The Dreamer Part 2 by J.M. Hurley (affordable ebook reader .TXT) 📖

over. “Well I better get going,” I said as I grabbed my purse and headed for the door.

“I hope it goes well,” She said and I smiled silently to myself.

“Yeah, me too.” With that I forced myself to pull the door open and start off down the hallway. It was after curfew and I was supposed to be in bed sleeping now, so I had to be very quiet and be on the lookout for any patrolling night wardens.

Finally, after silently creeping down hallways and flights of stairs, I’d made my way to the old oak tree. It was hard to believe that just a week ago we’d had our first date under this same tree. It was so easy then

, I thought to myself, That was before I’d ever had any of these dreams, before I’d ever saw that man’s face.

I sighed and tried to clear my mind as I kicked off my sandals and sat down under the tree’s branches.

I checked my watch and it read 6:01 A.M. He still has time

, I thought silently to myself and then I realized what little sleep I’d gotten in the past week and I felt my eyelids begin to droop. Hurry up Zane,

I thought to myself and then I gave in to my exhaust and I fell asleep against the hard bark of the tree.


Chapter 21

30 minutes later I woke up from my pleasantly, dreamless sleep to find that someone was shaking me by my shoulders and asking if I was alright. They sounded alarmed and I wanted to answer them or at least open my eyes but I seemed incapable of doing either, at the moment. After a few more minutes of shaking and questions I was finally to pry open my eyes and found myself staring at Lance Millers, Stephanie’s tutor. Other than in Stephanie’s room, this was the first time I’d even seen Lance since he was a keep to himself sort of guy, so I was quite surprised that he cared enough to check if I was alright.

“Summer, are you okay?” He asked for what had to be the 30th time and finally I was able to make my lips work.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” I said sitting up and then realizing Zane wasn’t there I added, “Just disappointed.”

“About Zane?” He asked and must’ve notice my surprised expression because he then said, “I can explain.”

“Go ahead,” I said and then motioned for him to sit down with me under the oak, since my legs still felt like jelly.

“Though you might not know it, I’m Zane’s roommate,” He began, “so I obviously know he’s been in a bit of trouble lately.” He said casting me a glance before he continued.
“Zane told me he was supposed to meet you today, but see, he ran into a bit of a problem. “The Night wardens were literally guarding the outside of our door. “They said the he wasn’t leaving the room for any purposes until his punishment was done,” He said and then seeing how I was still confused he began to elaborate more.

“But see, me, being a tutor and all, they’ll let me out early just as long I tell them the right stuff. “I told them Stephanie had a project due today and this was the only time we could work on it, and they bought it,” He said, smiling proudly at his own cleverness. “He asked me to find you and give you this, since he couldn’t make it,” Lance said then produced a folded piece of paper out of the messenger bag slung over his shoulder, and held it out to me.

I took it and carefully unfolded it and held it to where it was only in my view, though Lance didn’t look as if he were trying to read it either way. I took a deep breath and began reading.


Dear Summer,

I regret missing our date. You must understand how sorry I am. Not just for missing our date, but for every time I’ve ever hurt you. I know how confused you must be and I promise I’ll explain everything. I get out of detention at 8:30 P.M. tonight, afterwards is the only time I’m able to go anywhere without being followed by wardens. I’ll meet you outside my dorm, it’d #43. You don’t have to come and I’ll understand if you don’t, but I’d like a chance to explain this, if you’ll let me. And please remember: I could never judge you, and I hope your opinion on that hasn’t been swayed by my ignorance.

Yours Truly,

Zane

I took a deep breath to steady myself so that I didn’t burst into tears. He really cares

, I thought to myself, tonight I’ll get the answers I’ve been waiting for

. But then reality sunk in and my smile faded. Has my opinion on him changed?

I wasn’t sure. As I muttered somewhat of a thank-you to Lance, I folded up the letter and started walking back to my dorm.


Chapter 22

On my way back to my dorm I ran into a few night wardens and was forced to quickly scamper off into janitor closets to avoid being caught and sitting through lectures. About 1 hall from my room I heard footsteps coming towards me. The loud clanking on the tiled told my it was a student girl, since none of the faculty nor wardens were allowed to break dress code, which doesn’t include high heels.

Though I was almost positive it was a student, I figured I’d better not risk it and quickly ducked behind a potted plant. As a pair of hot pink stiletto’s made their way around the corner I heard their owner let out a sigh of impatience.

