Fated Dreams (Book One In The Affinity series) (5 page)

I laughed. “Ten
o’clock, wake up.”

She crawled out
of the bed and stumbled behind me downstairs.

“So, are you coming to lunch with Derrick
and me or not?” Emma asked between bites of pancake, which was so saturated
with syrup, I had no idea how she could taste it. My mom had already left for a
visit at Derrick’s mom’s house, so I made breakfast, watching Emma hold her
head up with her arm, still very tired.

“Do you want
more syrup? I see one spot that isn’t soaked.”

She stuck her
tongue out at me. “Shut up and answer the question.”

I thought about
it. “No, I’m going to stay here and have a lazy day.”

She smiled, no
doubt thinking of an afternoon alone with Derrick. “Suit yourself. Okay, I’m
done eating now. I’m going to use your shower; he’ll be here in an hour. Can I
borrow that cute blue dress you bought yesterday?”

“How did you
know I bought a dress? I forgot to show you.”

“I peeked in
your closet last night when you were in the bathroom. So can I, please?” she
begged, clasping her hands together like she was praying.

I laughed.
“Fine, I haven’t even worn it yet, but knock yourself out.” I took a bite of my
pancake, savoring the sweet maple taste of the syrup.

She jumped up
and down. “Yeah!”

“But I want it
back tomorrow,” I said after swallowing.

“I promise,” I
heard her say faintly, since she was already at the top of the stairs.

I finished my
breakfast and then put our dishes in the dishwasher.

While Emma was in the bathroom getting
ready, I picked up my book and started to read again.

“God, I hate my
hair,” I heard her mumble from the open doorway of my bathroom. I laughed
softly to myself. She had no idea how pretty she was, and it was mostly because
of her red hair. But every time I tried to tell her that, she ignored me.

She shut the
door to the bathroom so the hair dryer wouldn’t disturb me, and I started to
read again. I was in the middle of a chapter when someone knocked on my door.
“Is everyone decent?” Derrick asked.

“Yeah, come on
in.” I tossed my book aside and sat up, leaning against my pillows.

“Hey,” he said,
walking into my room. The bed squeaked as he sat on the edge, looking down at
my T-shirt and yoga pants. “Why aren’t you ready to go?” He looked genuinely
curious, as though he really wanted me to go with them.

“I don’t feel
like it. I thought you guys could use some privacy.”

He frowned,
raising an eyebrow. “So, how did you know?” was all he said, knowing I would
understand him.

“That you and
Emma liked each other?” I asked, and he nodded.

“Well, I have
known you since birth, I know you better than my own brother. Emma and I
haven’t been friends quite as long, but since kindergarten, I could pretty much
guess what she was thinking.”

 My parents had
been friends with Derrick’s parents since college. My mom and Derrick’s mom
were inseparable, so when we were born, we had no choice but to follow in their
footsteps. We grew up together; he was like a brother my own age. One I
actually liked to hang out with.

He gave me a
thoughtful look and then said softly, “You are the best friend I have ever had,
and I don’t want anything to ruin that, so if this bugs you at all, tell me.”

I leaned toward
him, grabbed his hand, and gave it a squeeze. “You’ve been holding back because
of me. No, don’t deny it,” I added when he shook his head. “I want you both to
be happy, and what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t let that happen? So
what I am trying to say is, go for it, seriously.” We smiled at each other.
“Well, that’s enough mushy stuff for one day, don’t you think?”

“Oh yeah,” he
replied, throwing a pillow at me.

Emma finally
finished, and they were headed out the bedroom door when she turned and came
back in. “Who’s David?”

I frowned at
her. “I have no idea who you’re talking about.”

“I went to the
bathroom last night, and when I got back in bed you were mumbling the name
David.”

I didn’t know I
talked in my sleep. “I was? That is so weird; I don’t know anyone by that
name.”

She shrugged
her shoulders, smiled, grabbed Derrick, and took off.

I lay back down
on my bed. I knew I dreamed of someone, but it was Lucas, not somebody named
David.

After a good dreamless sleep I felt rested.

I even arrived
at school on time, shocking my friends, whom I walked with from the parking
lot. I did notice that they drove together in Derrick’s car.

“So how was
lunch yesterday?” I asked as we headed into the school.

They both
smiled like they had a secret. “Great,” they said in unison.

“So in
translation, I’ll have to wait to get Emma alone before I get any juicy
details.”

She beamed at
me, eyes shining. “Exactly.” We all laughed and headed for our separate
lockers.

In my first
class, I turned around and stared at Derrick. “So did you kiss her yet?”

He looked a
little smug. “Well, you did say to go for it, didn’t you?” His grin spread
across his face.

“Good for you,”
I said as Miss Reynolds started the class. I turned around and listened to her
lead a discussion on Jane Austen’s
Pride and Prejudice
, the book we were
to begin reading.

After class, I
walked with Derrick down the hall, but separated at my locker.

He had next
period with Emma, so he had a big smile on his face as he rushed away.

