Chapter 7: Dreams

Mia and Chris settle in and memories flood back.

 

        Their living room contained a flat scene TV and I marveled at how they could afford all these things. We watched a pirate movie, but even the action and plot could not keep my mind away from reality. After a while I started getting tired, and after a while they stopped the movie. I slowly made my way upstairs, anxious to get ready for bed, and then to sleep.

        I grabbed my bag of personal items and went to the bathroom. I walked to the doorstop, but saw that Ryan was already brushing his teeth.

        “Oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you,” I said walking out.

        “No, it’s okay. I’m only brushing my teeth,” he mumbled through a mouthful of toothpaste.

        I rummaged through my bag and started to brush my teeth as well. There was an awkward silence that was only filled with the sound of my toothbrush as it cleaned. I spit into the sink, hoping that there would not be an embarrassing bead of split coming from my mouth. Thankfully there wasn’t.

        I looked up and saw that he was leaning on the frame of the door, watching me from the hallway.

        “I know this is hard for you, but I’m here for you. I’ve known you for awhile, so you can trust me. We’re all here to help,” his voice brought back memories of happy times.

        “Thanks. I’m sorry you have to see me under these conditions. I was wanting to see you at camp, like any normal summer.” My eyes started to water.

        “Great, I’m crying again,” I muttered wiping my eyes.

        “Hey, it’s fine. I can’t even begin to imagine what you are going through,” he comforted me.

        “Are you still going to camp even with us here?” I asked starting to wash my face.

        “We’re trying to figure that out. But I think I’ll have to stay here, just to avoid any problems.” Not only had my summer been ruined, I had ruined his. I felt like one domino that falls down, causing the others to fall with me.

        “I guess I never realized that your family is in danger because of us. If you knew you be in danger why did you take us in?”

        “My family knew you and was worried. When we were asked, I felt like it was something we had to do. I think I might have convinced my family.”

        “How?” I asked washing off the soap on my face.

        “I told them I didn’t want to lose a friend.” I was startled by his reason, it seemed like he treasured our friendship as much as I did.

        “Well, I’m glad you convinced them. If you hadn’t taken us in I don’t know who would have,” I responded relieved.

        “I know something that can cheer you up,” Ryan said, “follow me.”

        He led me to his bedroom and over to his dresser. After opening a drawer and rummaging through shirts he pulled out three and laid them on the bed. They were show shirts from the musicals we had performed in together. I looked at all the signatures and smiled as memories flooded back to me. We talked for a while, remembering different people and events that happened during the shows. Time ticked on and I grew even more tired.

        “I should probably get to bed,” I said holding back a yawn. “Thanks for showing those to me, it was fun.”

        “Yeah, no problem. Goodnight,” he said as I waked to the door.

        I turned around, “Goodnight.” I walked across the hallway and crawled into my new bed.

        “It’s about time you turned in,” my brother joked.

        “We were just talking,”

        “I know, I saw you in there. You looked happy, so I didn’t say anything.”

        “Thanks, I guess. Goodnight Chris.”

        “‘Night Mia,” I turned over and quickly fell asleep, my mind tired from the days events.

        That night my dreams were flooded by Ryan. It started with a time last summer.

 

        I went over to stage right to check my props before opening night of our camp show. Ryan then walked over to the wing, it was only the two of us.

 

        “You nervous?” he asked.

 

        “Yeah, a little,” I responded.

 

        “You’ll  be okay,” he said patting my arm.

 

        “I know. It’s just that this is my first solo outside of church and school productions,” I said nervous.

 

        “Don’t worry, you’re good. You can do it.” His complement made me smile, he was so talented and I looked up to him so much.

 

        “Thanks. You’ll do a great job tonight too,” I assured him.

 

        “Oh, thanks. You know what? In the past three years I’ve known you, you get better each time I see you perform.” All I could do was smile as my heart fluttered. I liked him so much and wanted him to know. The only thing that was holding me back was that I didn’t know if he felt the same way. If I asked and he didn’t like me it would be awkward and possibly ruin our friendship. If he did like me, well, I wouldn’t know what to do. I felt ready for a boyfriend, but how could I tell if I was. I wanted someone to be with, someone to love me back, someone to talk to. Maybe if I was lucky, someone to kiss. I wanted him to be that one for me.

 

        I looked back into his eyes and my heart almost melted. His bright blue eyes glimmered with excitement and happiness. We then hugged as we both told each other to ‘Break a Leg’. Or ‘good luck’ in theatre terms.

 

        I heard a knock on a door and wondered what was going on. I heard another voice and assumed they were doing a sound check on stage.

 

        “Mia…” the voice said.

        I slowly opened my eyes to find the person I had dreamt about at our door.

        “Mia, Chris. If you want pancakes come downstairs,” Ryan said shutting the door behind him. I looked over at Chris to see if he was awake yet. He seemed to be in the same half awake state that I was in.

        “What?” he asked.

        “They made us pancakes, come on,” I told him as I swung my legs over the bed and stood up. My eye sight clouded over as too much blood flowed to my head. I put my  hands out, ready to catch myself.

        I felt Chris grab my arms to steady me. After a few seconds my vision returned to normal and we headed down to breakfast.

        As we entered the kitchen I saw that two plates were set out for us, and a plate staked with pancakes in the center.

        Mrs. Altman was cooking them and Ryan and Danielle were already eating. I didn’t see Mr. Altman so I assumed that he had already left for work.

        When I saw Ryan’s face it triggered the memory of my dream. I thought about the dream, but also about relationships. I really liked him and would love to have a boyfriend. I was a sophomore in high school and I still hadn’t had a boyfriend. That’s what you were suppose to do in high school. Start dating, have fun being with someone else. I glanced back up at him and wondered if my ‘single’ status would ever change.

        I focused back onto breakfast and cut into the pancakes, finding chocolate chips. Memories flooded back to me, when my mom used to make a pancakes just like these. I struggled to hold back tears, afraid to lose control again. I bit my lip, holding myself together until I regained control.

        After breakfast I walked over to the sliding glass door in the kitchen to look outside. I sighed and turned around, without any sound Ryan had snuck up behind me. I gasped and I was started by his presence.

        “Sorry,” he said sincerely.

        “It’s alright. I just didn’t know you were there. I wanted to go outside and get some fresh air so bad,” I said glancing back out the window. I felt myself drawn to the scene outside. There was a slight breeze that gently moved the leaves on the trees. The sky was a pure blue with a few big white clouds making their way across the sky. There was one faint airplane trail on a diagonal. I thought of all the people who were on the plane. Normal people on a business trip, families on vacation, people going to see family, or just returning home. A home that was safe, a place to relax after a day at work or school. The people who all had their own lives, lives that seemed normal compared to mine. I felt like a cage animal as I looked up into the rest of the world.

        “Considering it’s your first day here, I wouldn’t do that.” My hopes flew away on the wind as his comment brought me back. I wished that I could be on an airplane, I didn’t care where it went. Anywhere was better than here.

 

Reviews

[Anna Writes]

woah, i like how you end this chapter!! I can symphatize with Mia and i badly wanted that she'd have her home and her normal life back too...
you had made your characters as well-rounded as possible...great work! :)

[Daniel]

Ryan seems like a nice person. Now I'm asking myself, "Is he going to betray them?"
I guess I'll have to keep reading, eh?

On to chapter 8!