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

but she was sure it would happen soon.

We fell asleep around one or two in the morning; I was too tired to notice.

I closed my eyes, and when I opened them again I was in my backyard, slow dancing in the moonlight. I was so at peace and happy, I’d never felt like this before. I didn’t know who I was dancing with, but I was afraid to look up, as if the movement would ruin the mood. We danced for a while, his warm, gentle hands softly rubbing my back, my arms around his broad shoulders. He lifted his head, which was leaning on mine as I looked up at him. Lucas smiled down at me and said very softly, “I love you Katie.”

I jerked awake, sitting up in bed. Emma’s head lifted, she squinted at me with sleep filled eyes. “What?” she whispered.

“Nothing, go back to sleep.”

She closed her eyes, and I lay back down, but couldn’t go back to sleep. Why was I dreaming of him and why did he call me Katie?

I must have dosed off sometime later because when I opened my eyes it was daylight. A quick glance at my watch told me that it was ten o’clock. I loved sleeping in on Sundays.

“What time is it,” mumbled the lump under the covers. I sat up and kicked the large bulge of blankets. “Ow.”

I laughed. “Ten o’clock, wake up.”

She crawled out of the bed and stumbled behind me downstairs.

“So, are you coming to lunch with Derrick and me or not?” Emma asked between

bites of pancake.

Her pancake was so saturated with syrup, I had no idea how she could taste it. “Do you want more syrup? I see one spot that isn’t soaked.”

She stuck her tongue out at me. “Shut up, and answer the question.”

I thought about it. “No, I’m going to stay here, and have a lazy day.”

She smiled no doubt thinking of an afternoon alone with Derrick. “Suit yourself. Okay, I’m done eating now. I’m going to use your shower; he’ll be here in an hour. Can I borrow that cute blue dress you bought yesterday?”

“How did you know I bought a dress, I forgot to show you?”

“I peaked in your closet this morning when you were in the washroom. So can I, please?” she begged, clasping her hands together like she was praying.

I laughed. “Fine, I haven’t even worn it yet, but knock yourself out.” I took a bite of my pancake, savoring the sweet maple taste of the syrup.

She jumped up and down. “Yeah!”

“But I want it back tomorrow,” I said after swallowing.

“I promise.” I heard her say faintly since she was already at the top of the stairs.

I finished my pancake, and then put our dishes away.

While Emma was in the bathroom getting ready, I picked up my book, and started to read again.

“God I hate my hair.” I heard her mumble from the open doorway of my ensuite bathroom. I laughed softly to myself, she had no idea how pretty she was, and it was mostly because of her red hair. But every time I tried to tell her that, she ignored me.

She shut the door to the bathroom, so the hair dryer wouldn’t disturb me, and I started to read again. I was in the middle of a chapter when someone knocked on my door. “Is everyone decent?” Derrick asked.

“Yeah come on in.” I tossed my book aside, and sat up leaning against my pillows.

“Hey,” he said, walking into my room. The bed squeaked as he sat on the edge, looking down at my T-shirt and yoga pants. “Why aren’t you ready to go?” he looked genuinely curious as though he really wanted me to go with them.

“I don’t feel like it, I thought you guys could use some privacy.”

He frowned, raising an eyebrow. “So, how did you know?” was all he said, knowing I would understand him.

“That you and Emma liked each other?” I asked, and he nodded.

“Well, I have known you since birth, I know you better than my own brother. Emma and I haven’t been friends quite as long, but since kindergarten, I could pretty much guess what she was thinking.”

Both of our parents had been friends since college. My mom and Derrick’s mom were best friends, so when we were born we had no choice to follow in their footsteps. We grew up together; he was like a brother my own age. One I actually liked to hang out with.

He gave me a thoughtful look, and then said softly. “You are the best friend I have ever had, and I don’t want anything to ruin that, so if this bugs you at all, tell me?”

I leaned toward him, grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. “You’ve been holding back because of me. No don’t deny it,” I added when he shook his head. “I want you both to be happy, and what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t let that happen. So what I am trying to say is, go for it, seriously.” We smiled at each other. “Okay, that’s enough mushy stuff for one day, don’t you think?”

