Day One

Day One with Lessy and others

 

Chap 1: Day One

               

Waking up that morning, I tried to convince myself that it really was just a dream but I could already tell that something was off. My head snap up as I hear a knock on my bedroom door.

“Alessandra, we have visitors. Come down quickly”, my mom announces from the other side of the door.           

I reply, puzzled, “Who is it Mom? I’ve got school.” I plop my head back down on the bed, not wanting to get up after the long night before.

She says, “I know hunny, it’s the new family from down the street. There are two kids your age, maybe you could take them to school with you, make some friends. I know you don’t have many so I just thought…”

I respond sharply, “I know what you thought mom…I’ll be down in a minute.”

I slide out of bed, grimacing as I feel the sting of my gashed hand. Shuffling to my closet I pull out my normal outfit, faded blue jeans and a black tee-shirt. Pulling on my clothes, I try hard not to let my mind wander back to the woods and the place I was last night. I trot to my bathroom, knowing that if I don’t hurry, mom will be yelling for me. I brush my teeth and run my fingers through my curly hair, knowing it won’t make much of a difference, not even bothering to look on the mirror.

I bounce down the stairs, not wanting to hear that shrill voice calling for me. As I turn the corner at the bottom of the stairs, I open my mouth to tell my mom I’m down and I catch the sight of the most beautiful blue eyes, and I immediately lose my voice.

I faintly hear my mother say, “Here she is. Alessandra, this is Caroline” and I finally notice the female standing with the one with those captivating eyes. She is beautiful with perfect blond hair and a flawless face but nothing like those blue eyes. “And this is Damien,” and my attention is turned back to the blue-eyed boy but this time I try to take in the rest of him. The perfect brown hair, the face seemly made of marble and the body only a god could have created. I shake myself free from the trace that I feel I’m in, just quickly enough to see him looking at me strangely and Caroline glaring at me.

“It’s Lessy, actually,” I manage to say, trying to regain my composure. Clearing my throat, I manage to get out, “Would you guys like a ride to school?”

Damien immediately pulls back and almost shrieks, “NO!” At the same time, Caroline replies, “Sure, wouldn’t that be nice.”

Damien looks at her angrily, then shrugs, “Sure, why not.”

I nod blankly and grab my backpack and start walking towards the door. I notice Caroline grab Damien’s arm and more or less, pull him after me. I unlock the car and wait for the other two to get in the car. I’m surprised when they both climb in the back seat. I shake my head and slide into the car, feeling like a private driver. The entire drive to school, Caroline seems to make sure she stays in the sight of the rearview mirror, pawing over Damien, never taking her hands off of him and whispering in his ear and every now and then I’ll catch her glancing in the mirror to look at me. It’s not until we pull into the school parking lot that Damien seems to catch onto what Caroline is doing. He looks embarrassed but not really upset. When I finally stop the car, I climb out quickly and slam my door and turn to wait on them to get out. Once they are both standing next to car, I lock the doors and walk away angrily.

Knowing that I’m going to be cutting it close getting to my first class, I jog and just barely make it to the door before the teacher closes it. I slide into my seat, which is just where I like it, in the back with no one next to me. My head is down, rifling through my backpack, when he walks in the door. I don’t notice him until my eyes lock with those bright blue eyes again. I look away quickly, not wanting to get stuck in those eyes again. I watch as he talks with the teacher and see him flash with frustration when he learns that the only available seats are the ones next to me.

I hear him say quietly, “Isn’t there somewhere else, or could someone move and let me have their seat. I just don’t want to sit there.” All around me I hear people snicker. I lower my head as my face turns red. From the front, I hear his voice again, “No I guess that fine. I’ll deal with it.” I refuse to look up as, frustrated; he storms to the desk next to me and sits down. He doesn’t say a word to me for the entire hour; he just sits and stares straight ahead. I glance over every so often and once I think I catch him staring at me but when I look again, he’s looking ahead again. As soon as the bell rings, I jump up and rush off to my next class.

It should not have surprised me that as soon as I sat down and got slightly comfortable, to see him walk through that door again. I throw my head down into my hands and try not to cry. Once again, Damien is told that the only desk open is the one next to me. He looks at me angrily and I try to figure out exactly what I have done wrong in the two hours that he’s known me. As soon as he sits down, the air around me grows cold, almost freezing. Knowing that I won’t be able to make it through the next hour with him just sitting there acting as I don’t exist, I stand up and tell Ms. Feeble that I’m not feeling well and want to go to the nurse. I grab my bag quickly and try not to run out of the room. Once outside of the room, the air feels warm and I can breathe freely.

