In my Dreams by Courtney Barnes (each kindness read aloud .txt) 📖

it with their father and see. But Sarah I’ll make sure he knows I didn’t hear about it from either of you.”

I could see I wasn’t going to convince anyone. “Okay,” I said with a sigh, finally giving in.

She smiled. “So what were you kids up to?”

Lucas got us each bottle of water then pulled me to the table. I sat down on the chair next to him. He handed me my drink then answered. “Just hanging out, eating pizza.”

She looked skeptical. “Weren’t you coming from your room when I came in?”

I blushed. “He was just showing me his room.”

Lucas laughed. “Yeah and I kicked her butt at shooting hoops.”

“You cheated,” I said, and they both laughed at me. My phone rang. “Hello,” I answered, taking it from my pocket.

“Hey, are you still with Lucas?” Emma asked.

“Yes, why?” Lucas was whispering to his mother about the incident, and I was trying to silence him with my eyes. It wasn’t working.

“I’m sleeping over at your place tonight whether you like it or not. I’ve been going crazy wondering what’s going on with you.” Lucas looked over at me curiously, obviously finished squealing to his mother. “Sure I’ll meet you around ten.”

“Are you at his house?”

“Yes.”

“Okay I want all the details, I’ll see you later. I’ll have Derrick drop me off there. Can you give me a ride home tomorrow?”

“Sure.”

After we said our goodbyes, I hit the end button on my cell.

“Was that Emma?”

I nodded. “Can you take me to my car now? I should get home soon.”

“Sure,” he said, pulling me off of my chair. “See you later mom.”

Karen smiled at me. “It was so nice to meet you Sarah. I hope you’ll come back soon?”

I returned her smile. “Of course, it was nice meeting you too.”

Lucas took my hand and steered me to the front door. When we were outside he asked, “That wasn’t so bad was it?” I lifted my eyebrows at him in question. “You looked nervous when my mom came home,” he explained.

“Well we were in your room. I didn’t want her to get the wrong idea.” He held the car door open for me, and then shut it when I got in.

“Who’s Lisa?” I asked as he pulled out of the driveway. He looked confused at my question. “Earlier, when you were talking to your mom, she said her source was Lisa.”

He smiled. “Oh… Lisa Miller, she’s in the eleventh grade. She’s a hostess at the restaurant, and she knows everything that goes on at school. I have no idea how. This one time, I guess Logan cheated on a math test. Lisa found out and told my mom, she took his cell phone away for a month. He thought I told her, and he punched me.”

“He hit you?” I asked horrified.

He laughed. “Don’t worry; remember when I said he can’t take me. He walked away with a black eye.” He laughed at my expression, I wasn’t used to violence. “He may act like a tough guy, but I’m the one in the basement using the heavy bag all the time.” He stopped at a red light.

“A heavy bag?”

“You know in boxing, with boxing gloves,” he said, pulling away again.

“Oh right, I thought that was called a punching bag.” I stared at him confused. It didn’t seem like something he’d do. “You hit a heavy bag? Why?”

“I told you that I work out, that’s how. It’s very therapeutic. I started when I was a kid. It was my dad’s, but I sort of took it over. When I first started, I couldn’t even move the thing. Then when I did manage to get it to budge, it swung back and knocked me over.”

I thought about it. “Huh…I really can’t see you doing that.”

“I’ll show you sometime.” We were at the school parking lot now, and he pulled into the spot beside my car.

“You mean you want to show off?”

“Pretty much,” he said, and we both laughed.

I looked out the window at the school grounds. It was spooky at night with no one else around. “Can I see your phone?” he asked. I had no idea why he’d want it, but I handed it to him anyway. He typed something into it, then took out his own and did the same. “There, now our numbers are programmed into each others phone, if you need to call me, you can.”

I liked the idea of calling him whenever I wanted. “Well I guess I should go, Emma will be at my house soon.”

He climbed out of the car, walked around, and opened my door. “What are you doing?” I asked.

