Chapter 4

Driving to school was quite unusual today; no music was on. It was like a tradition in peter's car that music would be on every time but this morning, his mind was far from hearing a song talk less of being mildly distracted. The dream last night ought to have a meaning but this one seems rather complicated than usual. He barely watch movies, at least he hasn't this week, so there's no way his brain should've envisioned such kind of sceneries.

As he alighted at the school's parking lot, the paper which he drew the symbol he saw in his room floor board, dropped off the open compartment of his cross bag. He looked at the symbol and then, his mind flashed back to the dream. His mind began to imagine a thousand things but the puzzle only got more puzzling than before. "The door. I knew it wasn't just a dream" He muttered, folding the paper back into his bag before running off to the main building.

"Hey" Peter called out, walking towards tanisha who stood with another girl, Bethany Edgar, another popular girl in the school. They were usually four in number, Mary barker; a dark plump girl, who just got into an open relationship with the school's football team right-back, Jason maxwell. The third girl, Cindy McIntyre, barely in school but always in mysterious ways, gets through with her exams. According to news, some side talkers said she's working shift at an hotel, about a mile or two from the school to which, was difficult to believe because she was always home whenever its decided to pay her a visit and also looking to be true detailing from her noisy lifestyle.

"Hey there, pretty boy" Bethany responded, in her casual western voice. She was born and raised in Texas and her intonation was just like theirs. "Hi bethany. How're y'all doing?" Peter questioned, his gaze fully on tanisha. "We okay. So, why are you here anyway?" Bethany asked hastily, prior to the fact that peter almost never talked to nobody in the school except it was something urgent or a pressing need. "Tanisha, I'm sorry about yesterday. It wasn't anticipated for real" He kept his gaze squarely on tanisha, his mind in quest for forgiveness meanwhile, bethany began to feel uneasy by the way he gave all his attention to tanisha who in return, hasn't said a word since his approach. "It's okay, pete. How's your mom by the way? Hope she's good now?" Tanisha finally spoke out, a tender smile across her lips. "Nisha, I guess we'll meet later. I've got stuffs to attend to" Bethany aired out of the blues, cutting Peter off before he even said a word. "Aren't we s'pose to go to the mall? You said that few minutes ago, beth" Tanisha asked, surprised at her friends sudden misbehavior. "Well, guess i ain't going no more since you're busy. We would later today though" she shrugged, walking away.

"I must say I'm sorry for her unruly attitude. She's like that atimes" Tanisha's apology came rather suprising to peter for the fact she was the bossy type; never apologetic no matter how wrong she was. "Skip that, you owe me an answer" she added, noticing that he had no words to say as he only nodded as she spoke. "Well, my mom's alright, gracefully. The surgery was a success just that I'm rather stressed out" His answer wasn't the one he had rehearsed in his head to say when Bethany was there but this one sounded just great because her expression awarded him an appealing satisfaction. "What's wrong, pete? Didn't sleep enough? Have you eaten? Come, let's go get something" she replied, placing her right palm on his forehead before touching his left cheek. 'What's up with this girl?' He thought. "I've not eaten but i would and i kinda had a short sleep" he answered

"How long was the surgery?"

"About 6 hours, i guess"

"Was your dad up all night too?"

"Yeah, he didn't sleep"

"Jeez. He must be weak. Tried calling him?"

"Oh no" Almost immediately, he brought out his phone and called his dad who picked after the fourth ring. Speaking for about fifteen minutes, tanisha stood still and waited for him to be through.

After the call, peter told tanisha about the dream, and how it's been so real in his head ever since the night passed. For some minutes, she was quiet, staring at the brick floor with an utmost concentration. In peter's mind, he was trying to dictate why she was very still and calm about the whole story he just told her. "Could we meet later? After school? By seven tonight at Old Vincent's Stash house?" She finally spoke out, looking up to peter straight in his eyes. "Uhh, that place has been deserted for eight years now. Why there?" Peter questioned in confusion because the suggested place has been left to rot but the visit of young teens to the place gave the place some light once in a while. "I wanna show you something. And yes, concerning your dreams too" she gave her answer in an almost hush tone. Just as she was about to leave, she gave him a hug and blew him a kiss before walking into the school building. Peter, still in a complex mixture of confusion, happiness and anxiety, smiled broadly, it was clear to know he was, in a way, happy.