the room made my skin prickle, as if the dream had seeped into the very walls of my bedroom. My heart hammered in my chest a

ty that I'd closed it before going to bed. The wind howled, pushing the curtains inward like long fingers reaching for me. A shiver ran through me as I crossed the room to close it

t, the soft click of the latch louder than it should have been in the quiet room. But the unsettling feeling d

sleep wouldn't come, not with the images of the dream still fresh in my mind. I had felt the presence of someone there, their hand reachi

ding me that today was the first day of class, the beginning of everything I'd been waiting for, yet dreading at the same time. The excitement I'd felt onl

my clothes, and applying just a touch of makeup. My reflection in the mirror seemed foreign, too-my own face, but some

I was gone. I stepped outside, feeling the cool autumn air bite at my skin. The day was supposed to be full of promise-new beginn

e one who seemed to have an unsettling pull on me. Every time he was near, my chest tightened, my heart beat faster than normal, but not in

rang. He was dressed in black pants and a dark shirt, his hair hanging messily over his eyes, a faint beard on his chin. I couldn't

or this. I wasn'

angerous. I tried to steady my breath as he sat down, but my hands felt cold as ice

it, a tone I couldn't quite decipher. His dark eyes searched mine, as

n't quite come out as I intended. I wanted to snap at him, to demand why he was inva

d before I could react, his h

hat was anything but comforting. My body instinctively pulle

o his side. "Alright," he said with a small s

's touch, the inexplicable tremor that still ran through my fingers. What was this? Why was it him? The class dragged on, but my mind kept wandering back to Amer. We were assigned to work in pairs, and I couldn't believe my bad luck when Ms. Dora paired us togeth

the table, trying to ignor

the assignment done quickly, to escape this suffocating tension between us. "We

en he replied, his voice cool

t. Not now. Not with him. "What do you mea

ice sharper now, a slight edge of irritation cree

ou' re impossible," I said under my breath, but he didn't rea

Samuel. I didn't care where I was going, just that I had to get a

ed, tumbling over each other in a chaotic mess. I felt so... expose

ut of course, I had to. So, I went home, spent the evening aimlessly pacing a

t as shaken. The fear was the same, the presence was the same, and once again, I woke up at thr

through a fog, disconnected from everything around me. The eerie feeling of being watched lingered like a shadow

spilling across my chest. I heard the laughter before I even registered the pain, the humiliation.

heard it.

m

he cafeteria, and I felt the heat rise in my cheeks, the tears wellin

ed, but I couldn't bring myself to re

I turned and left, the laughter following me out the

he day. I didn't want to see Amer o

t wouldn't come out, and I couldn't stop replaying the sc

was wrong. I knew I shouldn't take the car, not at 17, not without a li

anywhere but here. The road stretched out in front of me, endless, empty. My ph

he sharp sound of impac

t so

d gasps. The world seemed to tilt as I stared a

ands trembling. I couldn't

on the gr

world, my heart, the breath in my lungs-all stopped as I stoo