the grizzle-haired man, whose face brightened up a little.
I felt relieved after hearing him say that.
"Oh, it was a pleasure to meet you," said my father.
They spared a last glance at me, the second time they had looked at me. They were leaving. But... I don't feel safe. It's just this feeling… only a feeling that… something might go wrong. I tried to smile genuinely. To my surprise, they smirked back at me.
“What’s that!?” I yelped at them. There was something in their heads.
“What is it?” whispered my mother to me.
“No, h-he, wait, it-it’s just that– “You have a nice daughter, Mr. Alvarez,” they interrupted the tormented, stuttering girl in front of them and exited as if nothing happened.
My father turned to me, “Why are you so frightened?”
“No, it’s nothing,” I sighed and turned around facing the wall. What did I just see? What was that? Furry and pointing upward on the sides of their head? It must be my hallucination, it can’t be true. Have I started dreaming with my eyes open? Is this the next phase of having the same nightmares? Have I gone crazy?
"It's pretty good that we have so many friendly neighbours," I heard my mom tell my dad. I looked down at my sister colouring in her sketchbook, "I doubt that," I thought unreasonably. I picked up my bag and went upstairs to my room. I crashed into my bed, throwing my school bag on the mattress.
Let's forget it. It's finally the weekend and I can sleep in tomorrow. I deserve to enjoy it. I saw my phone light up. I lay on my stomach, taking the phone in my hand, and unlocking it. I had unseen messages from Dana. I didn’t know how she had my number, but I still texted her back. She asked me if we could meet tomorrow and I replied sure.
Before I shut my phone, we texted a bit and nevertheless, she put a smile on my face. I washed my face and prepared my bed. I might not have the best each day but it's alright. I laid on my back, and pulled the bedcovers, wondering what would happen tomorrow. I don't know why she wanted to meet me, but I have something to at least look forward to. I closed my eyes, hoping I would have sweet dreams tonight. And boy, I couldn't be more wrong.
196Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi6LJuSjFCZ
