I’m alone in the dark living room. No one is dragging me into the forest. It was just a dream. Something falls off of my lap and lands with a thud onto the floor. My breathing is fast and labored and my body is covered in a sheen sweat. I wait a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the darkness around me. Apparently I fell asleep on the couch. I’m still in the clothes I’d been wearing earlier. Jane must have spent the night at Ross’s because she would usually wake me up.
Grabbing the book that I kicked off the couch when I awoke, I get up and walk upstairs to my room. Turning the ceiling fan on, I crawl into bed, hoping to get a dreamless night of sleep. I lay in bed for hours until sleep finally comes to me.
My dreams that night are filled with a man with deep green eyes.
Shortly after going to bed, I am woken up by the sun streaming from my bedroom window, hitting my face. Groaning, I get out of bed and walk to the bathroom to take a shower. I step into the shower and turn the water on as hot as it will go, hoping that it will help wake me up and shake off the remnants of the dream last night. Standing beneath the hot water, I slowly feel the exhaustion leave me. My muscles relax and the fog in my mind drifts away, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
As I walk down the stairs, I stop to look at all of Jane’s photos on the wall. I walk past these photos every day, but have never actually stopped to look at them. It upsets me that she has so many photographs and memories, while I have nothing. The wall is covered with photos of her, her friends and family members, all smiling and laughing; happy and content.
I am suddenly overcome with a feeling of sadness. I’ll never have that. I am an only child. My father left before I was born and my mother died in a car accident a year ago. My mother hated taking pictures, so I don’t have many of her. I have one picture of her in my possession. I stop at the most recent photograph of Jane and her boyfriend, Ross, both staring into each other’s eyes, smiling. Will I ever get that?
I continue walking down the stairs until I reach the floor length mirror near the front door. I look at my reflection in the mirror. I’m wouldn’t say I’m pretty, but I’m not that ugly either. I’m pretty average, I think. I’m a little over 5’3” and thin, yet curvy. My pale skin tone accentuates my long dark, curly chestnut hair that reaches down to the middle of my back. Light hazel eyes look back at me.
Unless I get out of this town, I’ll never have that Jane and Ross relationship. No one wants to hang around the quiet girl and no one will take the time to get to know me better. Everyone is quick to jump to conclusions and listen to the rumors swirling around.
Tears well up in my eyes and I blink rapidly to get them to go away. I won’t cry. I refuse to. I haven’t cried since my mom died and today will not be the day I start again. Walking into the kitchen, I see a note on the counter from Jane:
Ryanne,
Going away for the weekend with Ross. You better read that book and study while I’m gone! Failing is not acceptable. I’ve left the car for you in case of an emergency. See you again on Monday!
Jane
I drop the letter, letting it fall back on the counter, and go to the refrigerator to look for something to eat.
When I get back to my room, I plug my iPod into the dock, play “Lego House” by Ed Sheeran, and then turn on my laptop. Singing along with the words, I log into my Facebook account. I don’t get on it often, because frankly I don’t care about it. Today, however, I have a goal. I go onto Lily Mooris’s page, the most popular girl in the school, and search through her friends list, searching for one person in particular. I don’t know his last name, so finding him is going to be difficult.
After an hour of searching, I start to feel like a stalker. Colton didn’t show up on anyone’s friends list. I