The Perfect Awakening

Chapter 1

I was in a dark room. I couldn’t see anything. Then, all of a sudden a spotlight hit me and I was bound to a chair. I couldn’t see past the little circle of light that surrounded me, but suddenly all I could see was his face. I cringed in disgust, and he leaned towards me, closer, closer…until poof! He was gone, but I could still hear his haunting voice.

“I’m coming for you, Avery.”

I woke up, my hair matted to my face with sweat. I pushed it back, off my forehead. Suddenly, my door bursts open, making me scream and throw something at the intruder. I hear more footsteps coming down the hall, making my breath catch in my throat in fear. I reach over and grab something off my bedside table, my alarm clock, and chuck it at the intruders head, making them fall to the ground with a loud thud.

“Avery! Avery, stop!” I heard the voice of my brother, Jeremy, yell from the floor. I stop reaching for another thing to throw and look down at my floor in confusion. My light turns on and I snap my head up to see my parents standing in my doorway, looking concerned. I sighed.

“Another nightmare, Ave?” My step-dad, John, asked.

“It felt…so real.” I said, looking down at my hands.

“He can’t hurt you anymore, sweetie.” My mom told me. I nodded.

“Well, we’ll let you get back to sleep. C’mon Jere.” John said as he led my mom out of my room.

“Sorry, Jere.” I mumbled as he walked out of my room. He closed the door behind him and I sighed. I had another nightmare about him.

The next morning, I woke up to the sunlight peeking into my open shades—wait, open?! I looked around my room worriedly. I had shut those last night. I ignored the nervous butterflies and went down stairs. I walked into the kitchen and my mom looked up at me from the breakfast bar, wearing her glasses reading the paper. She had her coffee in her hand.

“Avery! Go change!” She told me. I looked at her confused. “You remember my best friend, Mary, who I told you about?” I nodded my head. “Well, she’s going to be in town for a little while, with her three children, and I invited her and all my other girlfriends over and I don’t want them to think we’re slobs and dress bad.” She eyed my choice of pajamas—an oversized t-shirt with shorts—with distaste. I rolled my eyes.

“Okay, mom, I’ll go change.” I told her. I sighed loudly and made my way back upstairs. I passed Jeremy on my way up and he gave me a sympathetic smile. I always had to wear sundresses, whereas he got away with a nice button up shirt with the sleeves pushed up, jeans, and sneakers.

I went upstairs and slipped on a navy blue dress with pink flowers on it, and white sandals. I slipped on a cute bracelet and some earrings to match it. I looked at my bed head and sighed. I combed it out, straightened my bangs to the right side, and straightened the top of my hair near the roots. I curled the bottom of my long, brown hair in big curls. I messed up the straightened part and smiled, satisfied. It looked nice, but not too done.

I kept my make-up simple; mascara, eyeliner, blush. I swiped my lips with some natural colored lipstick, and a clear lip gloss. I went into my bathroom and brushed my teeth. I smiled at my reflection and went downstairs. My mom looked up at me proudly.

“You’d put princesses to shame, Avery.” She told me as I went over to the fridge. I pulled out the orange juice and poured myself a glass. I sat next to her at the breakfast bar and began reading the comics section of the paper.

After about twenty minutes, the doorbell rang. I heard John, my step-dad, answer it. “Hello ladies.” He said, and I just knew he was giving them a friendly smile. That’s what I loved about John. He was always so nice and friendly to everyone.

I heard them walking towards the kitchen, and I continued to read. I was taking a sip of my orange juice when I heard a slightly familiar voice behind me. “Like mother like daughter.”
I turned to see a woman of about my mom’s age, with dirty blonde hair. She was slim, but not too skinny. She wore a nice red dress, which contrasted with her electric blue eyes. I recognized her as Mary. She used to visit every summer when I was younger.

“Mary? It’s so good to see you!” My mom gushed as she gave her a hug. I heard Mary chuckle.

“It’s good to see you, too, Beth.” Mary said as she warmly smiled at my mom. Then, she turned her attention to me. “Oh, Avery, how you’ve grown!” She said before pulling me into a hug. She held me at arm’s length and examined what I was wearing. “Beautiful, as always.” She said with a smile.

I blushed. “Thank you.”

“How old are you now?” She asked, still smiling.

“She’s 16, about to turn 17.” My mom smiled.

