Chapter 6

I bolted straight up in bed. I was completely tangled blankets and was drenched with sweat. I took deep breaths, trying to calm myself but I only managed to make myself hyperventilate. “I tried to wake you up,” Sierra said startling me with her presence and making me jump. “Did I wake you up?” I asked, feeling like the worst roommate ever.

“To be honest, I doubt there’s anyone who you didn’t wake up within a mile from here,” She said turning on a lamp so we could see better.

“Was I that bad?” I asked as I started to untangle myself from my mess of blankets.

“ Let’s just you would win the part of horror movie scream girl, hands down,” She said trying to lighten my mood, but not getting very far. I couldn’t even bring myself to smile, I was still too stunned from my crazy dream to respond how I normally would. “Probably not the first time you’ve heard that before though, right?” She asked snapping me back to reality.

“Yeah it’s definitely not, say what time is it?” I asked desperate not to go back to sleep, no matter what the time was.

“About 5:00, but if you want company I can stay up with you,” She said climbing onto my bunk, as if to prove her point. “ Whoa! That’s one nasty cut you have there!” She said then pointed to my chest, then moving her finger in the air down my arm as if the trace the cut in the air. I followed her gaze down to my right arm where a long, deep, red cut was present. I heard Sierra gasp as she too just realized that it was still fresh and gushing blood. “God! How did that happen? Is that fresh? Do you need to see the nurse?” She asked talking so fast her words were jumbled together.

“I don’t know how it happened, yes to it being fresh, no to having to see the nurse.” I replied having already spent an hour earlier in the day in the infirmary I wasn’t looking forward to spending another.

“Are you sure? It looks pretty deep. What if you need stitches?” She asked observing how far the cut went into skin, which was a fairly great amount.

“No, I’m fine really I’m-,” I started but I was cut off by a loud click and our door swinging open. Ms. Kelly stood in the doorway dressed in her nightgown and looking slightly disheveled. In her right hand she held a key and in the other she clutched a cell phone. Her fingers were resting on the phones key pad, ready to dial at any sign of danger. She silently put the key back into her pocket then produced a flashlight from her pocket to replace it. She clicked it on and a bright light flashed Sierra and I in the face, then it clicked off. She walked over and flicked our light switch so our room came to life.

I took a moment to examine my arm in the light. Sierra was right, I would definitely need stitches. But I wasn’t concerned about that, I was concerned why I had a mark on my arm in reality when I got cut in a dream. I heard Ms. Kelly gasp and I looked up to see her frightened eyes bulging as she saw my arm. “Oh My! Summer, why don’t you let me help you climb down and then we need to get you to the nurse,” She said grabbing my good arm and helping me down from my bunk.

Ms. Kelly didn’t let go of me until I was lying down, safely on the nurses bed. She kept the frightened look on her face the whole time the nurse ran tests. She only left the room once, to call my parents. When my parents arrived things began to get out of control. My dad demanded to know who did it, and my mother wanted to know why they did it. When I didn’t answer either of them my parents panicking began to turn quick to anger, and they ended up leaving me alone awhile so they could cool down.