Episode 7
"Darling, dinner is ready!" My mom called to me from the living room.
"I'm coming." I answered.
Without delay, I hurried down the stairs before she could scream my name again.
She beamed at me when I came downstairs, her eyes twinkling. "I made your favourite."
"Wow, there's a lot of food." I muttered, my wide eyes scanning the length of the dining table. I couldn't lie, I really wasn't hungry but I did not want to hurt her feelings by telling her that—or making it obvious.
"You're going to school now, Ariana. A very demanding one for that matter. You need to start eating as much as you can." She laughed.
"Yeah right, a very demanding one." I added and we both laughed.
All through dinner, my mom kept asking me questions about everything that happened today at school but I couldn't concentrate on what she was saying. All I could think about, was my new school and how my classmates were all so weird.
First it was Victoria, who actually creeped me out. Then, there was Sebastian who winked whenever he thought it was cool too. I could swear that I had heard his voice somewhere before, but I just couldn't place my finger on it. He was just eerily familiar and it was eating at me that I didn't know why.
Whatever. I shook the thoughts off my mind. I didn't come to this new school to blend in or to attract attention to myself—although that seemed to be happening all on its own. It didn't favour me at my old school after all. I was considered the most popular girl back at my school but not the overly mean type who made it her job to ruin other people's lives.
"Are you okay, dear?" Mom asked, interrupting my thoughts.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I assured her. "Why do you ask?"
Furrows appeared between her brows. "I've been talking to you. I asked you a lot of questions, but you didn't reply to any of them."
"No, I was listening." I lied.
"No, you weren't." She protested.
"You were talking about my school and my first day." I lied again, without giving it another thought. I guess what they said about lies were true. As soon as you told a lie, you had to continue telling more to back up your story.
"I asked if you were enjoying your meal."
"Oh! Yes I love it." And to solidify my words, I shoved a spoonful of pasta into my mouth and chewed vigorously.
"Honey," She stared at me with worried eyes, her expression, one of concern. "Are you okay?"
I sighed. "I'm fine, mom."
"You don't seem fine. You have been zoning out ever since you came down for dinner. I doubt you even know how the food you're eating tastes."
"No mom, I'm fine. Honestly." I touched her hand, to assure her and smiled.
She tightened her grip on my hand. "You're sure?"
"Positive. You don't need to worry about me."
"So, how was your first day at school?" She asked again, but this time, I put effort into concentrating.
I told her about how I almost got into trouble with the teacher for arriving late. She scolded me for that and I found myself regretting telling her that part. Nevertheless, I went further and told her about my maths class and how I hated it and all. I left most parts out because I didn't want her to get worried.
Dinner continued pleasantly. She told me about her time at home. My mom was a full house wife. She had quit her job because my dad told her to and she had always wanted to take care of her he so when dad brought it up, she agreed. Not to mention, my dad was very wealthy so we really didn't lack for anything and my mom didn't see the need in beating herself up.
She told me about the book club she planned on joining and I also thought that it was a good idea. Since my dad was never really home and with me now starting school, she got bored sometimes. Becoming part of a book club would really be a great idea.
"Goodnight, Mom." I got up and gave her a kiss on her cheek.
"Goodnight, my love."
I got set to go to bed, but I couldn't sleep a wink because I had a lot going on my head. In no time, however, I slept off.
"I promise I didn't steal it, I bought this medication with my own money."
I heard a familiar voice say in my heard, but I couldn't see who it was clearly, because the image was blurry. I tried my best to put a face to the voice, but I failed.
"You stole it, don't you dare lie." This time, it was a more matured voice. I couldn't see a single thing, I just heard voices.
"He said he didn't steal it. Do you have proof that he stole it?" This voice sounded like mine but what the hell was I talking about?
"Hey, it's none of your business, okay?" It was the more matured voice again and he sounded pissed. " You better pay for that right now if you don't want to get messed up." He continued.
"I said I didn't steal it." The familiar voice spoke again. "Do whatever you want to do. I don't care."
"I'll kill you. I swear, I'll fucking kill you." It was the older man.
"I will call the police." The steel in my voice told me that I was threatening this older man. "Run whole you still can."
My threat didn't seem to budge him because he had simply ignored me and gotten into a fight with the person that had the familiar voice.
I felt someone grab my hands and yell, "Let's get out of here."
It was the familiar voice.
"Where are you taking me?" I didn't get any response.
I yelled again, but this time, my eyes flew open and when I looked down my body, I saw that I was sweating buckets.
It was just a dream.
But what kind of dream was that? It felt so real. In all my life, I had never had such a vivid dream. I was suddenly feeling so thirsty and I was breathing heavily.
I grabbed a water bottle that I usually kept on my bed-side table and took huge gulps of it. As I kept the water back, I checked the time and saw that it was 2am.
It was late. I needed to get some sleep because I had school tomorrow. And as I went back to sleep, I hoped that I wouldn't have that terrible dream again.