Shadow Souls

Chapter Twenty-Nine

We decided to call Paige to finally fill her in on everything and get her opinion on what's been happening in my dreams. She is an oracle after all. If anybody could dissect this, it should be her.

I check my phone and notice that it is only seven-thirty in the morning. Probably too early to call, but I decided to try anyways. I mean, she could be an early riser just like me, right?

"She's still asleep, Alice. Most teenagers aren't weird like you and actually like to sleep in on weekends," Tyler tells me.

"Too bad, this is important," I say while already pressing the call button on my phone. It takes four rings until I get a very cranky-sounding Paige on the other end.

"Whoever you are, I hate you," she says in place of a hello.

"Perk up, buttercup! It's me."

"Alice, don't take this the wrong way. But I'm going to kill you."

I have to laugh at her over-dramatic crankiness, however maybe waiting for her to be more awake and less irritable isn't such a bad idea after all.

"I'm sorry Paige, how about you call me back when you are more awake," I suggest.

"Yeah, okay fine." And with that, the line goes dead. Yep! That's my Paige!

"I'm guessing she wasn't thrilled about the wake-up call?" Tyler smirks. "I told you so," he mocks, and I very maturely stick out my tongue and head out of the bedroom.

"So, besides letting Paige in on your mysterious dream, what's on the agenda for today?" he asks, choosing to ignore it.

"Is that your subtle way of asking me if I have plans with Finn?"

"Well, do you?"

"I don't know. He will probably want to be with his sister today."

"He has a sister?"

"Oh, right you never got to hear his explanation yesterday," I realize.

"You're telling me he actually used the 'that's my sister' excuse?" he scoffs.

"It wasn't an excuse, Tyler. He really was with his sister. It was his twin."

"And you are sure that you can believe him?" he asks skeptically.

"Well, if he is lying about this, then that would make him a complete monster. Not to mention a complete idiot since it would be very easy to find out if it's true or not. I'm sure everybody in this town knows rather he has a sister or not."

"Why would he be a complete monster for lying about having a sister though? It would make him a dick for sure, but I don't know about monster. What am I missing?"

I decide to tell Tyler the bad news about Finn's sister Zoey. Although, I feel like I am somehow betraying Finn when I do. It wasn't exactly my secret to tell, and I figure that it must be a secret otherwise he wouldn't have been reluctant to tell me in the first place. Also, I'm sure Paige would have mentioned it if it was public news. And even though I know it's not like Tyler can go spreading the gossip around town, not that he would, I still feel crummy spilling the beans.

"Wow, the poor guy," Tyler comments.

"No kidding."

After the newest change to my dream sequence and letting Tyler in on Finn's big secret, I already feel like this day has taken a toll. And it's only shortly after eight in the morning. I check the mirror and take in the rat's nest that is my hair and wrinkled clothes that I wore to school yesterday, and ended up falling asleep in. Gross, I hope Finn didn't notice any of it when he saw me this morning.

I find a clean pair of jeans and my favorite purple sweater, wanting to be comfortable to hang around the house, but also cute just in case Finn does come back. Then I go to take a shower knowing it is going to take half a bottle of conditioner to be able to work through the tangles in my hair.

When I am finally satisfied that I look somewhat human again I head downstairs in search of coffee, but before it even finishes brewing there is a knock on the door. I smile and rush to open it, thinking it must be Finn, but get a shock instead.

"What the hell are you doing here Callie?"