Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Sleep Over

 

Over the next few days things were pretty normal.  I was constantly tired from waking up in the middle of the night soaked with sweat and screaming with nightmares plus dealing with my strange new night vision.  Each night this strange new sight lasted a bit longer.  Thursday evening I decided to do a little experiment.  I waited until about ten and turned out all the lights in the house.  James wouldn’t be home for another hour so I knew I had time to work privately.  I sat on the couch and crossed my legs.  Taking a few deep breaths I tried to ‘see’ the woods.  At first I saw only flickers of grey here and there.  As I concentrated I was able to make out the different trees and bushes and I even saw the loons in their nest by the beach.  I could see almost every detail of the path that led down to the water.  It was like my brain was opening up to some new energy that I didn’t know about before.  The weird thing was that this sensation felt as if it was an extension of myself; like I was expanding a piece of my consciousness.  It was difficult, but as I stopped and started the exercise over and over again for that hour I knew that I was getting stronger.  I could almost make out a shimmering glow around my silhouette in the window.  I was about to try and see if I could extend my ‘second’ sight farther but my godfather pulled into the driveway, so I crept back to my room before he could see me.  I know that I had promised to keep him in the loop but I wanted more time to practise this aspect of my gift before I told him too much about it.  Besides I’m sure whoever it was out there watching me would tell him that I was sitting in the dark looking at the lake.

 

School was very normal.  Christine was back, she had been off sick with strep throat so she was all over my friendship with Lizzy wanting to know all the details. 

“When did the two of you start hanging out?” she asked me during our first class.

“She asked me to go out with her last Saturday and my godfather asked her family over for dinner later that night too.   Apparently they’ve been friends for a long time” I told her.

“And Alex and Will were at your house?” she asked exasperated.

“Ya, we ate pizza and played cards while the parental units were watching the game downstairs” I elaborated.

“Wow.  Alex is soooo cute and Will is an absolute babe.  I wish I could have been there” she sighed dreamily.

I laughed and smiled thinking about the great time I had this past weekend. 
          “They act like I’m their little sister teasing me all the time because I blush so much, it gets frustrating you know”

“Wait. A. Second.” she said each word like a statement as we walked down the hall to our next class.  She looked at me knowingly.
 “You like one of them don’t you?” I blushed at her question and I blushed even more when Will and Alex walked by us in the hallway.  Will looked at me with a cocky grin on his face as he elbowed Alex in the ribs.  Alex looked over at me and smiled.  My heart rate accelerated instantly and my cheeks heated up to an inferno level.  I looked at my feet feeling mortified since I was sure they had heard Christine’s question.  She nodded to herself when she saw my reaction as they walked by.   

“Ohmigod, you have to spill. Which one is it?” she pleaded.  I looked at her with desperation.

“It’s not like that.  I can’t. I don’t. I....I.....” I stammered.  I couldn’t even look at her. Instead I looked at my feet and blurted “I have to go” and walked quickly away too embarrassed to explain myself.

“Anastasia, I didn’t mean anything by it! I’m sorry!” Christine called.  I looked over my shoulder and nodded. 

At lunch Lizzy waved me over to her table.  I wasn’t that hungry anymore because of what had transpired in the hallway earlier with Christine. My stomach felt like it was full of butterflies. I walked over to her table and sat across from her. 
“Aren’t you hungry?” she asked. 

“Not really.” I fidgeted.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen in class?” she questioned.

“No, I was in the hall with Christine and I think your brother and Will overheard part of a conversation we were having and took it out of context.” I told her honestly.  Lizzy looked at me questioningly “What did she say?”

“She assumed that I like either Alex or Will, and they walked by just as she asked me that and I blushed, of course.  But it was just because of the circumstance! I can’t date.  Ever!” I said sadly, especially after Paul had been murdered because of me.

“You can’t mean that you’ll never date Anna, that’s crazy.   Everyone goes out on dates” she looked at me seriously.

