One Day at a Time

It had been nearly four months and Erik and my relationship has been going pretty steady. He was really sweet all the time and always sending flowers to my apartment. It seemed like he was being a little clingy, but I kind of liked it.

It was a Friday, while I was in class, when I got a text message from Jenn saying; “Girls night tonite. I know you want in. Let me know =]” I smiled and replied that I would call her after class. By the time I got out of classing, I was rushing to my car to drive back to my apartment to finish up a few things for homework and call Jenn.

“Alexa, hey!” Jenn exclaimed over the phone when I called her. “Well?”

“Well what?” I asked, even though I knew what she was trying to ask me.

“What do you mean ‘well what’? You game for a girl’s night out tonight?” She asked and waited for my answer, hoping it would be a yes.

“Um, yeah I guess so. I have nothing better to do.”

“Awesome. I’ll be over in about an hour. See you soon,” She hung up before I could say anything else.

I threw my phone onto the table and rubbed my temples. A girl’s night out. I sat there, thinking why I agreed to it in the first place. Erik was out of town for the weekend anyway, so I might as well do something with my Friday night. My first thoughts on a girl’s night out was that there would be excessive drinking and I would be the designated driver. I’m only 20, but Jenn was 21 and drinking was legal for her, obviously. This should be interesting.

The hour passed by faster than I imagined it would and I was still working on a paper for my English class when I heard a knock at the door, followed by the creaking sound of it opening and closing. Jenn was carrying a small version of the Nike bag I remember when she got me all dolled up for my first date with Erik.

“Oh no,” I looked at the bag, worried. “The Nike bag is back.”

“No, not true,” She set the bag down next to her as she sat in the chair across from me. “This bag is smaller.” I rolled my eyes.

“And yet, you probably still managed to fit half of what you own in there,” I stared at her with arched eyebrows.

“Not true either! Maybe only a quarter of what I own,” She corrected me.

“Yeah, okay. So, what’s the plane for tonight? Anyone else coming with us?”

“No, just us. I figured you could use a night out with your best friend while the boyfriend is away.”

“Good point,” I pointed to her.

“And don’t be fooled,” She opened the Nike bag and searched for something. “I brought movies to watch. It’s only 5:30 and there’s absolutely nothing to do until probably 11.”

I looked through the pile of movies she made on the table in front of me. Nothing that wasn’t obvious; mostly chick flicks. Not that I mind, but I wasn’t even in the mood for a movie. And of course she would put a movie on, regardless of what I thought.

Jenn closed her eyes and held her hand out to pick a random movie. I sunk into myself when I saw she picked up How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Okay, don’t get me wrong here; I love Matthew McConaughey and all, but it’s a chick flick. Ugh.

“Come on,” Jenn grabbed my arm and walked me over to the couch. She popped the movie into the DVD player and ran back to her bag to pull out a bag of popcorn.

I leaned back on the couch, wishing I would’ve told her to come later on in the day. A few minutes passed and she was back in the living room with a bowl of freshly popped popcorn and two cans of soda.

“I love this movie!” Jenn exclaimed as she sat down next to me. She looked over at me and tilted her head. “Not in the mood for a movie today, huh?”

“Not really,” I replied.

“What’s wrong?” She asked and cracked open her can of soda.

“It’s nothing, really. I’m just kind of tired, I guess,” I rubbed my eyes. “I could barely stay awake in class today. I have a theory that college starts to kill students off during junior year. I’m drained.”

“Just go sleep it off then,” Jenn suggested.

“You’re sure?” I asked. She didn’t often let me get out of watching a movie with her.

“Yeah. I mean, I’m a junior, too,” She stated. “But, I didn’t have any classes today, so I’m well rested. Go sleep; now.” She pointed to my bedroom.

“Thank you,” I got up slowly from the couch and walked into my room and plopped down on the bed. After pulling the covers up over myself, I immediately fell asleep.

While I slept, I had the strangest dream. But it was more scary then strange.

“Erik, you’re back early. How was your trip?” I asked as Erik came through the front door. He dropped his bags next the couch and walked over to me.

“Did I say you could speak?” He looked at me angrily. I was standing next to the island in the kitchen and grabbed a soda from the fridge.

“Um, no,” I answered softly.

In the next moment, there was glass breaking and I was lying on the floor with blood running from my head. I couldn’t move. I felt a sharp pain in my side as he proceeded to kick me few times. My eyes fought to stay open, but I couldn’t force them anymore.

I woke up later and it was dark. When I tried to move, I still couldn’t. I rolled my head back and forth trying to figure out where I was, but it was pitch black. When I was finally able to move my arms, I raised them and they were interrupted by something hard above me; something like a wall. I pushed my arms out to the sides and was stopped, again, by something like a wall. And at the top, where my head was, the same thing. My eyes filled with tears and I screamed, banging on the wall above me. No one could hear me.

I shook violently out of my dream, nearly kicking Jenn off the bed. She grabbed my arms and pinned them to the bed. My eyes opened suddenly and I stopped fighting against her.

“Alexa?” She ran her hand over my forehead. “Alexa, are you okay?”

My eyes blinked frantically and then rested on hers, which were wide in confusion.

“What happened?” I breathed in deeply.

“You tell me,” She let go of my arm. “One minute you’re sound asleep and the next you’re screaming your head off.”

The dream was so real. I felt the back of my head and breathed a sigh of relief when there was no blood.

“Sorry, I’m fine,” I assured her.

“You’re sure?” She asked.

“Yeah. It was just a bad dream.”

She patted my hand and walked back out into the living room. My heart was racing. I covered my face with my hands, thinking about how vivid it was and how real it felt; and the fact that it was Erik scared me to death.