In music class,
we partnered up and practiced the new piece. I worked with Hannah Smith, who
played the violin. The two instruments sounded good together, and I couldn’t
wait until tomorrow when the whole class played.

The cafeteria at lunch was always noisy.
Get a couple hundred teenagers in one place, and there’s bound to be yelling,
laughter, and sometimes food fights. Today wasn’t bad, but there was a buzz of
conversations in all directions in the large lunchroom. The smell of grease and
tomato sauce filled the air. We were sitting at our usual table, and today
Derrick’s friends Pete and Cory joined us.

I had just
taken a bite of my tuna sandwich when I heard Pete say, “So Sarah, since these
two are finally dating”—he pointed to Derrick and Emma—“how about you and I go
out sometime?”

I looked up
from my book and gulped down the bite of sandwich. Sometimes I took a book to
lunch, and with the extra male conversations that involved sports and girls, I
needed it today.

Derrick, who
was about to take a bite of his bologna sandwich, froze with his mouth open.
His eyes darted to me, and I knew he could read my panicked thoughts. He set
his sandwich down and smiled. “Oh please, Peter, Sarah is way too good for
you,” he said with a laugh. “What happened to Carrie, or was it Michelle?”

Peter gave
Derrick an arrogant smile and leaned back in his chair. “I have room in my life
for all of them. So Sarah, what do you say?”

Thank God for
Derrick. I knew he’d know that I wasn’t the least bit interested in Pete. He
was a very nice guy, and with his light blond wavy hair and blue eyes, he was
quite a catch. But he was a little bit of a ladies’ man. Like he said, he
usually dated more than one girl at a time, and that just wasn’t for me.

“Although it is
tempting to become a member of your harem, I think I’ll pass.”

Peter placed
his hand over his heart, acting like I had hurt him, making everyone laugh.

“Hey, Pete, did
you know Sarah and Emma had a sleepover on Saturday?” Derrick suddenly asked. I
glanced at Derrick, wondering why he would bring that up. Why would Pete care?

Pete smiled.
“You did? So who won the pillow fight?” he asked, looking over at Emma and me.
We were sitting next to each other.

Emma and I
exchanged confused glances. “What pillow fight?” Emma asked.

“You know. When
girls have sleepovers, they always have pillow fights.”

We stared at
him in disbelief. He was smiling, waiting for our answer. Derrick and Cory were
laughing, nudging each other.

I glanced at
Derrick to explain. “Pete thinks that girls have pillow fights in sexy lingerie
when they have sleepovers,” Derrick said, filling us in.

“They do, I’ve
seen it in movies,” Pete said, defending himself.

I laughed. “In
the movies maybe, but not in real life. I hate to break it to you, but I wear
flannel pants and a tank top to bed. And I have never had a pillow fight.”

He looked
stricken. “Are you sure? Maybe it’s just you?”

“Sorry, I don’t
know any girl who has.”

He pouted,
looking down into his can of soda. The expression on his face resembled a child
that had just been told there’s no Santa. The conversation was a little noisy
then, and Derrick and Cory started giving Pete a hard time.

There was a
loud clatter behind us. We turned in the direction of the noise.

Logan and his
friends were laughing at Bobby Thornton, who was holding a tray with half his
lunch on it, the other half at his feet. “Looks like Logan strikes again. Isn’t
it hilarious to knock someone’s food on the floor?” Cory asked dryly.

“What a douche
bag,” Emma mumbled from beside me. “Oh look, Sarah.” She pointed at Lucas, who
was walking toward Bobby from his table to help him pick up his food. She
leaned over to whisper in my ear, “Isn’t that sweet?”

I nodded but
didn’t say anything. The truth was, the more I saw of Lucas, the more I
realized how wrong I had been about him. It made me feel things that I didn’t
want to feel. Of course, the dreams didn’t help either. But I was learning that
Lucas was a good guy.

In history
class, Lucas stopped at my desk on the way to his. “So how was work Saturday?”
He leaned against Wally Martin’s desk, which was next to mine.

“Fine, how was
the rest of your shift?”

He chuckled.
“Not bad, I didn’t embarrass myself once.” I knew he was referring to his words
about us getting to know each other better, and since thinking about it made
butterflies appear in my stomach, I just grinned at him.

At a loss for
words, I picked up my pen and twirled it around on my book, feeling the need to
do something with my hands.

Mr. Henderson
came in and told everyone to take their seats. Lucas smiled and went to his
desk just before Wally sat down.

I peeked at
Emma, who sat on the other side of me, and was not surprised to see her
grinning at me from ear to ear.

I had to work after school. It was slow on
Mondays, so the clock ticked by at an extremely slow pace. I was ripping
tickets today, a job I worked at alone.

At break time,
I was in the small kitchen having a bottle of water and a hot dog. The room
consisted of a sink, a microwave, a vending machine, and an old fridge. I was
sitting at one of the two tables in the room. The room wasn’t exactly pretty,
but it did the job. There was a chair I could sit on and rest my feet, and that
was all that mattered.