“Same age as Blake.” Mary said. She and my mom shared a knowing look. It made me feel uncomfortable. That’s when I noticed a girl who looked to be a few years younger than me, standing in the doorway, looking uncomfortable.

“This must be Katherine!” My mom exclaimed, smiling.

“Oh yes, come over here dear.” Mary said, waving Katherine over.

“My, have you grown Katherine!” My mom said and engulfed her in a hug.

“Kat.” She corrected.

“Huh?” My mom asked, confused.

“I go by Kat, not Katherine.” I could help the giggle that slipped out of my mouth. My mom glared at me, making me shut up.

“Oh, I’m sorry Kat.” My mom smiled. She gestured towards me. “Do you remember Avery?”
Kat looked over and started studying my features very intently. “Oh! Yes, we used to throw mud at Blake together.”

I looked at her confused. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her, and who is Blake? My mom saw my confused expression and decided to explain.

“Kat is Mary’s daughter and Blake is Mary’s son, who is your age. She also has Devon who is a year older than Jeremy. The five of you used to always play together when you were younger.” My mom explained. I nodded. I still had no memory of this girl. Another knock was sounded on the door.

Again, John answered it. “Hey, guys!” John said, and again, I could just imagine his friendly smile.

Thinking it was Jeremy’s friends; I turned to the stairs and yelled, “Jeremy! The guys are here!”

I immediately heard his footsteps pounding down the stairs. He got to the bottom and looked at Mary and Kat with a confused face for a second before recognition was seen on his face.

“Mary!” He said happily and engulfed her in a hug. Mary laughed and hugged him back.

“Jeez, Jeremy, you’ve gotten huge.” I couldn’t help but crack up at that. I heard footsteps coming into the kitchen.

Jeremy then gave Kat a quick hug. “Hey gu—,” He stopped midsentence and I looked up to see why.

There, standing in the doorway wasn’t Oliver and Cooper, Jeremy’s best friends, but two boys with black hair. I looked confused for a second, and involuntarily took a step back. Everyone looked over at me when I did, including the two boys.

“Ah, I see you found the house with no problems, boys.” Mary told them with a teasing smile. The younger one was looking at me like he was intrigued. I was staring into his blue eyes, getting lost in them. I broke the eye contact when I realized I was staring. I looked down at my shoes, letting my hair fall in my face.

I looked up when Mary started talking again. “Avery, Jeremy, I don’t know if you remember, but this is Devon and Blake. Devon’s a year older than you, Jeremy, and Blake’s a few months older than you, Avery darling.” Mary looked at me and I nodded.
I looked back at the boys and Blake was still staring at me like I intrigued him. Devon, however was hugging my brother, but when he looked up at me he grinned widely. I couldn’t help the smile that etched its way onto my face.

“Damn, Avery. If I thought I had my hands full keeping boys away from you when we younger, than I sure have my hands full now.” He teased. I shook my head and giggled. He pulled me in for a tight hug, and I couldn’t help the flinch that happened when his arms wrapped around me. It was a natural reflex when I got touched. The only people who could touch me without me flinching were: my new best friend Lily, my best guy friend Aiden, Jeremy, my mom, and John.

Mary cleared her throat when she saw me flinch. “That’s enough, Devon.” She told him. He looked confused, but pulled away nonetheless. I felt kind of bad. She probably thought I didn’t like him.

“No, it was okay.” I told her. I didn’t want her to think that I didn’t like him.

“Oh no, sweetie, I know that. I just also know that you don’t like to be touched after the incident.” I froze when those words left her mouth. How did she know? I looked over at my mom, shock clearly written on my features.

“She’s my best friend, sweetie. I tell her everything, just like you tell Lily everything.” My mom told me sympathetically.

“That was personal.” I told her, my voice gone cold. She flinched at my tone, and it hardly fazed me. How dare she tell someone what happened to me without asking. I didn’t want anyone but the people I had to tell to know.

Everyone but Jeremy seemed to be shocked at the tone I used with her, but I didn’t care. She had no right to just give out my personal business like that. I went over to the bottom of the stairs and picked up my purse, slinging it over my shoulder. I took out my phone and texted Lily telling her I was coming over to her house.

“I’m going to hang out with Aiden and Lily.” I told my mom before walking to the front door. John gave me a sympathetic smile and I smiled back at him before going outside.

I got in my car, and blasted the music as I drove to Lily’s house, trying not to think about the incident.