Chapter Two

A Chapter by Brittany

Dinner didn’t really improve the mood set in the house from when I got here. I sat across from Danny at the long, polished wood table, while my parents sat at either end of it. A bright chandelier hung over us, and exotic paintings hung on the white walls around us.

Seriously, all this white was starting to get to my head.

When my dad came home, he had just said a couple words to me, then went to lock himself in his study. That’s usually how my dad was before. Quiet, kept to himself a lot, etc. I actually didn’t mind him being like that. It was easier for me to be around him; which is why I liked my dad more than my mother.

There was complete silence as we ate. My parents stared at their plates, and Danny and I did the same, glancing at each other between bites.

My father cleared his throat, and I could tell immediately that he was going to try and talk to me.

“So…um, Dawn…” he muttered.

“I’m doing good, Dad.” I stuff a forkful of salad in my mouth, chewing fast. Maybe I could get to my room before my mom started talking to me.

Danny looked at me and I gave him a look, then he smiled a little and started talking to Mom about school (gosh, I still can’t believe he’s graduating this year…).

I stood up quick and ran up the stairs. But instead of going to my room, I walked down the long hall. Opening the last door on the left, I went into my favorite room besides mine.

My own private library.

Bookshelves that reached the ceiling were covering every inch of the wall, and then by the tall, window was a window seat that I had specially designed into a really comfortable lounging chair.

I took a deep breath, just realizing how much I missed this room. When my parents were fighting, or when my brother was being yelled at, I would go here and just read until I passed out.

I sat by the window and just stared out at the dark forest. It was still raining, so there was no moon tonight. I pressed my forehead to the window and closed my eyes, enjoying the coolness that swept through my body.

Exhaustion took over, and I closed my eyes, falling to sleep.

“Hey!! I’m going to Riley’s house now!!” I yelled from the hallway entrance to my mom, who was cooking dinner. She nodded and smiled. “Drive safe, hon. The weather is supposed to get really bad tonight.”

Grabbing my keys, I ran outside and got in my rusty truck. I had refused to let my parents get me an expensive car, even though I knew they could get me one.

I started up the car and turned the heater on, shivering. The rain pounded hard on the windshield, making it seem even colder. My cell phone rang and I answered it.

“Hello?”

“Dawn! Hey! Are you coming over?”

I smiled at the sound of my best friend’s voice. “Yep! I’ll be there in a bit!”

As I drove off into the night down our gravel driveway road, I didn’t notice the sleek, black car following me with their headlights off…

When I woke up with a start, it was the next morning. I squinted my eyes as rays of sunlight hit the window, blinding me. Oh yay. A sunny day.

The dream I had last night was still vivid in my mind. That night…the night I had gone over to my best friend Riley’s house for the night.

I swallowed hard, shaking my head. At the psych ward, I had been told to try and forget the past. So let’s try that out for today.

Danny came in the room and smiled. “Hey, I was wondering where you were.”

I laughed a little and I sat up, stretching. “I didn’t expect to fall asleep in here. I didn’t realize how exhausted I was.”

We went downstairs for breakfast after I took a long shower. Breakfast was usually quick for all of us. My mom liked to get the kitchen all cleaned up early so she could go and talk on the phone, gossiping with her friends, and my dad would go to work before any of us got up. He likes to be at the police station before anyone else got there.

I sat at the island marble counter and grabbed a piece of toast, slathering it with raspberry jam. Danny sat beside me, doing the same exact thing.

My mom glanced at me. “Dawn, honey, you really should cut your hair. It looks all messy.”

I paused in mid-bite and looked up at her. “What?”

My brother kept eating, but he was glancing from my mom, to me.

“Don’t you think, Danny?” she said to him, then had the nerve to reach out and touch a strand of my long, black hair.

Danny smiled at me and I relaxed a little. Darn him for doing that!! “I think it looks just fine.” He said.

My mom sighed. “I dunno…it makes her look...”

“Psycho? Crazy?” I snapped, glaring.

How could my mom do this to me?! She knows that I hate it when people comment on what I look like or what I wear. Hate it.

I was proud of my long hair. The only time I ever cut it, is to trim the ends. Why was I proud? I had no clue whatsoever. I just was. And now my mom goes and says that I should cut it.

That’s like, for example, doing some very accomplishing and you’re proud it, and everyone else is proud of how great you did. But then, you’re close family member looks at it, and then says you should change it and it wasn’t good enough.

How dare my mom say that to me?!

“Mom, what’s wrong with her hair?” My brother argued, seeing that I was getting mad �" the scary kind of mad.

I stood up, glaring hard at her. “Why are you doing this to me?!”

“What do you…”

“You’re trying to CHANGE me!!” I yelled, running out of the kitchen and upstairs. “You want my hair cut?! FINE!! I’ll cut it!!” I went into the bathroom and grabbed the scissors from the medicine cabinet.

Danny came in, sighing long. “D, stop messing around. I think you made your point.”

I ignored him and grabbed a thick chunk of my beautiful, silky black hair, starting to cut it.

Was this helping me convince my family that I wasn’t crazy anymore? That we should just all forget that I had been at a psychiatric ward for a year? Uh…no. Did I care? Of course not.

Danny tried to grab the scissors but, too late. My hair was piled up on the floor around me. I looked in the mirror at the black, choppy mess that came to my chin.

I turned to Danny, posing and modeling for him. “Like it?”

He rolled his eyes and grabbed the scissors, walking off down the hall. Of course he liked it.

To avoid further embarrassment for my parents, Danny and I went out for lunch in the late afternoon. I needed to get out of that house anyways.

I sat in the passenger seat while my brother drove down the road towards Jackson. He turned the music on low and rolled the windows, enjoying the sunshine.

Hopefully no one noticed me when we got into town. That wouldn’t be very good; since I didn’t have any friends. Everyone that I used to go to school with either hated me, or just ignored me. I was very thankful to the people who ignored me.

The psych ward doctors said that I should at least stay out of school for another year. I would have a lot of catching up to do, but according to them, it would help me heal mentally. Right now, I really didn’t care about that. All I was happy about was the fact that I didn’t have to go to school or be around any other people my age.

As we drove through town, I put on my dark sunglasses.

Danny laughed. “Don’t worry. I doubt anyone would notice you. You’ve changed over the past year, plus you cut your hair.” He grinned at me and I rolled my eyes, laughing a little.

We pulled up to my favorite smoothie place, Jamba Juice, and got out, going inside. While we waited for our orders, I looked out through the windows, curious. I hadn’t been out around town in quite a while. It was…refreshing and peaceful.

My brother handed me my Peach Perfection smoothie and I sipped on it as we went back out to the car, walking slowly.

I saw two giggling girls walk passed us, and a memory hit me full-force.

Riley and I walked into Jamba Juice, giggling at what we had been talking about. We ordered two Peach Perfections, and waited for them. That’s when I noticed the black car parked beside ours outside in the front. The windows were tinted, so I couldn’t see who was in the driver’s seat.

Huh…strange…

We walk outside and sit at one of the stone tables; one with an umbrella so we wouldn’t get wet if it started raining. I kept my eyes on the car and no one ever got out of it, nor did anyone go back to it. Now I was starting to get freaked out.

“What are you looking at?” Riley asked, glancing behind her.

“That car…” I mumbled quietly.

Riley looked back at me, taking a sip of her smoothie. “What about it?”

“I think it’s following us.”

Riley laughed a little and stood up. “No one is following us. Let’s go home. I want to watch a couple movies before going to bed.”

I followed her to the car and we got in. She drove off; I kept my eyes locked on the review mirror.

The black car was following us.

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