Chapter 2

"Jess!" I heard a name call out. "You're gonna be late for school, wake up!" Someone was shaking me. Whose voice was this. It sounded familiar, but I could not recognize it. "Jess, wake up, or you're not gonna get breakfast." the voice said jokingly.

As I opened my eyes, I saw my room. But it was not what I was used to. It was my room in Oregon. It was just like I remembered it. But something was different. All my dolls were there, when I looked at my hands, they were smaller. Wait, what happened. I looked at the face of the voice that was talking to me. It was my mom. I trembled in fear. She looked worried.

"What's the matter baby?" she said in a calm voice.

My father then walked in. I was shocked, he died when I was 12. Wait, what time was it? What day was it? What year was it?

"Daddy!" I cried.

He looked at me with a smile, "What's the matter pumpkin?"

That was the nickname he always called me. He called me this because I had orange hair, green eyes, and freckles. I smiled and sobbed.

"Daddy!" I cried out louder as I hopped outta bed and ran towards him. "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" I sobbed. I reached out and hugged him, and I hugged him so tight.

He looked confused and happy. He picked me up and squeezed me tight. "What's the matter? Did you have a bad dream?"

I calmed down and mustered the words "Yes, it was really bad, and it scared me so much." I clenched onto his shirt. The shoulder of his shirt was wet from my tears. He stroked my hair and looked at my mom. I could tell they were both in utter confusion. But so was I. My dad was supposed to be dead, and my mom was supposed to hate me.

He put me down as I smiled "Thank you daddy, I love you."

He smiled and said, "I love you to pumpkin."

I was so happy. I have not been able to see my dad in years. Let alone say "I love you" to him. I looked at my mom and smiled. She smiled back and held out her hands. I ran towards her and gave her a big hug. She kissed me on the forehead and I smiled. I have not felt the warmth of my mother or father in forever. It was the best thing I could hope for. But how? How did I get here? And why was I not dead? But I did not care, All I cared about was that I could see them again. I could see the people I longed to see for so long.

I clenched onto my mom as I started to sob again. Tears were running down my face into her shirt. She clenched me back. I sighed. I remembered this feeling. The feeling of warmth. I have not felt her touch in forever. She looked up at my father and back at me. She gave me one more tight squeeze as she said, "Okay baby, time for school."

I looked up in shock, I forgot about school. Maggie. I need to see Maggie, I have not seen her since I moved in my… what would I call it, my future… my past life? Maybe this is like my second chance? I just need to find out what day today is.

"Mommy, what day is it?" I asked in a curious voice.

"It's the fifteenth of February." She laughed.

Wait, that's the day daddy died in my… past life I guess. My dad died from a car accident coming back from work to pick me up from school. It was all my fault and mom thought so too. I need to stop this. I will come up with a plan and fix this. I will save daddy. I will keep him alive and we will be a happy family once more. That's all I want. I just want things to go back to normal. I needed to think of some sort of plan, I needed to fix this, I needed to save him.

I went from my moms hands to my dresser that was white with fairy stickers, just like before. I opened a shelf and I started to look for a bra. I shifted from shelf to shelf but could not find any. Then it hit me, I looked down to see my chest, flat as could be,

and I laughed. Mom and dad looked at each other and looked back at me. I shooed them away so I could get changed and get ready for school.

As I got ready I remembered Maggie. My best friend. After my dad's death, me and my mom moved to California. And I did not stay in touch with Maggie. In my past life, I guess I will call it that. I moved to California at age 13, about a year after my dad died. I could tell my mom hated me, she always said she loved me, but deep down, she thought it was my fault he died. If only I had not called him that day, if only I had mom pick me up instead of him. If only-

"Jess," my mom said, "snap out of it, we are here."

Wait, did I get so caught up in my thoughts I got into the car without knowing it? And where is dad? "Sorry mommy, I was just thinking."

She smiled. I then realized, I have not seen her genuinely smile since dad died, well… not die, I don't know anymore. Well after dad died, she became really depressed and did not show her emotions often, she always wore a fake smile. She thought I could not see it, but I could, I knew something was wrong.

"What are you doing just sitting there, get going," she joked "have a good day baby."

I unbuckled my seatbelt and got out of the car. I started to walk towards the front doors of the school building, it read

"Oregon Middle School." As I reached for the door, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped back in horror, it felt the same as the one in my dream, cold, very cold. I looked back and it was Maggie.

"What's the matter Jess?" She questioned with a smile as she reached out for my hand.

Her hands were cold to the touch, I never noticed this before. But I was so happy to see her. I hugged her and started to cry.

"Jess, are you okay?" She hugged back with a tight squeeze.

I smiled, "I'm just happy to see you, I just had a bad dream, that's all."

We walked into school hands clasped tight together. We almost always had the same classes as each other. We had first, second, third and eighth period together. As we walked to our first period classroom, I tried to remember what happened that made me call my dad to come and get me. I was deep in my thoughts by now. Why did I have to call him that day, maybe I got hurt at school, or maybe someone bullied me.

I felt something poke at my shoulder, it was cold, I recognized this feeling, from both my dream, and now, it was Maggie, I could just tell. I looked up at her and she smiled and pointed me in the direction of class. I can do this, I can make sure he stays alive, I will make sure he does, even if it kills me.

We got into our first period class. I walked towards my seat, near the window, where I would also go during lunch break to read. As I sat down I let out a sigh. Mr. Gared must have heard that sigh because he looked towards me and started to walk my way. Mr. Gared was our math teacher. Math was my least favorite subject, I hated math, I always had a hard time paying attention. I mean what was the point of math anyways, not like we used algebra or anything in everyday life. Most of the time I would just zone out in class, or ask to go to the bathroom when I was really bored. But Mr. Gared was my favorite teacher, he was like the friend teacher. He was someone I generally liked to talk to, other than my mom, dad, and Maggie.

"Is something the matter Jess?" He asked with a worried look on his face.

"No Mr. Gared, I'm just tired." I responded as quickly as I could.

He smiled and walked back to the desk at the front of the room. It was just like I remembered it. It was always so comfy in this class, it always put me at ease.

I did not have a lot of friends in middle school. I was as people called, a freak, but that did not bother me. Although I did dislike being called some names, these included, carrot top, elf, gnome, leppy (short for leprechaun), or pumpkin, only my dad was allowed to call me pumpkin. But these words did not hurt me as much as they should have, as long as I had Maggie and my family, I would be fine.

Today was the day in my past life my dad would die. I remembered in my dream, or whatever you would call it, the child told me that she hurt him, or something like that, it's kinda blurry to be honest. But who was 'she' and how was I supposed to find out?

I just need to refrain from calling my dad today. That's all I need to do, then everything will be okay, and we will be a happy family once more.

I looked out through the window and started to doze off. I could hear every few words Mr. Gared said. But it got quieter and quieter. Then I heard nothing.