Awake by Nightfall by Emilia Sherman (well read books .TXT) 📕

coming down on me. I was back in the science classroom. The brightness of the outside sunlight making whatever darkness in my dream vanish. I looked around to see if anyone noticed that I fell asleep. Nothing. People were still working on their warm up assignment. Someone place the hand on my shoulder. I jumped.

Veronica eyes looked at me with worry. But there was something different about them, like they appeared to be a different color. They seemed to be lighter than before. Almost close to white or gray. She looked at me funny.

“What’s wrong?” She asked me.

“Your eyes look different.”

“It’s just the lighting in this place. It happens to me a lot.” She shrugged the subject away. “You dozed off. Better not let him catch you sleeping.” She joked. I didn’t react quick enough because worry was written all over her face again. “You want me to take you to the nurse’s office.”

“No thanks.”

I touched my forehead, noticing that my hand was trembling. My forehead was covered with cold sweat. I didn’t need to cause my aunt worry, and I definitely don’t want to visit another hospital bed. I closed my fingers tightly into fists to stop the trembling.

I glanced at Veronica’s paper to see if she finished the warm-up. There was that drawing again. Except this time, it didn’t look like a black hole. It looked more like fire. I noticed that she shaded a spot in the center. It looks like a man’s figure.

She caught me staring. “You like it?”

“Where did you get the idea of fire?” I asked, sounding a little on the edge. I swallow and said. “It’s really graphic.” Like you were inside my dream.

“I’m not sure. I just began to draw at random and then it becomes something.”

I was shaken by my dream. My mom being there, didn’t look like nothing a dream. She was real. I was real. So maybe, this was more than a dream. I rapidly felt pain spread in my heart and I grasped my chest. I shut my eyes and concentrate on not crying.

“I think I know who you are, now.”

“What?” I shot my eyes opened. I was a little taken aback, and well, frightened. I also knew that she had changed the subject from her to me.

“You’re that girl that was all over the news. Something about a plane crash.” She pulled a newspaper article out of her bag. “I work for the school’s online newspaper. It’s my job to talk about local stories. I recognized you because well they have your school picture in there.”

I looked over the newspaper article. It did have my old school picture on there but my hair was longer then. There was only one article. I read the beginning and saw that police and investigators had blamed the accident on engine failure. I skipped over the rest to look for anything about me. I didn’t remember talking to any news reporters so, what could they possibly say about me? I unfolded the paper but Veronica’s hand covered the article.

“What?”

“There is nothing good about you.” She grabbed the paper and placed it on the table. “I checked everywhere. But all they say is that there was one survivor and it was you. They only mention your age and where you used to live. But that’s it. It’s like no one even cared enough to questioned you.” Her eyes looked at me intently. “Don’t you think that’s weird?”

I didn’t answer.

She continued. “This isn’t like one of those random crashes. It was big.” She rolled her eyes in disbelief.

She was right. This was something bigger. No one but the cops and the doctors had questioned me. Was that normal? What about my aunt? She would have been able to answer questions. Although she was a quiet girl and mostly kept to herself, someone would want answers. Someone like me.

Veronica let out a sigh and rolled her eyes again. Something caught her attention. “Is that what I think it is?” She pointed at my hoodie’s front pocket.

I emptied my pockets onto the desk and noticed the invitation had been sticking out. She snatched it out of my hand.

“How did you get so lucky to get this?”

“I’m not sure.” I answered truthfully.

“This is one of the biggest parties here. Travis’s parties are always in the best locations. Who invited you?”

“Travis.”

“What for real?” She said in disbelief. “Well, I guess I am kind of scary towards the guys since I drive a bike and all. I also have that whole thing ‘I am one of the school’s newspaper’s editors’ going. Man, I am such a nerd.” She patted her forehead with the palm of her hand.

“You drive a bike?”

“Yeah, I live with my dad and older brother. I am pretty much a tom boy and always loved helping my brother fix up old bikes and cars. My dad finally got me my very first bike this summer. Every since then, I haven’t been talking to a lot guys lately. I think I am ruining all of their testosterone around here, with me doing fancy tricks around them.” She put up her hands in defeat. “Oh well, what can you do? So, are you going?”

“I haven’t really decided.” I just noticing that she talks a lot when she wants to.

“What’s holding you back?”

“I don’t know anyone.”

“Oh.”