“Would you get up from behind that plant? You look like a moron and I so don’t talk to morons,” She said and between the hot pink heels and the snarky comment I knew it had to be Stephanie who was standing in front of me.

I quickly got up and brushed myself off as she put on lip gloss to her already glossy lips. Once I was done straightening myself up she turned to face me and I could get a good look at her. I Think this is the worst I’ve ever seen her look,

I thought to myself and though her shoes were cute, and her designer only dress was adorable she still looked terrible. Her eyeliner was smudged, her mascara running, there were circles under her eyes and her nose was red and puffy.

“Are you okay?” I asked, not sure how to address the situation with her.

“Tyler and I broke up. In case anyone asks, I dumped him,” She said and then she laughed silently to herself as she absentmindedly rubbed what look like a bruise on her arm.

“What happened?” I asked motioning to the bruise, but she wasn’t looking at me and took it as a question about her break-up.

“I dated an abusive jerk,” She said matter-of-factly then seeing my face, explained. “Tyler was always a hands-on guy, and I knew that, but he was just so mad tonight and he pushed me into my dresser. “He tried to apologize but sometime between me punching him and me kicking him out, he understood that it was over.”

As she finished I looked at Stephanie, really looked at her. She was the girl all girls envied. With her slim build, long legs, naturally tan skin and blonde hair, girls just assumed she had the perfect life, or at least the perfect relationship. But come to think of it, in my 6 years of room and board here I’ve never seen her parents come to visit, not even on the family visiting days. Her brother, Tye, graduated 3 years ago, and even when he was here he refused to acknowledge her. As for her relationship, no one would ever guess that Tyler was abusive, or at least not to her. When I really thought about it, was it really a surprise that Stephanie has a cold, hard, demeanor?

She must’ve notice my staring because as usual, she felt obligated to defend her turf. “Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” She said snidely and then she smiled. “A love note from the boyfriend?” She asked motion to the letter sticking out of my pocket and then giving me a wink that made us both burst into laughter

“Yeah, but he’s not my boyfriend,” I said, pausing then added, “yet.” Stephanie smiled then checked the polished, designer, diamond watch on her wrist that probably cost more than my entire wardrobe.

“30 minutes till breakfast starts, we’d better head back or the warden’s will catch us,” She said and turned to start walking towards her dorm when she added, “I’m sorry about the whole S.S. crap and if you ever tell anyone this I’ll deny it but, I kind of regret not being a better roommate.” And with that she started off down the hall and within
seconds, disappeared into her dorm.


Chapter 23

I stood there for a moment trying to comprehend what had just happened. Stephanie never

apologizes. But hadn’t she done just that? I shook my head as if to clear my thoughts and started off down the hall. By the time I reached my room Sierra had already taken a shower and was waiting patiently for me to return. She’d pulled her short, choppy, blonde hair back in a small bun at the nape of her neck and was wearing a casual shirt and jeans, overall she looked very pretty and very eager to hear about my ‘date’.

I told her about Zane’s note and my meeting with Lance, carefully skimming over any parts that involved crazy dreams or Stephanie.

“Aw I’m sorry you to wait longer now,” She said and then grabbed my purse and threw it to me. “We’d better head down for breakfast, I’m starving,” She said and then, pulling me with her, she skipped off down to the breakfast hall.

*~^~*

The rest of the day flew by quickly and before I knew it I was sitting in my room and getting ready for my meeting, but the clock seemed to moving slower than ever. Around 7:00 a night warden knocked on our door and gave me my new schedule. I thanked them and tried to hide my disappointment as I silently assured myself that I did the right thing by changing my schedule. I opened the envelope and read.


Dear Summer,

I hope this suites your wishes, because I won’t be changing it again. You’ll start these classes Monday.

Best regards,

Ms. Kelly

1. Art
2. Self Defense
3. Dance
4. Lunch
5. ELA
6. Algebra
7. A.P. Chemistry
8. History


I folded up my new schedule and stifled a sigh. I definitely got what I asked for

, I thought to myself, now I have absolutely no classes with him. Why am I disappointed with that?

I didn’t know what the answer was to that last thought so I shrugged it off and turned towards Sierra, who was sitting below my bunk, looking bored. She’d offered to stay up till I got back but I didn’t know how late I’d