“I can’t Lizzy.  Not ever. You don’t understand and I don’t want to talk about it. Ok.” I started to get up scowling.

“Don’t go Anna, we won’t talk about if you don’t want too.” she replied with a concerned look on her face.  She had no idea how much I wanted to go out on a date with a boy any boy.  But I knew that I could never dream of that.  I was a target and I had a bull’s-eye on my back.  I wanted more than anything to be a normal teenager but I wasn’t and I learned more and more each day how not normal I was.

“Are you still coming over tonight?” Lizzy asked hopefully.

“Yes, if you’d like me too” I smiled weakly.

“Of course I want you to come.  I don’t want to be stuck there all by myself.  Why don’t you come over for dinner?   Everyone is leaving around seven, we’ll be eating around five.”

       “Sure” I replied.  We spent the rest of the lunch hour discussing where we would go shopping and what movies we should rent.  The rest of the day went by without incident, thank goodness, except that Alex seemed to be intently watching my every move through music class.  His seemingly constant scrutiny left me feeling really self conscious.  It appeared that every time I moved his eyes would follow me or he would slightly adjust his body so that he had a better view.  I must be imagining things.  I shook my head slightly and took some deep breaths, trying to calm my nerves.  This class felt like it would never end and I loved music class.

 

Later that evening I arrived at Lizzy’s place.  She was waiting for me on the front porch looking like a perfect porcelain doll.  I smiled as I reached her.  She jumped to her feet and bounced down the stairs to grab my bag and show me into the house.  I smiled at her and shook my head, wondering where this strange family came from and how lucky I was to have found such an awesome friend.

The main entrance was bright and open, there were a few stairs leading up to the great room were the rest of her family was lounging on couches by their huge flat screen TV.

“Hey Anna!” Cassy called, “you’re looking better than you did at school” she commented

“Ya, I’m feeling less tense and more relaxed. Thanks” I smiled shyly.

Will looked at Lizzy with a strange expression on his face, as if he wanted to talk to her alone.  Alex left the room without saying a word.  I looked questioningly at Lizzy but she acted as if this was normal. 

“So where do you plan on going tomorrow?” asked Cassy.

“To Orillia or maybe Barrie, it depends on what we find” Lizzy answered.

“You should go to Barrie, they have a bigger mall and you could go to your favourite restaurant while you’re there.” Cassy suggested.

“That’s a good idea” Lizzy mulled over her suggestion nodding.

“I hope you brought a small fortune with you, my sister is a big spender” Alex said from behind me. I jumped startled as I spun around and faced him. And of course I blushed yet again in his presence.  Will started laughing.

“You’re great fun to have around Anna. Your expressions are hilarious.” Alex smirked at his cousin as if he was confirming something. 

“By the way, that’ll be twenty bucks Will” Alex said.  I looked at him questioningly.

“We had a bet on who could make you blush first.” he laughed winking at me.

“Oh, I see.  You were right Lizzy, big brother syndrome is a drag” I sighed dramatically trying to control my breathing and my heart.

“Aw, but you blush such a pretty colour though” Alex grinned as Will started laughing again.

“Ya, and you’re being a jerk” I snapped.

“I don’t see how” he said silkily his eyes looking into mine.

“Arrgg.” I cried in frustration.  Lizzy laughed and grabbed my hand as she pulled me toward the stairs leading to the next floor.  As we walked down the hall she pointed out different rooms.  Cassy and George’s room was the first door we passed on the right.  Stephan’s room and an office were the next two doors that we passed.  We went up another set of stairs and passed Max and Katie’s room.  We stopped at the end of the hall before another set of stairs going down to another hallway.  She opened the door on our right and went in. 
“This is my room” she announced.  Her room was large with huge bay windows and a set of French doors leading out to a balcony.  She had a large queen sized canopy bed with mosquito netting draping across the squared top of the bed.  It was beautiful and looked like something you would see at a resort in the tropics.  There were book shelves and a desk along one wall.  On one of the shelves was a stereo and a TV.  Along the other wall was a door that was slightly ajar to reveal a bathroom and another door that was most likely a walk in closet.