“Oh Yeah,” he replied, throwing a pillow at me.

Emma finally finished, and they were headed out the door when she turned and came back in. “Who’s David?”

“I have no idea who you’re talking about.”

“I went to the bathroom last night, when I got back in bed you were mumbling the name David.”

I didn’t know I talked in my sleep. “I was? That is so weird, I don’t know any David.”

She shrugged her shoulders, smiled, grabbed Derrick, and took off.

I lay back down on my bed, David? I knew I dreamt of someone, but it was Lucas, not somebody named David.


Ch.6 Shadow

I woke up the next morning feeling rested. Thankfully there were no dreams of anybody last night.

I even arrived at school on time, shocking my friends, who I walked with from the parking lot. I did notice that they drove together in Derrick’s car.

“So how was lunch yesterday?” I asked as we headed into the school.

They both smiled like they had a secret. “Great,” they said in unison.

“So in translation, I’ll have to wait to get Emma alone before I get any juicy details.”

She grinned. “Exactly.” We all laughed, and headed for our separate lockers.

In my first class, I turned around, and stared at Derrick. “So did you kiss her yet?”

He looked a little smug. “Well, you did say to go for it, didn’t you?” His grin spread across his face.

“Good for you,” I said as Miss Reynolds started the class. I turned around and listened to her lead a discussion on Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice, the book we were to begin reading.

After class, I walked with Derrick down the hall, but separated at my locker.

He had next period with Emma, so he had a big smile on his face as he rushed away.

In music class, we partnered up, and practiced the new piece. I worked with Hannah Smith who played the violin. The two instruments sounded good together, I couldn’t wait until tomorrow when the whole class played.

The cafeteria at lunch was always noisy. Get a couple hundred teenagers in one place, and there’s bound to be yelling, laughter and sometimes food fights. Today wasn’t bad, but there was a buzz of conversations in all directions in the large lunchroom. The smell of grease and tomato sauce filled in the air. We were sitting at our usual table, but Derrick’s friend’s Pete and Cory were sitting with us.

I had just taken a bite of my tuna sandwich when I heard Pete say. “So Sarah, since these two are finally dating,” he said pointing to Derrick and Emma, “how about you and I go out sometime?”

I looked up from the book I was reading and gulped down the bite of sandwich. Sometimes I took a book to lunch, and with the extra male conversations that involved sports and girls, I needed it today.

Derrick, who was about to take a bite of his bologna sandwich froze with his mouth open. His eyes darted to me, and I knew he could read my panicked thoughts. He sat his sandwich down and smiled. “Oh please Peter, Sarah is way too good for you,” he laughed, “what happened to Carrie, or was it Michelle?”

Peter gave Derrick a smug smile and leaned back in his chair. “I have room in my life for all of them. So Sarah, what do you say?”

Thank god for Derrick. I knew he’d know that I wasn’t the least bit interested in Pete. He was a very nice guy, and with his light blonde hair and blue eyes, he was quite a catch. But he was a little bit of a ladies man, like he said, he usually dated more then one girl at a time, and that just wasn’t for me.

“Although it is tempting to become a member of your harem, I think I’ll pass.”

Peter placed his hand on his heart held, acting like I had hurt him, making everyone laugh.

“Hey Pete, did you know Sarah and Emma had a sleepover on Saturday?” Derrick suddenly asked. I glanced at Derrick wondering why he would bring that up. Why would Pete care?

Pete smiled. “You did? So who won the pillow fight?” he asked, looking over at Emma and me. We were sitting next to each other.

Emma and I exchanged confused glances. “What pillow fight?” Emma asked.

“You know? When girls have sleepovers, they always have pillow fights.”

We stared at him in disbelief. He was smiling, waiting for our answer. Derrick and Cory were laughing, nudging each other.

I glanced at Derrick to explain. “Pete thinks that girls have pillow fights in sexy lingerie