The feeling of wrongness grew as I approached him. Wanting to warn him, I reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned slowly. His face remained in shadow, the light of the moon only illuminating him from the shoulders down.
I wasn’t afraid. Even though my feet had carried me across campus against my will, I knew I would be safe with Aaron. I smiled up at him, even as my gut screamed at me that something was very wrong.
He lifted his hand as though he meant to take mine, as it still rested on his shoulder. He grabbed my arm and twisted. I gasped at the pain, which had erupted on my skin, not from his firm hold, but from the touch of his skin. He leaned toward me, into the moonlight, and I saw his face for the first time. Realizing that it wasn’t Aaron, I tried to pull away, but his grip was too tight.
“You shouldn’t have come,” he said, his voice dark with rage. “You’re mine now.”
Unable to look away from his piercing eyes, I screamed.
***
“Shaylee! Shaylee, wake up!”
I opened my eyes. It took me half a second to realize that I was screaming and stop. Jaden was rubbing my arms and looked like she was close to tears.
“I’m sorry,” I said, realizing that I was crying myself.
“No. It’s not your fault. It was just a dream.”
We sat together, Jaden holding on to me for several minutes like she thought I would break down again.
“Do you want to talk about it?” she finally asked.
“Not really,” I said. “but when I was little Drew used to tell me that if I had a bad dream, I should tell someone about it so it doesn’t come back. I really don’t want to have this one again.”
I took a deep breath and told her the whole dream, forcing myself to relive all the details.
“I’m so sorry, Shay,” she said when I was finished. There was both guilt and sorrow in her tone.
“What are you sorry for?” I asked.
“That you had that dream” she replied, then shook her head. “It just sounds awful.”
Jaden glanced at the clock. She seemed like she was holding something back.
“We’d better get ready,” she said.
I looked at the clock too. The alarm was set to go off in another ten minutes. I shook my head at how close I’d been to making it through the whole night. I couldn’t figure out how my mind had concocted such a terrible nightmare.
I got ready as quickly as possible, wanting to see Aaron. I ignored the burning feeling on my arm, dismissing it as just the memory of the dream. So much had happened in my dream that the fiasco at dinner seemed like a faraway memory.
***
When we sat down at our table, I asked Jaden if my eyes were still red from all the crying and realized just how hoarse my voice was from screaming.
“A little,” Jaden answered. “You look fine.”
“I don’t sound fine.” I glanced over to see Aaron coming towards us with his breakfast. “What do you think the chances are that he won’t notice?”
“Non-existent,” Jaden whispered, just before Aaron sat down.
“Good morning,” he said.
“Morning,” Jaden said, when I didn’t reply.
“Is everything alright?” he asked, looking back and forth between Jaden and I.
Jaden said nothing as she put a lot of effort into pouring her milk and peeling a banana. I popped a grape into my mouth for an excuse not to answer him.
“Shaylee?” he pressed; his tone serious.
“Everything’s fine,” I said, trying my best to sound normal. It came out rough and weak. I cursed under my breath as his eyes widened.
“What’s wrong? Are you ill?” he asked. He looked frantically at Jaden, as though he didn’t trust my own evaluation of my health.
“Shay’s not sick,” Jaden told him.
When Jaden didn’t elaborate further, I watched the worry on his face turn to anger. As I watched him, trying to determine the best course of action, it seemed like he had stopped breathing.
“It was just a dream,” I said, hoping to calm him down.
He looked at me and the anger left his face as he looked into my eyes, leaving panic in its place. Without thinking about what I was doing, I reached up and brushed my hand across the side of his face, ignoring the discomfort from my arm.
“I’m alright,” I said. “I promise.”
His obvious panic disturbed me and I wanted nothing more than to soothe his worries. I studied his face and watched the worry lines smooth away, pleased that I was able to calm him. He gradually relaxed and I realized how natural my attempt to comfort him felt. Again, I was filled with a sense of familiarity.
I turned away and began eating my breakfast, aware that he continued to watch me as he began eating his.
Chapter 14
Aaron
I watched Shaylee all through Anatomy. I couldn’t even begin to guess what she had dreamed about that would cause her voice to be so hoarse. Plus, her odd behavior from dinner was still a mystery. The whole situation worried me.
When I sat down in Government, I tapped my foot impatiently as I waited for Jaden to arrive. We’d been careful not to discuss anything important in our class so others wouldn’t overhear, but I needed to know exactly what had happened.
Jaden walked in and sat down next to me without saying a word. She took her books out of her bag and carefully placed them on top of her desk. I waited to see if she would say anything.
“Well?” I demanded when it became clear that she wasn’t going to volunteer anything.
“Well