With nothing to do for the next hour, I walk outside and sit down at the ground in front of the large tree at the front of the school. It was a warm day for once and wanting to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin, I lean back against the tree and stretch out, closing my eyes and basking in the warmth of the sun. I worry about falling asleep and dreaming again, so I let my mind wander to keep itself busy, but only letting it brush the edges of the night before, every now and then seeing those green eyes again. I’ve been there for about twenty minutes, when the feeling creeps up on me and my skin crawls and I can’t shake the feeling that there are eyes on me. I open my eyes, bringing myself back to the real world expecting to see someone there. I look up to see Andrew, a really good friend, who has always wanted to be more, staring at me like the usually does. Andrew is very boyish in his looks, having never lost his baby face and his bush of curly hair doesn’t help the situation any.

“Hey Andrew,” I reach my hand up to let him help me stand. Andrew helps me stand and doesn’t let my hand go fast enough for comfort.

“Hey Lessy, so what’s up with the new kids,” he says icily and I realize he must have seen me drive them in to school

“Oh nothing, my mom thinks I need them as friends,” I chuckle and shake my head, “You know my mom.”

He smiles, looking relieved, “The girl is pretty. I’ve never seen a face like that.”

I shrug, “I guess. You should go for it, you never know, she may like nerdy math whizzes, but I doubt it.” I push him playfully and he glances at me nervously.

Looking at him puzzled, “What is it?”

He replies, “I don’t know, you just seem a little off, not like yourself. Is everything ok?”

I smile at him, “Yes Andrew, everything is fine. I just don’t like being woken to strangers and a lecture on how I don’t have enough friends.” I’m hesitant about telling him about Damien. Andrew has a jealous streak and gets anxious whenever I talk about another guy. I know I need to talk to him about that, but can never find the time. It seems too harsh to tell someone who has been a part of my life since I came here and has always been there for me, that he needs to back off. I smile slightly, hoping that maybe the new girl, Caroline, will change things. I’ve always had a theory that once he found someone that he liked better, things would change and maybe this will be the chance for that. I don’t want to lose such a good friend but it gets overbearing sometimes.     

Looking at him, I say slowly, “Her name is Caroline and yes, she’s very pretty.”    

Looking up, as if contemplating, He asks, “Are they together, do you think?”

The sight of Caroline grabbing Damien’s arm, the way she hung all over him in the car made it seem like she was trying to make a point, and maybe it was her way of letting me know that they were together. But then I remember his angry reaction when he finally realized what she was doing, but was it because it was fake or had she simply embarrassed him.

“I honestly don’t know. I couldn’t get a good read on that this morning,” was my reply as we walk back into the building and head towards the cafeteria. Walking in, I find my eyes involuntarily searching for those scorching blue eyes. Once I find them, I immediately look away and continue on following Andrew through the room. We walk through the line and I numbly place food on my tray, not really paying attention to what I’m picking. Once we’re finished, we sit down with the one other person that I enjoy spending time with, Sara. She’s one of the sweetest people I know and like me; she is very much a loner so I never have to worry about her getting too close.

I look down at my tray and realize I’m not hungry. I push the food around, needing something to do with my hands and trying to force my eyes not to go searching for him again. I hear my friends talking but I don’t take anything in, and I’m at least grateful for the fact that for me, that’s not unusual. They have gotten used to my moods by now. I look up and see them close together and talking about the coming weekend. I smile at them and the ease they show with each other and wish that I could have that ease and comfort with someone. I start wondering if it would really be so bad to try to get really close to someone. I let that thought take over my mind until I hear the bell for the next class ring. I smile at my friends, waving goodbye to Sara and tell Andrew that I’ll see him later in the one class that we have together.

Navigating through the hallways to my next class I start thinking about the rest of my day and the other classes that I have to go through.

English – that’s always a busy class, so even if he is there, I shouldn’t have time to pay too much attention to it.

Math – the problem there is that my mind wanders in that class as it is, well, I’ll just have to take it as it comes.

Culinary – I am lucky enough to go to a school that offers this class and it’s my favorite so I now I’ll be ok even if he is there.

I’m just praying that I make it through the day without seeing those eyes again.

