T H R E E ( 3 ) - G U N S H O T
I could see his face.
Every dream I've had, he's there. In the background. He's lurking there. It doesn't turn into a nightmare. It's like I am scared of him. But it's not enough to wake me up.
I did feel hot though. I was probably sweating through the sheets and my clothes. I'm totally scared what the hell am I saying?
A hand touched my shoulder and I gasped awake. My eyes shot open to see the culprit - Sweet Pea. He removed his hand as quickly as I felt it.
"You were tossing around- having a nightmare?" His voice was low and he asked in a whisper.
My eyes travel behind him. Fangs and that weird guy- tall boy- was still here. None of this is some elaborate dream to wake up from. I sighed and propped myself up on my elbows.
"I'm living in one actually." I grumbled out and looked back at him. Turning on my side- away from him- I got settled into the bed again. "Don't worry about me."
He huffed at me. "Kind of hard to do that when you are just this walking mystery."
My eyebrows furrowed at his statement. Okay now I wanna know what's going on in his head. Bowie and Syd said they were kind of all over the place. But him- he's been all over the place since I met him.
"Why am I such a mystery to you?" I asked.
"There's not a lot of people I know that have a toledo tattoo and are ashamed of it."
I rolled over to my opposite side. He was still towering over me, looking at me. Was he always like this? Or was it just me- the mystery?
"Not a lot of people were forced to get it."
I watched his face change. He looked- confused. Confused and empathetic. Don't think I've seen that look on him before.
He kneeled down on the floor and eventually got situated in a seat. He landed his back against the bed.
"First time I've heard someone get forced into a gang. Especially the serpents. We're a family." He spoke softly again, I could see him wringing his hands together.
"It was a short summer."
He doesn't say anything to that. He lets the silence pass between us for a long while. Too long of a while. I can feel my eyes begin to water. But thats only because I'm laying down. I tell myself that all the time, sometimes it's true.
"We've all got problems with our families."
That's definitely true. I mean Betty's father was a serial killer. Izzy lost both her parents and her brother and her are on and off. Syd lost her father. Bowie's dad is gone too- not sure if he's dead or just skipped town like mine.
I scoffed.
No family was like mine.
"Sorry to hear, but it doesn't make what happened to mine any better." As soon as I said I judged myself. He wouldn't say that to just say it. He's probably talking from personal experience. "Yours too?"
"Yeah."
Another silence.
What do I say to that? What do I say to someone that isn't going through the same exact thing as me. But probably feels the same thing. When did I get so detached? Was I always like this? Maybe what I became during that summer pushed Izzy away.
Pushed her right into Evelyn's hands.
"Maybe in another life, our families wouldn't be like this." I was wishing on a star. Another life? Those don't happen. And if they did happen no one would probably know it was another life. What if this is my another life?
