Crystal Eyes

-(14)-

-J a m e s -

      Books lay in disarray around the room, some slung over the couch and others draped over the glass coffee table before me. The TV ran, some teen Disney show we'd been watching as a joke after studying. We finally managed to accomplish our assigned work before the test, hopefully, Ellery caught my signing during the tapes. 

      I thought she had, seeing as she was currently draped over the couch like a drunk, her head handing on the armrest and her arm brushing against the carpet. Charlie, her puppy which she'd gone on and on about for hours, was curled up between us and sleeping after hours of playing around the room as we studied. He'd ripped a page right out of my History book. The page now lay in shreds under the coffee table. 

      Her eyes fluttered as she slumbered, I marked that after the first few moments of watching her. I wasn't watching her to be a creep, just curious. I thought she'd be a peaceful sleep, with those soft limp features but she wasn't...not even close. I could tell she was alarmed in her sleep. Ellery kept shifting around and groaning. I wanted to reach out and calm her but I found it to be something a boyfriend would do, not a friend. 

      After a few moments of procrastinating, I knew I had to get home to make dinner for Jade and Jude since mom probably gave them a bag of chips and told them to go play, I began to gather my things gradually, shoving them in my bag. 

      Mom didn't often put in an effort to cook...They often crawled into my room with grumbling bellies and mournful faces. Not because she didn't know how, only because she worked a lot. She had to support us all, even if Jade and Jude's father paid good child support frequently. 

      As I slung my bag beneath my shoulder, I turned back and swooped a good pat on Charlie's head. 

      "I'm going, see you tomorrow," I muttered, just as the words had left my mouth I slapped a hand across my face. "I'm so dumb, she can't hear." Charlie cocked his head and whimpered softly. I contemplated waking her, only to decide I'd leave a note but before I could even grab a pen, Ellery popped up rapidly. Her eyes became wide with concern, her chest heaving and her mouth falling open to gulp in air. 

      Are you okay? I signed, my hands shuddered in interest. She shook her head and tugged her curls through her shaken face. My hand came down on her shoulder in a comforting gesture. I slumped on the couch, my backpack lost in the mania of books and papers. Hey, what's wrong?

     Nothing, just a nightmare. Sorry, you had to see that. I wiped the curls from her face then pressed my hand onto my lap. She flickered her eyes to mine, scrunching her nose when I noticed the tears threatening to fall. No, it's alright, I understand. Her breathing came in ragged. I could tell she was still pondering the remainder of the dream she had. 

      What did you dream about...? My curiosity got the best of me. 

      I lost my hearing in a car accident, you already know that. I also lost my mom and my friend that day. I often have dreams of those events. I was thirteen, I hardly remember a lot of it but my dreams keep that day burned into my mind. I dreamed this time of when I woke up in the hospital and they figured out I'd lost my hearing. 

      I had been curious about the crash she lost her hearing in, skeptical that she'd lost her family in it too. Only because It was just Ellery and her brother, it was a strong possibility that she'd lost her family in the accident she lost her hearing in but I hadn't known for sure. Not until now.