“Wow. Your room is amazing.  It’s like we’re at a tropical island resort” I said in an awed voice as I continued to look around.

She giggled at my expression. 

           “My mom was well off, my brother and I don’t have to work if we don’t want to, but Max and Katie think it would be better if we went to school and did something productive.”  She smiled at me.

          “I don’t know what I want to do with my life.  I never really thought about it” I said.  That wasn’t exactly true, I didn’t know if I was going to have a profession one day because my life was a disaster waiting to happen.  I just hoped that being close to this family wouldn’t hurt them in the long run.

        “Never thought about it?  What about being a musician or a teacher or something like that?” she asked.

       “I don’t know.  I guess I’ll figure it out when I go to university” I said.  A half truth not a real lie, I wanted to go to university.  I just didn’t know if that would happen.

       “What do you want to do?” I asked.

       “I think I’d like to be a teacher or a veterinarian but designing clothes is a major possibility.” she replied.  We sat on her bed talking about possible careers that I might be good at.  We were called for dinner around five thirty and we went to the kitchen to join her family.  They all sat at the large oak table.  We had spaghetti and Caesar salad for dinner.  I ate quietly listening to the banter between Lizzy, Will, George and Cassy.   I noticed that Max, Katie, Stephan and George were all talking but not eating like the others.  I watched Alex all through dinner out of the corner of my eye.  I didn’t want to stare at him and I didn’t need Will or Lizzy trying to tease me or bring up my aversion to dating again.  After dinner we cleared our plates and loaded the dishwasher.  Everyone else was getting their bags from their rooms and heading to different cars. Lizzy told me that Max and Katie were going to a Golf and Country club near North Bay, Cassy, George and Stephan were going camping in Algonquin Park and Will and Alex were going to a game and then to a friends for the night.  By seven thirty in the evening we had the house to ourselves and we decided to watch a chick flick called 'The Holiday'.  After the movie we went back to her room to chat.

       “Anna, you don’t have to answer this question, but why don’t you want to date?” Lizzy asked quietly looking at her hands.

       “I’m not the dating kind, I’ve moved around so much that I figured it would be easier not to get attached to anyone in case I had to leave in a hurry.  I don’t want to hurt anyone.  Why is everyone so interested in why I don’t want to date?” I asked feeling confused and not really wanting to say too much more because I hadn’t told her about my father and that it was my fault that Paul was dead.

       “Well, Alex did mention your conversation with Christine and he didn’t understand your answer to her, he asked me to find out what was really bothering you.” she said shyly.

        “Lizzy I would never want to hurt you or your family.  I don’t want to loose you as a friend.  I’ve seen other people date their friend’s siblings and it didn’t end nicely.  Even if I did like your brother, I don’t think I would be able to do anything about it because I wouldn’t risk my friendship with you.” I said surely. 

       “You really feel that way.” she looked at me perplexed.

        “Besides, he already asked me out and I said no because he seemed to be joking, making a show for all the jocks and other girls who seem to hang on his every word.” I shook my head at her.

        “He never told me that.  Wow he is being a pain, isn’t he.  He must like you if he teases you so much.” She smiled “he teases you because wants to see if you’ll open up.”

I looked at my hands and thought for a moment before I answered her truthfully.

       “I’ve never had a friend I could confide in before.  I usually kept to myself where ever we moved to. That was just the way things were.  My mom made it pretty clear that we could be packing up and leaving at any minute. So I didn’t really get attached to anyone, even though I lived in New York for almost six years and new a lot of people I was always standoffish.  Paul always tried to get close to me, even the rest of our group did but I always kept them at arm’s length not letting anyone get to close.  This is actually the first time I’ve ever spent the night at a friend’s house. This is kind of new to me, I’m trying to be open and honest but it isn’t easy for me to be that way.” I said honestly looking at Lizzy eyes to make sure I didn’t see pity or sorrow there.

