I longed for it to be Ben. I scolded myself. Why on earth would I hope that this sick behaviour came from him, who I was obsessed with him? For all I knew it could have been Daniel. They both were similar in height, hair colour. I’d thought I liked Daniel – but was that just because I met him first and we danced together? I just seemed to be more drawn towards Ben.
Grandma shouted up the stairs, asking me to hurry up as she had things to be getting on with. She’d insisted that she drop me off at college instead of me walking there. She didn’t say so, but it was like she knew I’d be irresistibly drawn down that pathway and never get to my destination again. There was something about her that I just could not put my finger on. I thought of Florence from the journal and how she was a witch. Was Gran a witch? I’d always thought that the journal was more like a bedtime story. It was still on my dressing table and something inside told me to put it in my bag. As I picked it up I thought I saw a shimmer of light appear on the leather cover. I dropped it and rubbed my eyes, picked it up again, but nothing happened. Weird. I was obviously still half asleep. Gran shouted me to hurry up and I tried to shake myself awake then ran downstairs. She was waiting for me in the kitchen with her car keys and smiled as I finally approached her.
‘Are you all set for today?’ she asked.
‘Yes. I have everything I think I’ll need.’
‘Good, as I want you to have a successful day and see you perform in that show.’
‘I promise you Gran, I will be in that show performing and showing everyone what I can do.’
‘Good to hear, that’s the spirit. You’ve always done the family so proud with your dancing.’
We headed out to the car. There was a bit of a chill in the air and the wind span the leaves around on the ground. I recalled the last time I’d been outside, remembered being down that pathway, feeling weak as Daniel had approached me from out of nowhere. It was as if he’d been waiting for me to appear that day. What if Ben and Daniel both were stalking me? Two stalkers – now that was some serious stuff. I shook my head again to clear the thought away. I did let my imagination get the better of me, especially when things kept happening that were… unusual. I got in the car and gazed out of the window, as I clicked my seatbelt.
The leaves swept past the glass. I really liked Autumn; it was such a picturesque time of year. Soon it would be Halloween. It was something I’d never really celebrated, not having many friends. I’d usually just spend it in my bedroom watching my favourite film Trick R Treat. I thought about the movie and how in it there was a young girl dressed up as Red Riding Hood and a pack of wolves. In fact, that was my favourite section of the film. The first time I watched it I was not really old enough to see such a thing, I think I was about thirteen. The movie was introduced to me by one of the few friends I had, Rachel. She’d snuck the DVD out of her older brother’s bedroom, and we watched whilst snacking on with stacks of popcorn, chocolate and sweets. Ever since it’d been my own tradition to watch it on Halloween night, whilst my parents saw to the kids who came around for trick or treat.
I hadn’t even realised that Gran had started the car when she pulled up at the college. I kissed her cheek, and got out, buttoning up my red coat.
‘Please call me when you know what time you will be finishing so I can come and pick you up.’
‘I will do. Thanks for giving me a lift – it’s a bit chillier than I thought it’d be today. ’
‘You’re welcome, sweetie. Good luck with today. I’ll see you later.’
Walking through the large gates onto the grounds of the college, witches, ghosts, wolves and pumpkins greeted me from every surface and hanging from every pole. The students had already been decorating and it looked great. Each pumpkin was carved with different faces and images. I wished I could walk through at night to see it all lit up and looking spooky.
Heading towards the block where the dance studio was located, it felt so weird that I had only been there once before which felt like some time ago. Taking the long way around through the buildings of the college, it was much warmer indoors and I could see all the decorations. We were never really allowed to go over the top at school when it came to things like this, so it was nice that college life was so much different. It was such a shame to have missed quite a bit of this life already.
Being Saturday, there was hardly anyone around. I walked past a cleaner, mopping the floor of a corridor where the library was. Glancing through the glass door, I saw Ben at one of the computers. This stopped me in my tracks. He was as good-looking as I remembered, and I still pined for the kiss that never happened because of Daniel’s jealous outrage. I sort of wanted to go in there to see him to see if any of these dreams that Ben had been in were somewhat real, and if he was actually connected to me in some way. As my hand touched the door handle, he looked right in my direction. I froze as our eyes met. He smiled and made as to come over, but
