Because the guy I wanted to be dancing with was gone.
“I’m tired. It’s been a long day.” I replied.
“Okay. See ya later then,” Gee replied and wiggled her long black nails at me.
I looked back to check on Miranda one last time; the smile on her face as she talked to the Nathan guy was my answer. She was fine. Good for her.
Smoke was everywhere. I was lost inside of it. I couldn’t panic. If I wanted to survive this I couldn’t panic. My chest felt tight from the lack of oxygen. Slowly I waded through the smoke, praying I’d make it out before the darkness took over. A small light appeared through the thickness and hope pushed me harder. My legs felt heavy. The closer I got to the light the slower my body moved. It was becoming harder to pick up my legs and put one in front of the other. My knees buckled and I realized I wasn’t going to make it. The light was there. So close. But I wasn’t going to get to it. The smoke was going to claim me. I took another strangled breath as my knees hit the cement underneath me.
Strong arms encircled me and the suffocation was lifted. I took a deep clear breath. The arms held me close to a firm warm chest. I tried to open my eyes but I couldn’t.
“You’re okay. I’m here.” The deep voice assured me. I knew that voice. I gripped the shirt that covered the body that held me. I wanted to see him. I knew him.
“Help,” I begged. My eyes wouldn’t open.
“Always. You’re fine. This is just a bad dream. I’m here.” He assured me. I believed him. I couldn’t see him, but my body knew it was safe. Relaxing in his arms, I breathed deeply again.
“I want to see you,” I told him.
“I wish you could. You will again one day.” His confusing reply was the last he said before the loud blaring alarm went off.
My eyes snapped open and I was staring at the ceiling of my dorm room.
“Turn that off,” Miranda grumbled, throwing a pillow at the alarm clock beside my bed. We had freshman orientation in an hour. I reached over and pressed snooze. Bits of a dream flitted through my memory. I wanted to remember it. Something about it had excited me. But I couldn’t. Sitting on the edge of my bed I thought hard about the moment before my alarm clock had gone off. There was something I wanted to remember but I couldn’t recall it. I was drawing a blank.
Frustrated, I threw the covers off and stood up. Miranda had huddled down deeper in her covers. I had no idea what time she’d finally gotten home last night. She was almost impossible to wake up when she’d had sufficient sleep. This morning was going to be difficult. I decided I’d get a shower first then I’d try to get her to wake up. Orientation was required. She’d have to get up and get there even if she only had enough time to brush her teeth and put on wrinkled clothes.
Gee was standing in front of the mirror. She wasn’t looking in it. Her back was turned to it and she was leaning against the counter with her arms crossed in front of her like she’d was waiting on someone. Her hair was already styled---well as much as she styled it, and she was dressed. She’d been out later than me. How did she look so awake?
“Sleeping in Peggy Ann?” She asked not moving from her spot in front of the sink. I really needed to get a shower, but I wasn’t one to strip down in front of other people.
“Yeah, I can’t believe you’re so awake. But since you are up and dressed, could you get out so I could do the same?”
Gee pushed off from her stance against the counter. “Snippy, snippy. I guess you don’t want to hear about the private invite you got to attend Cold Soul’s concert Friday night either.”
I watched as Gee started walking toward the door to leave me alone like I’d asked. I shouldn’t ask her about the concert. I didn’t date musicians. It was a bad idea.
“Wait. What do you mean? Did Dank invite me?” I was weak. The guy was hard to resist.
Gee halted in her steps and grinned. “Yeah. He did. You even get to bring your friend along if you want to. Backstage passes and all.”
Backstage. That meant he wanted to see me. Didn’t it? I didn’t need to entertain these thoughts but he made it so hard to remember that he was a bad boy. He didn’t act like one. He seemed almost lonely or lost. Not like the wild playboy I’d decided he was from day one.
“Okay. I want to go. I’m sure Miranda will want to go too.” I wanted to ask her why he hadn’t called me himself or if I could have his number but he hadn’t supplied that and maybe I shouldn’t ask.
“I’ll let him know. But then again, you may see him first,” Gee replied then opened the door and closed it behind her before I could ask her what she meant.
Dank
I had been waiting for her since I’d left her bedroom this morning. Last night had been the first time I’d gone into Pagan’s dreams. It felt like an invasion of privacy that I’d never wanted to cross. But while I sat there watching her sleep and making sure she was safe she’d started to have a bad dream. It had taken me a few moments to decide whether or not I should go into her dream and ease her fears or physically hold her like I used to when she was having a nightmare. I decided that the safer way was in her dreams.
The moment her alarm had gone off I left. She’d be arriving at this building soon. I stepped around the tree I’d been leaning against and made myself visible. College girls liked lead singers. I had to dodge overly-aggressive females when I was on campus.
“Dank Walker? No way. I’d heard you’d been seen on campus but I didn’t believe it. But here you are,” a female had already noticed me. She began scrambling through her book bag. “I have a sharpie in here somewhere. Could you autograph my bag or my shirt, oh better yet---my bra?,” she said as she pulled a sharpie from her book bag.
The girl had started lifting her shirt up before it dawned on me that she was serious about the bra.
“No. I don’t sign bras,” I held the sharpie she’d handed me and moved my attention from her to the students approaching the building. My eyes locked with Pagan’s. Shit. She saw that the girl’s damn shirt had been up. I shoved the sharpie back in her direction without breaking eye contact with Pagan and stepped around her. “I gotta go,” was the only explanation I gave her.