No such luck. As soon as I walk into my English class, I see him already sitting there, in the empty desk next to mine. For the first time since I started this school, I wish that I was sitting next to people, surrounded by them actually. I take a deep breath and make my way to my desk, knowing that I can’t completely avoid all of my classes just because he’s in them. I do feel a little resentful that he’s ruining my day. Deciding that I’m not going to let him completely take over my classes, I saunter to my desk and slide in. I smile at him, hoping that my new found confidence will last. As class begins, what I dread most happens, the teacher, Ms. Fallen says, “Today we’re going to do things a little differently. I want each of you to partner with the person next to you and discuss the story that we’ve been reading. And I want some good discussions out of you guys, not just the typical talk that we have in here.” I hear to scrape of chairs on the floor as people turn and begin to talk. I reluctantly turn my chair to face Damien to find that he’s already turned and staring at me. I hear Ms. Fallan come up to our desks and ask, “Damien, I’m hoping that you’ve read the book that we’re doing this week. We’ve begun on Dracula. Have you read it?”

He replies sweetly and responds, “I’ve read it before.” A slight smile comes to his face as if sharing an inside joke and he returns his gaze to me.

Fallen responds, “Good, then you and Alessandra should have a good conversation today.” She smiles and walks away to check on the other students.  

I swallow hard, realizing that there is no one close to us. “So what did you think of the book?”

He smiles at me and responds thoughtfully, “I found it intriguing, the ideas and the myths that have been created over time about vampires. Some of the ideas are quite funny.”

I look at him confused, “Funny? How did you think anything in that book was funny? I found most of it terrifying, not intriguing.”

He begins to speak and then thinks better of it and shakes his head, “Terrifying, hmmm. What do you think of the relationship between Dracula and the women in the book?”

I rely, a little startled by the question, “I thought it was interesting that he had such a draw for them, that he could control them so completely. The power he had over them...” I shutter, unable to finish.

He looks at me interested, “What? Does that kind of power and control scare you?”

“Of course, someone having complete control over you, being so captivated by someone that you would do anything for them. Doesn’t that idea unnerve you a little?” I reply.

He shrugs, “No not really. I don’t really think someone would be able to control me that way. Now you on the other hand could be controlled quite easily for the right person.”

I smile jokingly, “Really? You think so?”

A smile traces across his face, “Yes I do. See?” He stares into my eyes and reaches his hand up to gently stroke my face.

I’m captured in his eyes and feel like I can’t move, don’t want to move, that would mean I wouldn’t be looking at those eyes.

He’s pulls his hand back and looks away. “See? Way too easy.” I’m still speechless and he gets up and just walks out of the room. I shake myself from my stupor and resituate myself at my desk, thinking to myself that I’m going to have to be much more careful around him. I sit patiently waiting for the class to end and watching all the other pairs discuss the book and replaying the conversation over and over in my head. I jump in surprise when the bell rings and get up quickly to walk to my next class.

Luck is finally on my side and I am free from him in my next class and it’s the one class I have with Andrew. I slide into my seat next to him and he immediately asks, “So how’s your day going?”

I reply quietly, “It’s been a long day, Andrew.”

He smiles hopefully, “Really? I was going to see if you wanted to hang out after school and unwind some. Maybe we could go to my house and watch a movie or something.”

I hang my head, not wanting to have this conversation right now, but knowing that it needs to happen, “I don’t think that would be a good idea. I’m just going to go home and relax there, try to clear my head.”

He barely looks discouraged as he says, “Okay, maybe another day when you’re feeling better.”

I drop my head in my hands and can’t believe this is happening right now. The bell rings and I raise my head as the teacher walks in. The teacher, always dependable, assigns us pages of problems to work on in class, this is why my mind wanders, pages and pages of numbers just aren’t enough to keep my mind occupied. I make it through that class doodling on my notebook and managing to make it through some problems. I’m surprisingly excited as I wait for the bell to ring. I love my culinary class, I can really let myself go and have some fun. I watch the clock and jump up as soon as it rings. I almost run to my next class and shrug off my jacket as soon as I walk in, trading it for the normal stark white apron, I tend to get really messy when I cook.

I move to my station which is clean as always and wait for the instruction to give her directions for the day.

“Today we’re going to be making Seasoned Chicken Cutlets and potatoes, everyone’s basic instructions are on their station but today I want you to take the basic recipe and make it your own.”

These are the days that I truly enjoy. I like being given to freedom to just cook, to take the basic idea and do what I want with it. Once she stops talking, I turn to my station and begin cooking. I get lost in the sounds and the motions of cooking and for the first time all day, my mind doesn’t wander from what I’m doing in the moment. For the next hour, I am lost in my contentment and when it’s over, I have a finished plate sitting on my station. The teach comes over and inspects it. As usual, she smiles and says, “That’s a beautiful plate. You have a true talent for this Lessy.” She takes a bite of my chicken and closes her eyes blissfully and says, “That may be one of the best pieces of chicken I’ve ever had.” I smile, happy at the reaction that I’ve gotten. As she walks through the rest of the class, I look around the rest of the class and for first time I notice that Damien is not in it. When the teacher says, “Class dismissed. Have a good afternoon,” I rush out, glad that this part of the day is over but dreading the rest of it.        

