Despair Inside Of Dreams

2: The First Dream

When I went inside my room, the chilly aroma hit me. I closed my door and looked outside the window. It was almost 10 o'clock. The staggering clouds below the stars and the sky made the night feel almost alive. I loved the sky. It's actually how I got my name. I remember my parents telling me about how Aries is the first astrological sign. I was born during late March, anyways. It seemed perfect to them, I guess. I opened the window. With a chilly breeze tackling its way through the window net, I took a deep breath. I got in my bed, and I drifted to sleep.

"Aries, I need you to-" the voice faded. "I need you to listen to me." I saw a woman, dressed in a red dress and wearing a red hat. She had an envelope in her hand that had the name "Elizabeth" written, boldly, on the front. I looked directly into her eyes. Her eyes flashed from brown to green and finally, to a bright white flash. I started sweating. The noises in my head kept growing louder and louder, when suddenly...

I woke up, panting and breathing very heavily. "What the hell?" I whispered to myself while I attempted to catch my breath. I looked out from my window. The sun was slowly creeping up from the horizon. I checked my alarm clock, only to realize that I was late to school. I got up, put on a hoodie and a pair of jeans, and bolted towards my car. I dodged traffic, carefully, in attempts of making it to school on time. Fortunately, the receptionist was kind enough to let me off with a verbal warning. I finally got to my class and sat down in my seat. I caught my breath with a few people looking at me and wondering what was going on. The bell rung, and I started to calm down. I started spacing off because I was so tired. I mean, it was only 8 o'clock. Before I drifted off to a deep sleep, the teacher woke me up. "Aries. Aries!" he said.

"Huh?" I said, confused and tired.

"I need you to-"

"What's going on?"

"I need you to listen to me! This isn't nap time."

"Sorry. Had a rough night, I guess."

With that conclusion, he kept teaching. Later on, after lunch, I took my backpack and entered the auditorium. There were crowds of people, so I sat in the back.
"Hello everyone!" the principal said into the microphone. "I'm so excited about this day because it is a very special day. A new author is here with us, today. Without any further interruptions, I'll let her introduce herself!" The audience clapped as the woman walked across the stage, towards the microphone. She had a pair of glasses, and she looked to be in her mid 30's. She wore a pretty, red dress.

"Elizabeth..." I whispered. A sharp noise ran through my head: the same one from earlier. It stopped after I heard Halley.

"Wait, how do you know her?" said Halley. She sat in front of me and turned around when I said the author's name.

"She just seemed familiar, I guess," I said, laughing. She looked at me confused, but turned back around the face the author while smiling.

"Hey, everyone! I'm Elizabeth Jackson, and I'm so proud to announce that I'm going to be this school's new librarian!" said the red-dressed lady.

"Hey, you were right! Her name is Eliz-" said Halley. She stopped when she saw me with my eyes shut and my fists slightly clenched on the arm of the auditorium chair. "Aries, are you okay?!" The sharp noise ran through my head again, worse the first time. She stood up from her chair, and she sat next to me while holding my arm.

"Look at me, are you okay?"

I opened my eyes to look into hers. I saw the blue in her eyes, as if the color from the oceans drained and escaped into her eyes. Man, Halley had such a strong grip on me.

"I'm all good. Just felt a strong pain in my head. A headache, I guess," I told Halley.

"Do you want to go outside for a few? Get some fresh air?"

"That'd be nice, yeah."

There were only a few minutes left of the assembly, anyways. Instead of leaving immediately, we both kept stern eye contact with one another, not wanting to look away. The quick, sharp noise dashed through my head again, but I ignored it. If it meant that I go through pain, just to see her, I could get shot in the stomach multiple times but still be smiling at her.