Marcy Becker
walked in just as I was taking a bite of my hot dog; juice from the wiener fell
onto my pants. I rubbed the spot with a tissue, thankful that the pants were
black.

“Hey, Sarah,
have you worked with the new guy?” Marcy asked as she plugged change into the
vending machine and chose an iced tea. She was a grade lower than me, but we
went to the same school. She was tall, though, so you couldn’t really tell she
was younger. Her long black hair, milky skin, and gray eyes attracted a few
boys from our school; they would hang around the theater while she worked.
She’d been here about six months.

I swallowed the
bite of hot dog that I was chewing and answered, “You mean Zack? Yeah, last
week on sales.”

She sat down
beside me and opened her drink, tossing the lid onto the table. “I worked with
him the night he started, he seems nice enough.” She glanced around to make
sure we were alone. “Did you know him before he started here?”

“No, why?”

She looked
uncomfortable with what she was about to say. “Well, the first night he worked
with Susan, she was training him.” Susan was our assistant manager. “She
introduced us, and told him what school I went to, and that a few of us went
there. When she mentioned your name, he looked like he recognized it.”

 I didn’t know
what she was getting at. “So,” I encouraged her. She seemed reluctant to
continue.

Again she
looked around the room and tapped the tabletop with her fingers nervously.
“Well, we had a break together that night, and he was asking questions about
you. I thought it was a little weird, since you hadn’t met yet.”

I had to admit
it was a bit strange. “What kind of questions did he ask?”

“Oh, just what
grade you were in, how old you were, and this is a bit odd since he’d never met
you, but…he asked if you were seeing anyone.” She gave me a guilty look and
added, “I said no, is that okay? I didn’t know what to say.”

I gave her a
small smile. “No, it’s fine, but it is kind of strange.”

“I know, right?
After that, he seemed normal. I worked with him on the weekend, and he was fun
to work with.”

I was a little
stunned and didn’t know what to say next. Marcy looked at her watch. “Crap.
I’ve kept you in here talking so long, I think your break is up.”

I glanced at
the clock. “Yep, I’ll see you later.” Hurrying out the door, I went back to
work.

The rest of the night went by faster, since
I was in kind of a daze. Why would Zack ask those questions before he even met
me? I could see if I was the only name mentioned, but Marcy said Susan had
named all the kids who worked here that went to Hamilton High. She also said he
acted like he recognized my name, although we had never met until last week.

It became very
busy, so I pushed the new guy to the back of my mind and focused on work.

When my shift
finally ended, I headed out to my car where I parked it in the lot beside the
building. As I was walking through the quiet lot, I heard a noise. It sounded
like a bottle being kicked. I turned around to see if anyone was there, but all
I saw were empty cars. Awareness crept over me, and all the hairs on my neck
stood on end. I stood still, holding my breath for a couple of seconds,
listening. The only sounds I heard were the distant cry from a cat, and cars
whizzing by on the highway. “Hello, is anybody there?” I called quietly. No one
answered. I took a few deep breaths to try to calm myself.

When that
didn’t work, I ran the rest of the way to my car. I started the engine and took
off, going faster than I needed to. Man, I was freaked. I just wanted to get
home. I couldn’t shake the feeling I had when I was in the parking lot, the
feeling of being watched.

I pulled in my
driveway still a little anxious, so this time I didn’t hesitate. I just ran to
the house and through the door.

“Hey, honey,
how was work?” my dad asked me from behind. I was standing with my hand on the
door handle.

I turned
around. “Um, kind of slow. I’m tired, though, good night.” I started to walk
past him, but he held his arm out to block my path.

“What’s wrong?
You look upset.”

“Nothing’s
wrong, I just had a long night.” When he didn’t look convinced I added, “I
swear.”

“Okay, but if
you need to talk, let me know.”

“Dad!” Alex
called from the living room. “Are you bringing the chips or not?”

Dad looked at
me with a guilty expression. “We’re playing video games, want to join? It’s
been awhile since I whipped your butt.”

I smiled,
cheered a little by my father’s childish hobbies. “No thanks, I really am
tired, I’m going to bed.” I turned, walking toward the stairs, and then
stopped. “Oh, where’s Mom?”

“She’s at a
staff meeting at school, she’ll be late.”

“Tell her that
I said good night.”

I turned back
and headed up to my room, where I changed into a tank top and yoga pants and
then climbed into bed, too restless to do anything else. Of course I couldn’t
fall asleep, though, simply tossing and turning until I eventually drifted off.

I was in the backyard with Lucas again. We
were in the moonlight, dancing as usual, his strong arms wrapped around me,
giving me warmth. I held a single red rose in my hand, a gift from him. Just as
I raised the bud to my nose, breathing in its scent, I heard the squeak of the
gate opening. I glanced over his shoulder and saw someone running towards Lucas
with a butcher knife in his hand. “NOOOO!” I screamed, but it did nothing to
stop the hooded man as he thrust the knife deep into Lucas’ back. It was too
late to save him.

Lucas lay in my
arms, staring up at me with dead eyes as I clenched the now crushed rose in my
hand.