Walking out of the school, I walk somewhat mechanically to my car, not really paying attention so when I hear someone say my name I am startled. I look up and realize that I’m at my car and the person who called my name was standing there and staring at me with those blue eyes.

I look at Damien and say slightly sharply, “Yes?”

He looks at me slightly surprised by my tone, “I wanted to apologize for Caroline this morning. She can be a little overbearing and it was wrong of her when you were being nice enough to bring us along with you.”

I tilt my head to him in confusion, “You didn’t really seem to mind it this morning.”

I open the door to my car and toss my backpack in and lean back up and look at him, noticing the slight flaws in his face for the first time, a small scar on his forehead and the imperfect shape of his jaw. He smiles seeing me evaluate his face

He says, “Yes well, I wasn’t very happy with her once I realized how she was acting. I was actually rather captivated by you.”

I look at him, taken by surprise, “Oh?”

He smiles his dazzling smile and replies, “Yes, you’re very pretty, you know, and very interesting.”

I ask questioningly, “Then why have you been ignoring me for most of the day, you only spoke to me once?”

He smiles sheepishly and answers, “I wasn’t sure of your thoughts or reaction to this morning and I honestly didn’t know how to approach you after that. After we talked in English, I felt like I needed to apologize for our behavior this morning.”

I smile, “Well, apology accepted.” I start to open my car door and he’s suddenly by my side. I jump slightly as I realize how close he’s gotten; he takes the car door from my hand and holds it for me.

“Thank you,” I say shakily.

“My pleasure. Could I ask you a somewhat personal question?” he asks cautiously.

“Sure. Ask away.” I reply and look up at him, waiting.

“The guy that you were walking with earlier, are the two of you together?”

I’m startled by the question and it shows, “Andrew?” I ask skeptically and continue, “No, he’s just a good friend. What about you and Caroline?”

He replies, “Our relationship is…complicated. She is like a sister to me, but she has always wanted more. I’ve never felt that way about her. She’s very important to me so I don’t like to hurt her feelings but I didn’t like the show that she tried to put on for your benefit.”

I nod, climb into the car and reach to take the door from him. As I start the car, I watch him walk away with a self-satisfied smile on his face. I shake my head and start the drive home, dreading the conversation my mother will want to have.

Just as knew she would, as soon as mom heard the door open, she began with the questions. She spends hours asking questions about every detail of my day, picking it apart. Of course, she focuses on Damien and Andrew. She has a theory that if I have a man in my life, things would fall in to place and I would go back to being how I was before my father dies. This is a theory that she tries repeatedly to test, with every guy I ever talk about, trying to talk me into inviting a guy over or going to a movie with him. I immediately get the feeling that she’s focusing on Damien and trying to plan ways to him around me. She tries to pry every detail about every word he said to me throughout the day.

After the first hour of interrogation, I shake my head and say, “Okay mom, that’s enough. I’m going to take a bath.” Not wanting to hurt her feelings I smile at her and say, “He is really good looking though, isn’t he.” That brightens her face and I instantly regret it. I walk up the stairs to my room, sighing and enjoying the quiet walk. Once I’m in my room, I lay back on my bed, closing my eyes, trying to shake the day off of me. Laying there I kick my shoes off and feel my body start to loosen slightly. Wanting to continue the relation, I decide to do what I told my mom I was going to and take a bath. That decision made, I stand up and slide my jeans off. I raise my arms finally realizing how stiff my body is and peal my shirt off, piling it on top of my jeans and shoes. I walk to my desk to grab my shower bag and a shiver crawls along my body and I get the sudden feeling that there are eyes on me. Trying to shake the feeling, I walk to the bathroom. I fill up the bathtub with steaming hot water and the lilac scented bath salts that always seem to clear my head. I finish taking off my clothes and slide into the hot water, enjoying the steam and the fragrance as I lay my head back and close my eyes. I allow the day to replay through my mind as I relax and wonder what Damien’s smile as he walked away from my car was for.

The entire time I lay there, I can’t shake the feeling that I have eyes on me. I lay back further, sliding my head under the water, completely submerging everything but my nose and mouth. I lay there like that for a minute, allowing the water to surround my head and dull my senses. I open my eyes and gasp in shock and see a face above me, standing over me. I sit up out of the water, spitting out water and trying to breathe. I look around the room, seeing nothing there. I try to calm myself down and make myself take deep breathes. Not wanting to be in the water anymore, I stand up and wrap myself in a towel. I wrap another towel around my hair and walk to my bedroom, wondering if I’m starting to go crazy. I walk back to my room and stand in front of my window, looking out into the night trying desperately to figure myself out and everything that’s happening to me. I take a deep breath and stare at the moon.

