“But Jessica! You don’t understand! I-”
“Oh I understand all right! Your betraying me! Your own best friend! Well, You don’t deserve to live. Your making me miserable!”
Jessica pulled a butcher knife out from behind her back. He eyes started to glow a dark red, and she started to laugh, evilly.
“No! Jess, don’t! I won’t go! I won’t tour with them. Just don’t hurt me!”
She laughed harder. Then she stopped, and grinned. “Your too late! I win, you loose!”
I screamed, and woke up in a cold sweat. What a dream! I thought. It was so real. I looked around. Where was I? Oh yeah. I remembered. I went home after Jessica blew up at me.
I sighed, and crawled back into bed. I pulled the sheets over my head, and told myself not to think about it. I closed my eyes, but no matter what I did, the memory kept coming back.
I had the dream five times. The last two times, I woke up crying. I never got to see what she would do to me. All I saw, was Jessica drawing the butcher knife closer and closer to me. As soon as she put it in me, I woke up.
Why am I having these dreams? What is wrong with me? I shook my head. “Your going crazy, Lauren, that’s what.” I told myself, out loud. I looked at the squared red numbers on my alarm clock. 4:05. I wasn’t going to go to sleep anytime soon, so I got out of bed, and pulled on a pair of Levi’s Jean shorts, and a tank top. I walked downstairs, and went outside, closing the door quietly behind me, making sure not to wake anyone up.
I didn’t know where I was going. I would end up somewhere. I shivered, and picked up my pace. I stopped walking, and realized where I was ; The beach.
I smiled at the smell of salt water, and sat on the sand, a bunch of thoughts spinning around in my head. Why did I have those dreams? Is Jessica evil or something? Why did I end up here, at the beach?
“Lauren?” I jumped.
“Taylor? Is that you?” I asked, startled.
“Yeah. What are you doing here? It’s 4:30 in the morning!”
“I couldn’t sleep. So I came here, what about you? What are you doing up?”
“Nothing much. Isaac’s snoring kept me up, I guess.” He smiled in the darkness.
I laughed. “At least I don’t have to share a room with Lindsay.” I said, laying down in the sand, making myself as comfortable as possible.
“Yeah, you’re lucky. With so many people in my house, we don’t have any room for anyone else!”
“Is it fun? Living with so many people? I mean, Kevin is going to go to collage soon, and it’ll just be me and Lindsay. What’s it like?” I asked.
“Well, it’s fun sometimes. I mean, I know there’s always someone to talk to. There’s always someone around. But sometimes it’s no fun at all. You never have any privacy, and the littler siblings keep ya up half the night, especially not that we have Zoë here.
Taylor went rambling on, and I smiled to myself. I realized how lucky I was with not so many people in the house. Besides, I have lots of friends that I can talk to if I have a problem. As I dozed off, I could still hear Taylor talking. I guess he didn’t realize he was talking to himself.
“Lindsay! How much should I pack?” I yelled loud enough, for Lindsay to hear.
“I don’t know, enough for a week, and the rest depends on the weather. Bring rain and snow stuff, but pack lightly. Don’t bring everything ya have in your room.”
“Okay...” I turned back to my closet, and finally decided on what to bring. I packed seven pairs of shorts, and two pairs of Jeans. Four tank tops, three T-shirt’s, and two sweaters. Two pairs of sandals, and one pair of sneakers.
After I fit it all in my suitcase, I plopped onto my bed, exhausted. I had fallen asleep on the beach, and Taylor had carried me back. He left a note by my bed, saying:
- Lauren,
You were asleep on the beach (I finally realized it when I finished talking, and you didn’t say anything.) So I carried you back. I didn’t want to wake you, because you looked so peaceful. I’ll tell Zac or Isaac to call you, so you’ll be hearing from us! See ya, Taylor.
The phone rang, and I leaped off my bed. “Hello?” I asked, when I got to the phone.
There was no answer, just the steady breathing of the caller on the other line.
“Hello??” I asked again, louder this time.
Silence.
