Dreamer

Chapter Eight: Behind Blue Eyes

But my dreams

They aren't as empty

As my conscience seems to be

The day slowly progressed as I dragged myself from class to class. I had only just turned seventeen, but the weight of my problems made me feel much older. It didn’t help that I was running on about two and a half hours of sleep. There was no use in being depressed, though, as it only hindered my goals. I tried to perk up slightly at that thought, but it was difficult. Well, I had never said it would be easy…

It was lunchtime, and I was thankful for the break. Concentrating in class was particularly difficult that day. I sluggishly made my way to the gym. A few days earlier, the principal had come to me with an ultimatum: the basketball or gardening club. I disliked any sort of yard work, so gardening was out of the question. Actually, I didn’t enjoy basketball either, but I was fairly athletic for business reasons. Plus, Castiel was in it, so that was an added bonus—because we were friends and all.

I turned out to be the only girl there. Luckily, the other guys didn’t make me play. I just ended up doing little tasks, which was fine by me. They practised in the gym some days, which was where I was headed to watch. Castiel would probably be there—but I also didn’t have anything better to do.

I entered the gym and waved to the guys already on the court. I saw the captain, Dajan, talking to another player, Gerry. He nodded at me in acknowledgement. “Hey Desirée, what’s up?”

“Not much,” I shrugged. “Do you need me to do anything?”

He smiled at me. “No, we’re good here for now. Besides, you look tired as Heck. Long night?”

I groaned. “The longest. I’m just going to go sit down and die, or something.” I dragged myself to the bleachers nearby and plopped myself down. My stomach grumbled painfully. I had forgotten to bring a lunch! Being tired and hungry was not fun. I sighed and focussed my attention to the game instead of my empty stomach.

I watched as Castiel stole the ball away from another player and dribbled it across the court. I had never pegged him as the athletic type—more rebellious and musical, actually—but he was an incredible player. He moved around in fluid motions that looked so effortless. My gaze began to focus on the expanding and retracting of his muscles as he made his way to the other side. I blushed at myself. Geez, I thought I had decided that I wouldn’t pursue him any further… but I supposed fantasizing him from afar couldn’t hurt. My eyes met with Castiel’s and he winked at me before he dunked the ball into the hoop with ease. Why do you do this to me, Castiel?!

The other boys cheered and clapped his back. He looked in my direction and I gave him a meek thumbs-up. A yawn escaped my lips and my eyes felt heavy. I propped my legs up on the bleacher and huddled my knees to my chest. I rested my head on my knees with a heavy sigh. I was probably always sleep deprived, but not to that extent. It couldn’t have been doing any good to my grades.

I propped up my chin on my knees and idly looked around. I caught a few guys staring at me weirdly. It was slightly uncomfortable. Some other boys glanced at me, then to each other, laughing. That was odd. Two girls I recognised as Amber’s minions whispered to each other and sneered at me. What was going on?

I saw Gerry talking to Castiel with a smirk, and he pointed towards me. Castiel glanced towards me lazily, before his eyes widened and his face paled. He shoved Gerry and angrily said something to him. Castiel marched irately to where I was seated. Gerry trailed behind with an annoyed look on his face.

“Castiel, what is—”

“What is wrong with you?” He growled at me, his eyes pierced into mine.