January Dreams Carrigan Richards (the mitten read aloud TXT) 📖

“I hear ya,” I tell her.

My door opens and Jonathan slips inside and closes it. He hands me his phone. “It’s Dad.”

“Hey Dad,” I whisper. Jonathan acts like a lookout by the door, listening for footsteps. The things we do for each other.

“Hey,” Dad says. “Why are you grounded this time?”

“I can’t even remember.”

“They shouldn’t have taken your phone away or ground you from talking to me.”

“You know how ridiculous they are.”

“That’s not right. Let me talk to your mother.”

“No, it’s okay.” We talk for a few minutes. He tells me about work and Kimberly, my stepmom, and Olivia, my half-sister. She is three and cute as a button. I hardly see them since they are in Atlanta and I’m not allowed to drive there alone at my age. It’s only three hours away. I’m pretty capable of driving the distance. I don’t text and drive. I know I’ve only had my license for about six months, but I miss them like crazy. My dad always treats me like I’m a person. I can’t remember the last time Mom and I actually sat down and had a conversation. He tells me Olivia keeps asking about me, which makes me feel guilty.

Jonathan waves his hand for the phone.

“I gotta go, Dad, love you,” I quickly say and give Jonathan the phone.

My door opens and it’s Ron. He never knocks. “There are still dishes to be washed,” he tells Jonathan, not caring that he’s on the phone.

Jonathan nods and says goodbye to our dad.

Ron looks at me. “Were you on the phone?”

“No.”

“Remember you aren’t supposed to.”

“I know. He was just relaying messages.”

Ron walks out and I’m sure he’ll tattle to mom that I was on the phone. He’s such a kid.

“Thanks,” I tell Jonathan. Even though we’ve had our fair share of fights, we are close. People say we look alike, but I don’t see it. He’s taller than me by quite a bit. He’s lanky and not very athletic. He prefers to play video games over actual football any day. He kinda keeps to himself, but with work and being a freshman in college keeps him busy. He’s saving enough money to move out by May. I don’t want him to leave me here alone though.

“No problem. I was thinking about going up Thanksgiving weekend actually.”

“Yeah, sounds good.”

“Cool. Just don’t do anything stupid to get you grounded.”

I roll my eyes.

He smirks and leaves.

After doing homework all night in the boring silence, I feel as if my eyes are going to pop out of my head. I take my shower and curl up under the blankets. Savannah gets comfortable and I close my eyes. The dreams with Casper come back to me. I still remember every little detail. I groan and roll onto my side. Why can’t I get him out of my head? He teased me constantly when we were kids and spread rumors about me. The last (and only) guy I dated, Matt, dumped me because he thought I cheated on him. He told me Casper found me with some other guy. Douchebag Casper. Why would I have a dream about being in love with him?

I turn on the lamp beside my bed, pull out my journal from underneath my mattress, and grab a pen. Writing has always helped me cope with my stressful life. I constantly change the location of my journal, because my parents have read it before.

Even though it’s been a while, I’m excited to write out a new story idea. I can’t wait to see where it’ll take me.

Maybe if I write down my dreams, it’ll help me not focus on them so much. I don’t get my mind’s current obsession and why all of a sudden Casper Truitt is paying attention to me. Why can’t it be Vincent?

Maybe I should try to talk to him more. Take risks. Isn’t that what being a teenager is all about? Challenging yourself and learning who you are? I don’t even know the guy, but I felt a connection. My heart pounds at the thought. Will he think I’m weird? A freak? I’ve asked guys out before, but they always only want to be my friend, which means they never want to talk to me again.

But Vincent seems different. I set aside my journal and turn off the light. I’m going to talk to him tomorrow.

Chapter Five

Standing on a cliff, darkness shrouds me except for the full moon hiding behind the tall trees. I hold myself as if it will make me warmer, but the strong gale pushes against me, almost knocking me over. I look over the cliff and gasp when I see several feet below, waves crashing against sharp pointed rocks and trying to reach me. I take a step back, but I collide with something hard. I try turning around, but it’s no use. Hands force me to stay straight.

“Don’t scream,” a dark gruff voice demands in my ear. He presses something hard into my back and leads me back toward the cliff.

“Please don’t do this,” I beg.

The waves continue to rumble below, and I have no way out. I close my eyes and cold tears trail down my face.

“It’s finally your time to die, traitor.”

“No, please!” I wail and push against him but like a statue, he doesn’t budge.

The man whirls me around to face him, but all I can see are dark eyes under a hood. “He doesn’t love you, Megan. He used his magic to make you fall in love with him. He’s an Elf. That’s what they do.”

I narrow my eyes and gasp. “No. You’re wrong.”

The man laughs. A deep throaty laugh. “You are a fool. A sad, pathetic fool if you ever believed he loved you.