I hung up the phone, and walked back into Lindsay’s room.
“Who was it?” she asked, plopping on her beanbag chair, looking at me expectantly.
“I don’t know. No one answered when I picked up. I wonder who it was...” I trailed off, thinking of all the people it could have been. Zac, Taylor, Isaac, Alicia, Lucy, Jessica.... No wait, Jessica wouldn’t call me. Not after what she did..Well, maybe she wants to apoligize...Yeah tight, Lauren. Jessica wouldn’t apoligize to you in a million years!
“....It would be a prank caller,” Lindsay suggested. “Ya never know. People do things like that all the time!”
“Yeah, maybe. Listen, I’m gonna go outside, okay?”
“Yeah, okay.” ,p>I walked outside, grabbing the portable phone, in case the person called back. Then I wouldn’t have to run inside to answer it.
I sauntered out to the back yard, and climbed up on our huge trampoline. I allowed the sun to shine down on me. Maybe I’ll get a tan before we go to Sweden. I thought. That way, I would look better.
I drifted off to sleep, for what seemed like seconds, when the phone rang.
I yawned, cleared my throat, and said “Hello?”
Again, I got no answer. I was getting scared now. What if it was some freak?
“Hello?” I asked again, raising my voice. “Look, whoever you are-”
*Click*. The person hung up. I sighed. Not again! I hopped off the trampoline, and strolled into the kitchen, to make my lunch.
As I was finishing it up, the phone rang. I screamed in frustration, and picked up the phone. “Look, whoever you are, stop calling me! I’ve had enough of you. What are you doing, anyways? If your trying to scare my, its working! Now-”
“Lauren?” It was dad. uh-oh...
“Uh..Dad! Im so sorry! I didn’t know it was you!”
“Its okay, pumpkin. But, what’s going on? Who did u think I was?”
“Long story, dad. I’ll tell ya when you get home, okay?”
“Okay, sweetie. Well, I’m just checking up on you and Lindsay. Are you okay home alone?”
“Yeah dad, I’m fine. I’m not going to hide under the bed or anything. I’m a big girl!”
“I know. You’re growing up too fast, Laur.”
I rolled my eyes. "Oh dad, I’ll always be your little pumpkin!”
“That’s good to hear. You know, Lauren, you’ll hit it big someday. I know it. I’ve heard you sing. You’re voice it as good as gold! You’ll do great!”
“Thanks dad, that means a lot to me.”
“Okay, well, I have to go. I have a client due any minute.”
“Okay, dad, good luck!”
“Thanks pumpkin, bye.”
I hung up the phone, grabbed my sandwich, and went out onto the pool deck, sitting on a lawn chair. The phone rang again, and I sighed. Who is it? “Hello?”
“Hi, Lauren..It’s Jessica. I’ve been trying to call you all day!”
“So it was you! Man, I thought you were some freak!”
Jessica laughed uneasily. “Sorry about that. Listen, I just wanted to apologize. For being such a snot. I was just really mad..”
“Its okay, Jess. If it means that much to you..” I couldn’t believe what I was about to say. “I it means that much to you..I’ll drop out. I won’t go on tour with the guys.”
“No! No way Lauren! Don’t let me come in the way of your singing! Don’t let me or anyone else for that matter. I’ll miss you, but you can’t throw this all away.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Okay, well, I’ll miss you too. And Jess?”
“Yeah?”
“I forgive you. For yelling at me, and everything.”
“Thanks, Lauren. So, do you want me to see you off tomorrow?”
“Ummm, no.”
“No??”
“Yeah. I mean, I’ll probably get all emotional, and I’ll cry. I mean, you know me. I’m always on water works!”
“Well..Okay. I’ll miss you.”
“Ditto. Look, I’ll be back soon. It’s only a week, right?”
“Right. I’ll be fine ‘till you get back!”
“Okay. Bye, Jessica.”
“See ya, Lauren.”
I hung up the phone, and layed back down, trying to look normal. But with the sun glistening on my face, anyone could tell I was crying.
