3

“So,” I said, changing the subject before they could start bickering again, “what’s the plan for today? It’s Saturday, no school, no homework—well, not yet anyway.”

Olivia perked up, her eyes lighting up. “We could go to the mall. I need new shoes, and there’s that smoothie place we haven’t been to in forever.”

Ethan groaned, slumping back on the couch. “The mall? Really? That’s, like, the most boring place ever. Can’t we do something fun, like go to the arcade or sneak into that old abandoned house on Maple Street?”

Olivia made a face, wrinkling her nose. “The abandoned house? Gross, Ethan. It’s probably full of spiders and, like, mold or something. I’m not trying to die of an infection today.”

“It’s not gross, it’s adventurous,” Ethan said, sitting up straighter, like he was ready to defend his idea to the death. “Come on, Bella, back me up here. You’re not scared of a little dust, are you?”

I laughed, shaking my head. “I’m not picking sides. You two figure it out. But if we’re voting, I’m kind of with Olivia on the smoothie thing. I could go for a strawberry-banana right now.”

Ethan threw his hands up in mock defeat. “Betrayed by my own best friend. Fine, mall it is, but I’m not carrying your bags, Olivia.”

“I wouldn’t trust you with my bags anyway,” she shot back, smirking. “You’d probably drop them in a puddle just to mess with me.”

Few moments later mom brought us breakfast and I tuned them out as they kept going, their voices blending into the background. My mind wandered back to the dream again, uninvited. The way the smoke curled up from the pit, thick and gray, moving like it had a mind of its own. The scream that stopped me in my tracks, so loud it felt like it was inside my head. And those eyes—silver and glowing, staring right through me. I shivered, even though the living room was warm. I didn’t know what the dreams meant, if they meant anything at all. Part of me wanted to tell Olivia and Ethan, to spill everything and see if they could make sense of it. But another part of me, the bigger part, wanted to keep it locked away. It felt too personal, too weird, like if I said it out loud, it would make the dreams more real.

“Earth to Bella,” Olivia said, snapping her fingers in front of my face. I blinked, realizing I’d zoned out.

“Sorry,” I said, forcing a smile. “Just thinking.”

“About what?” Ethan asked, tilting his head. “You’ve got that look, like you’re solving world hunger or something.”

“Nothing important,” I lied, waving him off. “Just spacing out. So, mall? Smoothies? We good?”

“Yeah, let’s do it,” Olivia said, standing up and grabbing her jacket. “But Ethan’s buying the first round of smoothies, since he’s being such a pain.”

“Me?” Ethan said, pointing at himself, his eyes wide with fake innocence. “I’m an angel. You’re the one who almost body-slammed me in the doorway.”

I stood up, grabbing my phone from the coffee table. “Come on, you two, let’s go before Mom has to break up a fight.”

They both laughed, and for a moment, everything felt normal. Just me, my best friends, and a Saturday with nothing to do but hang out. But as we headed for the door, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the dreams were following me, lingering like a shadow I couldn’t outrun.

We walked down the familiar street to the mall and went inside, squeezing past people who were doing weekend shopping. The place was packed, with families pushing carts and groups of teenagers laughing too loud. Olivia and Ethan were in their element, darting from store to store, picking up clothes and random trinkets they thought were cool. Olivia held up a pair of earrings, dangling them in front of me with a grin, while Ethan was busy debating between two graphic T-shirts, one with a band logo and another with some cheesy joke. I tried to get into it, browsing through racks of sweaters and jeans, but nothing caught my eye. My mind kept wandering, and I couldn’t seem to find anything to my taste. Before I knew it, I’d lost interest in shopping altogether.

“Hey, Bel, your birthday’s coming up in three days, right?” Olivia said, her voice cutting through my thoughts. She was holding a bright blue scarf, wrapping it around her neck like she was modeling it. “Why not turn this into birthday shopping?” She squealed, her eyes lighting up with excitement.

I nodded absentmindedly, forcing a small smile. “Yeah, sure,” I said, but my heart wasn’t in it. I was being moody and spacing out today, and I really hoped they didn’t notice. The dream from this morning was still clinging to me—the curling smoke, those glowing silver eyes, the scream that made my chest tighten. It was like I was still half in that dark pit, running for my life. I didn’t want to drag Olivia and Ethan into my weird headspace, so I just followed them through the stores, pretending to care about the stuff they were picking out.

We must’ve been in the mall for a couple of hours, because my feet were starting to ache, and the bags in my hands felt heavier than they should. I’d ended up grabbing a pair of socks and a cheap bracelet just to have something to show for it, but I wasn’t thrilled about them. Olivia, on the other hand, had a bag full of clothes and accessories, and Ethan had settled on the band T-shirt and a new phone case. We were finally at the checkout, paying for our stuff, and I was relieved when we headed for the exit. I tried to stay awake for the rest of the time as we walked toward our favorite smoothie corner, the one we’d been going to since we were kids. The thought of a cold strawberry-banana smoothie usually cheered me up, but today, I wasn’t sure it would be enough to pull me out of my funk.