Dreamscape: Saving Alex

Chapter One

I pushed the golden nuggets around my plate. It was a bribe meal. I knew it as soon as I saw the table laid out with all my favorite food. Mom was buttering me up for something. I just didn't realize it would be something that was going to totally ruin my life. And maybe, if I was still five years old, it would've worked.

I shuffled the food, pushing one of the nuggets under the mashed potato volcano until it erupted. A slow trail of chunky gravy slid down over the side of the plate.

My mom arched a brow, glancing purposefully between me and the brown puddle congealing on her nice tablecloth.

I ignored her. She had been doing it to me for years. Now it was my turn. It killed me not eating the bribe, but I couldn't do it. She wouldn't win. Not this time. As long as I didn't look at the pile of sweet rolls in the middle, I would be fine. Easier said than done. My mouth watered as I glared across the table.

My mom lowered her napkin and refilled her wine glass. "Alexis, honey, do you want to talk about it?"

I met her gaze coolly. "Do I want to talk about it? I thought we did talk about it last month, when you told me we were moving over winter break. Three months, Mom, that's what you and Dad said. Not this weekend." My teeth hurt from clenching, but if I released my jaw, tears would fall. I couldn't let that happen. Nothing would be worse than giving her that satisfaction.

I focused on the wall behind her, skimming over the sealed moving boxes until I found the corner with the torn paisley wallpaper. Bad idea. I'd never understood why they hadn't fixed it. Everything else in our house had been upgraded over time, except that. It stood out as the one imperfection. And it was my fault. Why couldn't they just fix it so we could move on? I brushed my blonde hair out of my eyes, pausing at the slight indentation of the scar at my hairline. It had been seven years now, but still, I hadn't forgotten. They hadn't let me.

With that one glance, I was nine years old again, crying in the corner. But I wasn't that little girl anymore, and I wasn't going to let her see me cry. No matter how much I wanted to. No matter how powerless I felt. I wasn't going to admit it. Admitting it only tightened the collar around my neck. No, I wasn't going to break. Not this time.

"Really Alex, try to be reasonable." Mom's voice broke through my thoughts.

"Reasonable?" I heard my voice squeak as I turned my attention back to her. My knuckles tightened around the fork. "You think I'm the one being unreasonable? When you bumped up our move to tomorrow? How did you expect me to react?"

"Civilly," she muttered, taking a sip of her wine.

I glared at her. "Why couldn't we wait until break?"

"Sometimes plans change," she said. She wrung the cloth napkin around her polished nails and pushed her plate to the side. "We have to do what's best for the family, and right now, that's moving a bit sooner. Your dad's already over there. He's been working long hours and misses us. You can't blame him or me for wanting to be together. Being apart like this has been hard for us."

"And what about me? Don't you care about how hard this is for me?"

"We do, but it won't seem so bad once we're all back together and you're settled in. Dad's already checked out the school and gotten the house ready for us. He says everyone's real nice. You'll make new friends in no time."

I narrowed my eyes and cocked my head to the side, looking closer at my mom. Her voice was calm, but the slight twitch of her lower lip gave her away. It was her tell. They had known and just hadn't told me. Well, if they thought I was mad with three months' notice, how did they expect me to handle this?