From downstairs I hear my mother call, “Dinners ready Lessy.” I lean over and rustle the towel in my hair, trying to dry it some and then throw on my usual pajamas, a tank top and sweat pants. Once I’m decent and have calmed myself down some, I run down the stairs not wanting to keep my mom waiting. I find her sitting at the bar stools in the kitchen in front of two bowls of soup and plate of grilled cheese sandwiches. That was about as gourmet as my mother got. I sit down next to her and begin slowly eating, testing the heat of the soup and ask, “Have any plans for tonight?”

She smiles and says, “Yes actually I thought that I would go to this new karaoke bar in town.”

I smile at her, glad she’s going out, “That’s sounds like fun.” I continue eating, finally realizing how hungry I am and remembering that I didn’t eat lunch today.

Mom looks at me softly and asks, “What about you, any plans?”

I look back at her and answer, “Lots of homework and the maybe some sleep.” I smile at her to let her know I’m ok with not having any plans but it doesn’t make her feel any better about leaving me.

I hear her say, “I can stay home if you want me to.” She looks at me questioningly.

I say, quicker than necessary, “No mom, it’s ok. I want you to go. I’ll be fine here, really.” I smile at her and finish my soup. I kiss her on the cheek and head into the living room, grabbing my book bag on the way. I settle down on the floor in front of the coffee table, turn the TV on to some mindless show and pull out my English book, thinking that it will be able to keep my mind focused. About fifteen minutes later, I hear my mother call that she’s leaving. I tell her goodbye and to have a good night. Once she’s gone I return to my homework but my grammar work just isn’t occupying my mind the way it normally does so I put my book back into bag and decided to numb my mind with TV, which is something that I normally don’t do.

Turning the channels, I try to find something that will keep my attention and am surprised when I run across the movie version of the book that we’re reading in English, Dracula. I curl up on couch and get engrossed in the movie. About halfway through, I get the same feeling that I had in my bedroom, that there are eyes on me. Curling up tighter on the couch, I pull the blanket that is always there over me, trying the warm the cold chills that have covered my body. I lay my head back and try to concentrate on the movie but not quite able to shake the creepy feeling that has cove over me. I watch as Dracula takes control of Mina and my mind wanders back to conversation I had with Damien, particularly the part about control. I smile remembering too, the conversation at the end of the day and wondering whether tomorrow would be a day he would ignore me or would talk to me.

The warmth of the blanket begins to take its effect and I find that I am fighting to keep my eyelids open. I fight the sleep, scared of what I would see in my dreams. I manage to stay awake through the rest of the movie and then my eyes win the battle and I lay back on the couch, letting sleep overtake me.

It’s the same place as last night, that dead and desolate place. I begin to walk around, exploring the area around me, having not had the chance to the night before. I realize that this must be deeper in the woods than I remember but still in the same woods. As I walk deeper into the woods, the forest gets colder and darker. I’ve gone about a quarter of a mile when I hear a deep angry growl. My feet immediately stop working and I freeze, knowing instantly it’s the same creature from last night. My head sweeps the area around me, trying to find out where the growl is coming from but not seeing anything. I try to slowly move my feet but they are still frozen in place. I hear feet start from but the sound is coming from all around me and I can’t pinpoint where it’s coming from so I don’t know what direction to run in. I close my eyes and try to concentrate and when I focus on the sound I realize that it’s coming from my left. I force myself to move and then I’m moving faster than I thought I could. My feet are pounding beneath and the sound of my breathing fills my head

I pay more attention to what I’m doing this time and run deeper into the woods. I hear the loud growl again and it seems to fill the air all around me. It occurs to me that I’ll never be able to outrun whatever it is. I remember last night and I woke up then, by my head slamming down on the ground. I don’t really want to recreate that event so I try to think of something else that will free me from this nightmare.

I hear the voice echoing all around me…”You are mine.”

And then I am suddenly back on my couch, safe under the blanket. I have to convince myself that I have nothing here to run from. I take a deep breath and lay my head back on the couch. A few minutes later, I get up off the couch and turn off the TV. I walk into the kitchen and get a glass of water and trek up the stairs to my bedroom. I lie down in my bed and try to fall asleep. I spend the rest of the night in and out of a restless sleep, slightly uncomfortable and uneasy for a reason I cannot pinpoint.