Chapter 2: Concussion

I woke up the next morning and went to work. I work at the Starbucks in Seagoville, TX. We get a lot of customers, mostly teenage girls. I get annoyed easily, but I make it work. A customer comes in and I take her order. She orders a cake pop and a medium java chip frappuccino. 

The next customer comes in. He is extremely good looking, way more than a ten. He is a few inches taller than me and his name happens to be Nathan. "You work here?" he says. I roll my eyes, "Naw, I'm behind the counter and wearing this uniform for fun." I said sarcastically. He smirked and rolled his eyes. "Can I order an Iced Caramel Macchiato?" he asked. "No problem." I said then made his drink.  

He took his drink to a more isolated part of the sitting area. Because of this I assumed he likes to be alone. He started reading a book I had just realized he had. I looked a little closer and noticed he was reading "Messenger of Fear" by Michael Grant, one of my favorite books. He looked up and lifts an eyebrow at me, sensing my gaze. I looked away, remembering I'm at work and that I shouldn't be staring. 

The rest of my day at work goes by the same as every other day, busy and annoying. When work was over I climbed in my truck and turned up the music. Just then my phone went off, I got a text from dad. 

D:Go to the store and get stuff for tacos.

Great, he wants me to go shopping. I drove to Walmart, which was fairly close to Starbucks. When I got there, some dick got the up front parking spot I wanted, so I flipped him off. I found a parking spot that required a little more walking and parked there. I walked into the store and found everything I needed for tacos. I headed to self checkouts, because I hate people and would much rather do things on my own. On the drive home, I got stuck in traffic because of an accident. 

By the time I got home, it was time to start on dinner. Morgan started cooking because I still had stuff to do. I headed to my room and got changed out of my uniform and pulled out my laptop. I just graduated from high school. I'm taking college courses online. The work is challenging, but that's what I need. I take several science and math classes including: advanced Zoology, Chemistry, Physics, Calculus, Algebra, and Trigonometry.

I had an Advanced Zoology test, it was very easy. I took notes in my other classes. By the time I was done with my work dinner was ready. We don't usually eat together. Most of the time, the kids and I sit at the table and the adults sit wherever they feel like sitting. 

"Dude, Morgan. Nathan came to Starbucks while I was working today." I said. "Did he say anything?" she asked. I recapped what happened. Then explained my first encounter with him to Cora and Jake. "Are you guys gonna date?" Cora asked. I shrugged, "How would I know? We just met." 

When we were done with dinner and chores, we decided to play rummy. I was doing pretty well. I was in second place, behind Mom. We were only a few hundred points apart. All of the sudden I saw a rummy. A rummy is when there is a card that had been discarded and it plays off of some else's hand that's been played out. "Rummy!" I shouted then took the card. 

"Aww, I needed that." Jake whined. I smirked, "Oh well." He's so whiny sometimes it's hard to believe he's in the 8th grade. He's in 8th grade,  Cora's in 9th grade, Morgan is a junior, and I've already graduated.

"Do you work tomorrow?" Mom asked. "Umm, I don't think so. My boss has been changing my work schedule a lot lately. I'll have to double check. Why?"  She laid down a run and discarded, "I need you to come with me to the mall. I don't trust Jake or Cora to do it and Morgan is gonna be at a job interview." she said. "Oh, well as long as I don't have work I'll go." 

A few hours later Mom won and we all went to bed. I had another nightmare, those started coming back. When I was a freshman I had a lot of them, they stopped in sophomore year. This time I was tied down and had to watch a man kill everyone in my family. They even killed Nathan. It hurt me just as much to watch them kill him as it hurt when they killed everyone else. I wonder why. 

I woke up sweating at 3:00am that morning. I couldn't go back to bed, so I pulled out my laptop and started working on a story I've been working on since I was in the 8th grade. It's about me being a demon and keeping that a secret from most of the world. 

8:00am rolled around and I finally got out of  bed. Nana was no longer surprised when I got out of bed this early. I've done this off and one since freshman year. "Good morning." She said. "Good morning." I replied. Then she asked, "Would you make a pot of coffee?" I nodded, "Sure." 

I filled the coffee pot with water and dumped the water in the water container part of the coffee maker. Then I poured three round scoops of coffee into a filter in the coffee filter container. Then I turned the coffee pot on so the coffee would brew. 

I then used Dad and Mom's Keurig to make my own coffee. When my coffee was made, I decided to make myself some breakfast. I made scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, and toast. About an hour later Morgan and Cora got up. 

"Have you been up since 8:00am again?" Morgan asked. I sighed "Unfortunately." She walked over to the pantry to get cereal and a coffee pod. Cora waited patiently to get a turn pouring cereal into her bowl. 

"Any interesting dreams last night?" Morgan asked. I shook my head, "Just a nightmare." She looked up in surprise, "That's 4 days in a row. Are they coming back?" I nodded, "Yeah."  

I got up to get more coffee. We were out, so I walked over to Dad. "Can I go to the store to buy more coffee pods?" I asked. He gave me the food stamp card without saying anything. I drove the car to walmart. When I got there it started to rain. 

On my way into the store I got soaked from the rain. It looked like I had just gotten out of the shower. "Are you following me now?" a voice behind me asked. I turned around and there was Nathan. I laughed, "No, the first time we saw each other was a coincidence, the second time you came to me, and this time also happens to be a coincidence." 

He crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side, "Are you gothic?" he asked. I smiled, "Yes. Thanks for not saying emo." He lifted an eyebrow, "Why would I say emo? Emos are losers. You don't seem like a loser to me." That took me by surprise, "Thank you. I don't meet many people who have the same viewpoint about emos as me." He smirked, "You're welcome. I'm guessing I'll see you later." he said before walking away. 

I went to the coffee aisle and found a huge box of coffee pods. I put it in the cart and headed to self checkouts. On the way home, I decided to listen to metal. I was singing along when someone rear ended me, hard. My head went forwards and then backwards and hit the back of my seat. The airbag activated. My head hurt really bad. I tried to find my phone, but I couldn't get to it.

Somebody showed up at my window, "Ma'am are you ok?" My vision was blurry, but I could tell the man was around my Dad's age. "My head hurts and I can't see very well. I can't find my phone. I was gonna call...911." I said. "Ma'am the paramedics are on their way. The guy who rear ended you drove off, but I saw his license plate." he said. 

The next thing I know the paramedics showed up. They helped me out of the car. A doctor started asking me questions. He said I might have a concussion. I got taken to the hospital. 

    Dad showed up 30 minutes after I got there. "Is she ok?" he asked a doctor. "She has a concussion. She might be a little forgetful and she will be sensitive to loud sounds and bright lights. She will most likely get dizzy at random times throughout the day." the doctor said. 

    Dad drove me home in his car instead of Mom's. He said the car was currently being worked on. When we got home I discovered that he was able to get the coffee. I decided to make some. It seemed every sound was making my head pound. I had to take my coffee to my room. 

    Dad informed everyone about what happened. Mom came to check on me later. "I'm sorry about your car and that I can't go to the mall with you today." I said. "It's fine I'll just get your Dad to come with me. Can we borrow your truck?" she asked. I handed her the keys. "Thank you." she said and then she left.