Braxton Academy

Chapter 4

I woke up covered in a mass amount of sweat, feeling an unconformable stickiness under my arms and around my neck. I turned over on my side and saw that it a little after 3 a.m. Ever since my release date gone wrong in Mr. Patry's office I haven't slept a full night. Some nights are so strange that when I wake up I have no idea where I am. It always takes a few minutes before reality tells me that I'l' be here another four years. Tonight my mind was exhausted but my body was awake and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.

I sighed heavily before I got up to rearrange my bed. Putting my pillow at the opposite end of the bed and shifting my covers to the other side so the coolness would soothe me, I collapsed back onto the bed to attempt to return to my sleep. This was a trick my mom taught me during the scorchingly humid summers in Indiana. Fearful of another bad dream, I kept my mind focused on reiterating everything I have to do tomorrow; clean, read, iron. Clean, read, iron. Clean, read, iron.

"Hello?" I wondered down my street, reminiscing in the bright cherry trees that were around almost every corner.

I approached my yellow house, opening the wooden fenced gate and noticing that mom had planted her red tulips in the front yard like she did every season. I glanced behind to the backyard and saw that my dog Sammy was sitting in the grass, his bat-like ears were flopping with every turn he made. I called his name but he didn't notice me. I walked to the font porch and opened the door, coming inside and for some reason remembering to remove my shoes. I saw mom and dad sitting at the dining-room table just to the left of the staircase where they were enjoying breakfast. Their smiles and happiness sent a shiver through my body.

"I'm home." I said, trying to capture their attention.

"Do we know you?" My dad spoke plainly.

"You weren't there..." That seemed to be the only words that would come from me. "Why weren't you guys there?"

I stopped to look at everything around me; the vanity containing my knickknacks were empty, my coats and shoes were no longer by the front door, and my presence was absent in every photo. This wasn't my home anymore.

"We don't know who you are." My mother stood behind my father and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"You...You don't know who I am?" I put my hand over my mouth to hide my gasp but I noticed that it was fading away.

My body was disappearing in a sandlike breeze. Mom and dad went back to their conversation while happily eating their breakfast. I started to scream as I faded away to get their attention but they never even noticed.

My unplanned scream in my dream woke me up, almost causing me to fall out of my bed. My mind was confused as to whether there were tears or sweat on my face but I soon realized that it was both. I tried to pull myself together to reach my desk for the box of tissues sitting near my books but I was staggering too much and I knocked over my desk chair.

"Naomi what the hell are you doing in here?" Mr. Patry barged in, his expression softened when he saw the tears in my eyes. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I just need a tissue." Usually I would burst down in tears but now was definitely not the time to draw attention from the Administrators.

"Naomi you're crying." He came inside and closed my door, turning on the lights which only intensified the burn in my eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Just had a bad dream is all." I wiped away the wetness on my cheeks and blew my nose.

"Let's have a talk about that then," He put his hand on my shoulder to guide me to my bed. "I'm sure you'll feel much better if you talk about it."