1 The Long-term Nightmare

My vision blurred as I looked into my mother's worried eyes. The terrified expression she was making is now forever burned into my mind. Tears began to stream like rivers from her eyes as she yelled, "Run! Please just go, mommy will be right behind you. Now go! Run!" I stared into her eyes for what felt like minutes before I stood and ran away from her. The fire crackled around me as I ran as fast as I could. The farther I got from the fire the more it set in: Mom wasn't coming with me. She lied to me. I should never have run away. I turned to go back, but the house I once knew was gone. It was now burned down to a pile of rubble and ash. My mother was standing in front of the mess we once called home. She was motionless. She just stood there and stared down at the ruckus that was once our house. I slowly made my way over to her. Once I was at least three feet away I stopped and called for her. "Mom, it's me! It's Alex, your son. It's over now, we can leave." she didn't even turn around. She hadn't said a word. I walk around her to look at her face. "Mom?" she jolted up and grabbed me by the neck. Her hair was singed, her skin melted and her eyes rolled back to the whites. She was screaming like she was in pain and began to choke me. "You did this to me! You ran away! Alex!"

I spring awake. My eyes darted around my bedroom. Once I saw that it was safe, I steadied my breathing. It was just a nightmare. The same one that i've had every night since it happened. How could I not? I did run away.

"Alex, gosh dammit. Get your ass down these stairs right now. You're going to be late!" I sigh as my adoptive mom yelled from down the stairs. She was like the most annoying human alarm clock. Alice and her husband Max adopted me after my mom died. They had me for about a year before they found out that Alice was pregnant with twins. My younger brother Tyler and my sister Angel. The two of them are trouble makers. Only to me though. To everyone else, they're the perfect little saints, but when they turn their backs those little bastards grow horns. They live to make my life a living hell, but I guess that's my fault. I would never have needed to be adopted if I had gone back for my mom. I could have been happy, but I fucked it up because I was scared.

Downstairs Alice was cooking breakfast, but I wasn't in the mood to eat. Max was sitting in the living room with the twins, watching the news. I ignore them and head for the door. Before I could make it two steps the twins noticed my presence and came right at me. They each grabbed one of my arms and yelled, "Caught you!" before tugging me towards the living room. I pull away. "I'm not in the mood guys, so just quit it. Not today, ok!?" they were stunned at how I reacted. I sigh in annoyance, roll my eyes, and head for the door. Once I was outside I felt myself being washed over with relief. I need to calm myself before I meet up with Chloe. She would immediately know that something was wrong. After a couple of deep breaths, I was ready to face her. I walk down the street to her house and wait outside the gate. After waiting there for five minutes she finally came out. I waved to her as she walked to the gate.

"Why didn't you call me? You always call. What's wrong?" I groan and cross my arms. I knew I was forgetting to do something. It's all because of this shitty morning. She grabbed my arm and pulled me along as we made our way to school. We had at least five to ten minutes until we reached the school, so I told her about how everything has been going so far. She sighed a few times as I spoke, which made me think I was boring her. Once I was finished she looked at me with a worried expression and then I realized that she was sighing because what I was saying made her sad.

"Hey, don't worry about me. This isn't the first time and it won't be the last, but talking to you about it always makes me feel better. I'm fine." I say trying to calm her before we get to school. If she wasn't calm before that, then anything that happened during school hours would set her off.

"Good! Then that means next time you'll call me. I don't want you waiting outside. What if Jayden saw you out there alone. You know what he'd do if he got the chance. You have to be careful!" she yelled whilst pulling me along as she picked up her past.

"Don't worry, i'll call you. I don't want anything to do with Jayden. All he wants to do lately is kick my ass. I don't even know what I did to him. I tried to be his friend for two years, but he ignored me. Now it seems like since I no longer show any interest in him, he won't leave me the hell alone!" I say, frustrated. Chloe gasps, with a huge smile, spread across her face as she stops and starts to jump up and down. I look at her like she has lost her mind, mostly because she might have. Before I could ask her why she did all of whatever that was, she turned to me, smiling like she just found out someone's dirty little secret and she was blackmailing them. It's a bit dark, but trust me she's done it before.

"What if~...Jayden has a crush on you!? Wouldn't that explain why he is angry that you won't pay attention to him?" I was not expecting that to come out of her mouth.

"Are you crazy!? He wants to kill me, not snuggle! Why would someone like that like me?! He's insane!" I yelled. Her smile became a frown.

"Oh, c'mon. It makes perfect sense. Were you even listening to yourself? He only started showing interest when you stopped!? That was him playing hard to get!" I roll my eyes and continue walking. I've become the one stringing her along. I silently listen to her rant on and on about the fact that Jayden likes me. Once we arrived at school she became silent herself. A huge group of girls came and swarmed us. They all were trying to talk at once. How annoying. Chloe calmly shushes them until they are quiet. We all began to walk in a huge huddle.