I looked at the invitation. Travis did invite me himself. That must mean he wanted me to go because him. But I still didn’t want to go alone. Even if I was lucky to find someone, I would have to convince Cassie to let me go. I glanced at the newspaper on the lab table.

People were probably talking about me. Talking behind my back, probably wondering how I survived the plane crash not the whole lunch fight thing. People are going to want some answers, like I needed answers. Do I really need that kind stress right now?

I handed Veronica the invitation. “Why don’t you go?”

“I would accept but not without you. Travis invited you. Himself. That must mean something.”

“It’s fine.”

Veronica nibbled on her lip and placed the invitation in her bag. She took out a pen and grabbed my hand. She wrote down a phone number, making my arm feel all tingly.

“That’s my number just in case.” She clicked the pen. “Just call and I will come get you okay. Thanks for the invitation.”

“Really, it was nothing.” I hated being thanked for something so small. It's just one party. Nothing big.

The bell rang. I gathered up my things and place them in my bag. I took out my schedule and looked down around for my next class. It was downstairs near the gym. It was going to be a long walk. Great.

“See ya later.” Veronica said over her shoulder and left through the door.

~~~~~

My last class turned out to be just a drawing class which wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. The teacher didn’t even leave his own office, so the class was more like a gathering. I did my assignment quietly to myself, didn’t even try to talk to anyone. I was concentrating on my dream. Before I knew it, my drawing turned out to be a picture of a shadowed figure. I crumbled up the paper and tossed it in the trash.

As the final bell rang for the day, I hurried out of the classroom. I was glad that my first day didn’t go as bad as it could have gone. Yeah, I got in a tiny fight but nothing I couldn’t get over with. The only problem is I wished I could get a grasp on my dream. I kind of wished that I didn’t wake up so I could have seen what happened to my mom.

I searched the crowd for Gabe’s head but with no luck. As I exited the school, I searched for his truck in the parking lot. But it was gone.

“Crap.”

“Hey, Marina!” Veronica came running down the steps towards me. She was holding a biker’s helmet under her left arm. “I just got back. I had to get a Baconator before I sit in the dull library with the other newspaper’s nerds.” She held up her finger like she didn’t want me to interrupt. “And, yes, I am qualified to call them nerds because I’m a nerd. Anyways, you look like you were searching for somebody. Need help?”

“Actually, I need a ride.”

“Really, why?”

“I know its kind out of nowhere. But my ride just ditched me. Well, I think he did. I’m not exactly sure.” I didn’t want to accuse him of anything before I knew his side of the story.

“Okay, fine. But you’re going to have to wear the helmet.” She tossed me it. My hands fumbled around it, barely catching it. “I guess this means I don’t have to pay you back for the invitation.”

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

We head towards the back of the parking lot. Veronica’s bike looked expansive but didn’t really stand out. It was all black except some red swirls on the front and the word “Whisperer”. Veronica had done the same exact thing that Gabriel had done. She parked her bike diagonal over two parking spaces. Annoyed, but kept it to myself because I didn’t want to ruin my chances of getting a ride. She swung one leg over and patted the spot behind her.

I placed the helmet over my head and got on behind her. She revved her engine to start and jerked forward. I wrapped my arms around her fast and tightened my grip as she sped towards the parking lot’s exit. Whatever nervousness and pain I had, vanished as the engine’s vibrations shook my whole body. She took off again and stopped at the intersection.

“What’s your address?” She yelled over her shoulder.

“Turn left on Denton Boulevard. It’s on Colonial Drive.” I yelled back.

She gave me a thumbs up and sped off to my house.

Chapter 08: Bad News
Darien

It is times like these that I wish I had never come to Earth.

This place is where all the chaos was happening.

The Day Star was quiet and relaxing. A heaven replica. No threat of danger of any kind. No sickness, no darkness, and everyone there was civil. At least, that was what the Radiant Council wants their kingdom to believe. But underneath it all, there were secrets. Menacing secrets. Secrets, that the Council was willing to do anything to keep those secrets secret. That’s why there was no danger there on the Day Star. That is if you follow their rules. If you did, you were safe.

But this world, this place was quite different from mine.

I was sitting on a chair in a sky blue living room of Cassandra’s apartment. She was hesitant of letting me in here but what choice did she have. I have news and everyone is curious to know what I know. The only problem was she wanted Gabriel here for the news. We had to wait for him to come here without Marina.

I was annoyed by this request. I hated being alone with someone I didn’t really trust. I focused my eyesight on a human painting of a beach. There was