“Walking you to you car.” Oh, a gentleman, I could get use to this. He took my hand, and we walked the few steps to my car. When I unlocked the door, he pulled me in his arms for a very gentle kiss before separating.

Every time I looked in the rear-view mirror during the drive home, he was always behind me. It made me feel safe.

I pulled up to my house and got out.

Lucas stopped his car on the side of the road but stayed inside.

I walked over to him, leaned into the open window, and gave him a quick kiss. “See you tomorrow.”

“I’ll pick you up at seven thirty, have fun with Emma tonight.”

I watched him drive away then went inside.

“Sarah is that you?” my mom called from the living room.

“Yes.” I walked over to where she sat on the arm chair with a book laying open on her lap.

“Good, I’m glad you’re home, I was worried. I know you were with Lucas, but I’m a mother, that’s what we do.” She added after I started to speak. “So did you have fun?”

I blushed, and turned my head, so she wouldn’t notice. “Yeah, I had a lot of fun.”

She grinned. “What did you do?”

I didn’t want to tell her everything. I had such a wonderful time with him; I wanted to keep it to myself. “We just hung out at his house and talked a lot. He is a really great guy.”

She seemed satisfied with that. “So it’s getting serious? I knew it. Are you going to introduce him to us?”

“Actually, he’s taking me out for dinner tomorrow night, and then we’re going to hang out here for the rest of the night. So Dad can meet him then. I’m going up to my room, Emma’s staying the night, send her up when she gets here, okay?” I yelled over my shoulder as I walked up the stairs.

“Okay.” I heard her yell faintly.

Inside my room, I threw my backpack on the floor by my desk, and lay down on my bed, replaying my day over and over in my head. I had such a great time with him, I didn’t want to leave. When we kissed, I felt things I never imagined I could feel.

Emma walked through the door and bounced onto the bed, ending my reverie. “So, how did your day go?” she asked, grinning wickedly.

“Fine, how was yours?” I tried not to show any emotion and leaned over to grab my book.

She took it out of my hands. “Oh no, you don’t! Spill, I’ve been going crazy.”

I laughed at her; she was a person who thrived on gossip. She had to know everything that went on with her friends. Usually in my case there wasn’t much to know. “Well we hung out at his house, ordered pizza, and watched a movie.”

She looked disappointed. “That’s it?” she asked, her face horror stricken.

“Well I met his mom, she was very nice.”

“Oh, come on! You know what I mean, did he kiss you?”

I smiled and brushed the hair out of my face. “Oh that’s what you wanted to know, why didn’t you say so?” I was literally driving her crazy, she looked like she was about to blow.

“Okay!” I said laughing at her. “Yes, he kissed me several times. But that’s all you’re getting.”

“So, how was it? Is he a keeper?”

I groaned. “Definitely, we have plans for dinner tomorrow, and hanging out here afterward.”

We smiled at each other. “Isn’t it cool that we both have boyfriends?” she asked.

“I don’t know if he’s my boyfriend. It just happened today.”

“Oh please, you two have been pining for each other for weeks. Believe me, that’s what he is.”

My phone beeped, I had a text message. I reached for it and read, “Sweet dreams. Lucas.” I was touched at his message until Emma grabbed the phone from me, and read it.

“Oh, he is so your boyfriend.” I laughed as I tossed a pillow at her, which earned a smack in the head from hers.


Ch.12 Followed

I forced my eyes open, regretting the late night. We didn’t get to sleep until about two am. The clock read nine in the morning, and I still felt a little groggy. The sky was gray outside my window, which only made me want to stay inside my soft, warm blankets even more.

"Get up," Emma shook me. "You have to drive me to work." She worked at Pizzazz, a woman’s clothing store in the mall.

"Fine," I grumbled, climbing out of bed, stumbling to the washroom.

"I'll meet you downstairs." I heard her yell from the hallway.

"How the hell is she so perky?" I mumbled to myself as I hopped in the shower.

The hot water helped wake me up and my thoughts went to Lucas, which put me in a really good mood. My spirits were still high when I got to work. That