        “That must have been hard to grow up like that.” she said softly placing her hand on my arm.

        “Yes and no, I was lonely sure but I have a great imagination and I enjoy reading and playing music and of course a good street run is always relaxing.  So I was able to keep myself busy most of the time.  I was lost for awhile after my mom died.  She was my best friend and to be honest I don’t know if I can let someone get that close to me again Lizzy.  I guess it comes down to the fact that I’m scared.” speaking honestly to a girlfriend was new and it actually felt good.

       “I can understand that, I was scared when my boyfriend and I started dating but it all worked out for the best” She smiled.

       “Who’s your boyfriend?” I asked.

She looked sheepishly at me “no one knows at school, it’s a secret.” 

       “I can keep a secret” I said, that was definitely one thing that I could do.

She looked at me appraisingly deciding on whether she could let her secret be known. 

       “You know that we call Max and Katie our aunt and uncle.”

       “Yes” I replied

       “Well that’s not technically true. Katie was my mom’s best friend.  So when she died Katie took us in.  My mom didn’t have any family.  Katie told us that she was the only daughter of a wealthy family, she had an older brother who abandoned her when their parents died in Africa of yellow fever.” she looked thoughtful as she spoke. 

       “Will and I started dating awhile ago.  The family knows this, but at school, people would talk and we didn’t want that, so we keep it a secret.” she looked at me with an almost terrified expression on her face.  I could see in her eyes that she was worried that I would think badly of them.

       “I understand why you keep your relationship a secret at school.  I would do the same thing if I were in the same situation.  And yes it’s weird that you are dating a guy you live with but you’re not related, it could happen to anyone and at least you always know where he is” I smiled. “I bet Alex keeps a tight leash on him”

       “Ya, those two are always going out and doing stuff.  Will is determined to find him a girlfriend and he knows as I do, that you like Alex.” Lizzy smiled at me. 

 I sighed “Tell him to back off.  It doesn’t matter what I think or feel in that regard.  It’s not a good idea” I looked at my hands wishing for the impossible.

       “Don’t underestimate my brother Anna.” Lizzy said softly. “He’s patient and tenacious.”

       “Lizzy, I’ve only known you guys for two weeks, granted it feels a lot longer than that but honestly, what on earth would he see in me?  He’s! Oh it doesn’t matter, I’m not going there!” I shook my head.  I decided to change the subject. 

       “So the big question is do YOU and Will sleep in the same room?” I asked jokingly trying to lighten the mood.

       “No.  He has his own room, just down the other hall across from Alex’s room” she pouted.  I giggled. 

       “Well if we’re going to drive all the way to Barrie in the morning to go shopping we had better get some sleep, it’s almost midnight, and I’m not the best morning person” I teased.

      “Your right” she conceded.

We changed into our pyjamas and crawled into her huge bed.  We whispered back and forth for awhile until one of us fell asleep.  I wasn’t sure who fell asleep first, but I was startled out of my sleep like every night soaked with sweat from a nightmare with my second sight enveloping me in my new surroundings.  I was very alert as I walked into her bathroom without turning on the light.  I used my second sight to manoeuvre around Lizzy’s room without disturbing her.  I found it fascinating looking at all the books and cd’s on the shelves.  I saw from the corner of my eye that she was watching me curiously.

       “I didn’t mean to wake you” I said quietly.

       “Did you have a nightmare again?” she asked

       “Yes.”

       “Do you want to talk about it?” her concerned look was so endearing.

       “No, I don’t remember what it was that scared me” or at least only bits and pieces of what scared me, I still had a hard time remembering everything.

       “Does this happen every night?” she looked at me with a worried expression.

       “Yes, for the last week, that’s why I always look so tired.  Don’t worry I’ll fall back to sleep soon and be raring to go in the morning” I laughed quietly as I crawled back into bed.

      “Ok. Try to get some rest” she said and rolled over onto her side away from me.

I looked at the ceiling for awhile and then drifted slowly back to sleep.