Chapter 10

Selena’s POV

“It’s delicious, Ava!” Nia screamed with her mouth that was already filled with pancakes, the syrup dropped down on her chin and she did not care. Her whole face looked like she had just seen heaven. “This is damn too good!”

Ava blinked her eyes several times like she could not believe what her ears had heard. She held on to her chest and she threw her head back like she was pretending to be in shock. “Hold up. Did Nia… the same Nia who said I almost burned water last week… just compliment my cooking? Someone please call the ambulance, ‘cause I surely am about to faint right now.” 

I laughed very hard, and my hand was holding my stomach because it started to hurt from how bad I had been laughing. Nia rolled her eyes at me and put another full pancake in her mouth, trying to be funny. 

“Don’t let it get to your head,” she said while chewing. “I still don’t trust you in the kitchen. You could blow up the toaster for all I know.”

“Oh please,” Ava groaned dramatically, holding her forehead like some actress in a drama. “Chef Ava has been born. Say it louder for the haters that have the back spot!”

I was so close to choking on my juice. 

We kept laughing, and laughing, and the whole room felt like the weight was lighter. There was no heaviness, or sad thoughts, or whatever… it was just me… I mean us, and the pancakes we didn’t trust Ava enough to make well, but she shocked us. 

We sat down on the floor, in a small circle and we started eating. The floor around where we ate was kind of messed up with crumbs that fell off from our mouths and hands. Also with sticky syrup, and half filled cups of the orange juice Ava had served us with. 

Nia started to talk, just like she always did. 

Whenever we were chatting, Nia did the talking. This time Nia was saying things about the school… school gossip because that was like her favorite hobby in the whole wide world. 

“I promise you would not believe this one,” Nia said as she started talking. She waved her fork in the air like she was about to make an announcement just like it was done on the Tv. “You know Bella, right? The one with that ugly pink jacket she never takes off? Guess what—she and Troy were caught making out in the janitor’s closet!”

My jaw dropped. “No way!”

Ava’s eyes nearly popped out. “But… isn’t Troy dating Jessica?”

“Exactly!” Nia shouted, stabbing the pile of pancakes for effect. “That’s the tea, girls. Jessica is fuming, Bella is pretending like nothing happened, and Troy? That boy is walking around like he just won a Grammy.”

I covered my mouth, laughing. Ava almost choked and she spat the juice that was in her mouth back into the cup. 

“This is insane,” I whispered.

And that was how it went. Nia didn’t stop, she spilled one tea after the other like she owned CNN, and Ava and I, we just kept opening our eyes wide to all the things we were just finding out from our dear friend. Gasping like we were hearing her tell us about aliens that were landing on earth. 

When we were finally done eating our food, the sky outside had already started going dark. We stood up like we were tired and we shared the work among ourselves. Ava was going to wash the plates, Nia was going to clean the syrup that was on the floor, and I was going to sweep the crumbs. 

We finished up and we all got ready to go to bed. 

I was just about to climb on my bed when Ava stopped me by holding my wrist gently. Her eyes were soft, like she wanted to cry and she was fighting too hard to hold it inside. 

“Selena,” she said quietly. “Are you sure you are going to be fine sleeping all by yourself tonight? You can come and sleep beside me if you want. I don’t mind.” 

Her words touched me. Ava always worried too much, but I knew it came from love. I smiled a little, even though inside I was still messed up. “I’ll be fine, Ava. Don’t worry.”

Nia was already laying down on her own bed and she had pulled her blanket, so high that it covered up to her chin. She covered her eyes with her eye mask, and she spoke without needing to take it off. “If she says she is fine, then she is fine Ava. Stop babying her.” Then her voice softened. “But even if something goes wrong, we’re here, okay? Always.” 

The way they were acting so concerned towards me, made my chest feel warm. Ava let me go and I climbed on my bed and pulled my blanket up, as I stared up at the ceiling. Ava and Nia were whispering things to each other, then finally, they stopped talking slowly. 

But me? I couldn’t sleep.

My mind kept going back to Cullen.

His voice. The way he touched me. The way his eyes looked at me, like I actually mattered.

Why did he feel like something I couldn’t escape? Why was all the memory that I had of him stuck in my mind like it was ink on a white piece of paper? 

I sighed and turned to my side on the bed, so I was facing the wall now. I shut my eyes so tight, hoping that the thought would all go away, but that did not work. 

Then after what felt like hours, I still had not slept, but I still did not move either. I heard Nia’s voice again. 

“Selena,” she called my name softly. 

I did not answer, I just pretended to be asleep with my eyes still shut. 

I heard her come down from her bed and walk over to where Ava’s bed was. They were whispering, but of course, my ears were active enough to hear everything that they were saying to themselves. 

“I am serious Ava,” Nia hissed, like she was getting frustrated that Ava wasn’t agreeing to what she said. “I’m going to handle Jasmine by myself. I’m not gonna let her get away with all of this.” 

My stomach immediately tightened where I was laying down. 

“Nia No!” Ava whispered back to her. “You’ll make it worse. You know Jasmine. She’ll drag Selena deeper into this if you stir her up.”

“I don’t care,” Nia snapped. “Nobody hurts Selena and just walks around smiling. I’ll make Jasmine regret it.”

Ava groaned. “Nia, I want you to promise me that you are not going to do anything stupid.” 

“I’m not sure I can promise you anything, Ava,” Nia said flatly, like she was not about to lie to Ava about not doing anything stupid.

I sighed in my head. I was not even a tiny bit of surprise because Nia never listened. She was wild, stubborn and always ready to fight any battle, especially when it was not even her own battle to fight. And I knew that there was no way to even stop her, so I would not even try again. 

The room was now quiet again and the only thing that I could hear was the sound of the clock, that was ticking where it was hanging on the wall, and the way Ava was breathing softly. My eyes started becoming heavy and before I knew it, I drifted off to my dream world. 

But peace didn’t come.

Not even when I was already sleeping. 

The dream started with fire.

Everywhere was on fire and it was spreading around fast like wildfire, burning everything that blocked its way into ashes. I felt the heat on my skin too but it did not burn me, just that the smoke choked my lungs. I stumbled through the fire, with my heart racing loud and fast inside of my chest. I saw wolves move in the shadows but I did not see their faces, just the way their eyes glowed with fire and their sharp fangs that they were exposing. 

and then I saw the one person that I could not get off of my mind— Cullen.

He was standing there in the middle of the fire, tall and terrifying, and his eyes were glowing red. His hands were dripping with blood. 

My whole body became frozen where I stood. 

“Selena,” he called, his voice low and dangerous.

I wanted to run, but my legs wouldn’t move. The wolves growled, the fire roared, and Cullen stepped closer with those bloody hands reaching out for me, scratching my hands and leaving behind what looked like scratches?

I screamed.

I screamed so loud I jolted awake. My chest heaved, sweat dripping down my face.

Ava and Nia shot up in their beds, shouting my name, but I barely heard them. My whole body shook like I was freezing.

Then I saw it.

Scratches.

They were long, red, and they ran along my arm. 

They had not been there before.

I gasped, clutching my arm, my heart pounding like crazy.

Were my nightmares… real?