Caught Up In You

December 25th, 2011
Sunday Morning
Location: Drew’s Room
7:22 AM

Ahead of me stood a giant forest, casting a great shadow over the grass. Birds chirped, flying over the trees as other animals stayed low to the ground. I don’t remember why I was here, or how I got here, but I ventured into the mystery that lay ahead.

I pushed past the trees until I was on an almost clear path. Aside from a couple of broken branches and leaves, the trail was clean. I didn’t know where I was going, but it was like my feet were moving for me. I took a deep breath, inhaling the sweet scent of the giant trees in front of me. The wind shook through the forest, making a hushed noise.

I took a couple of more quick steps until I found myself by a river. But I soon realized I wasn’t the only one there. Ahead of me, sitting on a log, was a shaggy, dark haired boy. He had a tall and muscular build, with a much defined jaw line. I had no recollection of who he was at first, but when he looked at me, I knew I had only seen those eyes on one other person. He motioned for me to sit next to him, and I froze. He started to chuckle as he pulled himself up to walk to me. When he was inches away from me, he wrapped his arms around my shaking body. Instantly, I felt comfortable with him. It was like I had known him my whole life.

But then again, maybe I had.

I began to pull away. However, his fingers crept up to my burning red cheeks and lured his lips to mine. It felt familiar, but so different all at once. I just couldn’t push away from him. He was like a magnet, alluring, but so hard to get away from.

We parted our lips instantaneously, getting the same bursting feeling throughout our bodies. He kissed me once more before stopping. I looked at him in curiosity, almost to ask why.

“Drew,” I heard someone say.

I looked at the boy again, now realizing it was no one other than Drake. He smirked at me before walking away, venturing deeper and deeper into the forest.

“Drew,” I heard again.

I watched as Drake’s figure disappeared in my vision. I stayed still, not knowing if I should have run after him or not.

“DREW!”

I popped out of bed, ruffling the sheets as I moved around. When my eyes were opened, I saw Rose looking at me. “Come on sleepy head, it’s time to get up,” she said, smiling. I rubbed my eyes with my fists and got out of bed, still having a confused expression on my face.

“What’s wrong?” Rose asked, obviously knowing something was not right. I shrugged, not really in the mood to tell her I was having uncomfortable dreams about Drake. Rose rolled her eyes at me and tightened her jaw.

“Drew, tell me. I’m your best friend. It can’t be all that terrible,” she said, almost sounding therapeutic. I sighed, obviously knowing she wouldn’t give up. I motioned for her to come close with her fingers, and waited for her to sit on the bed next to me.

“So?” She asked, getting impatient.

“I keep having these exceedingly unpleasant dreams about ….Drake and me,” I whispered. Her eyes narrowed, showing that she didn’t get my point. “I feel like I’m cheating on Pacey!” I exclaimed, getting a little louder.

“What’s going on in these… dreams of yours?” She asked, trying to get what I was telling her.

“In the first dream, we….well, we had sex,” I faltered, watching as her eyes widened. “My other dream only showed us kissing. But it was still awkward. I just feel like such a ….whore,” I cringed.

Rose rested her hand on my shoulder. “Drew, it’s only a dream. If you don’t have any feelings for Drake, then you’re absolutely fine, okay?” Her intense eyes met mine, sending me a mental message that everything would work out just fine. “Did I forget to mention it’s Christmas? Everyone’s downstairs! Let’s go!” Rose said, pulling me down the stairs to see Ethan, Drake, my mom, and my dad.

“It’s about time,” Ethan said, holding back a yawn.

“Oh shush. I need my beauty sleep,” I retorted, sitting down with Rose next to the giant fake tree.

“Okay kids, let’s just separate all the piles, and then you can open your presents one by one,” my mom stated. She was so organized, it drove me crazy.

Every year, my parents would have one child open one gift at a time. That way they could take pictures of everything. The tradition was to have the oldest kid open first, and then go down the line. So, as always, Ethan opened his gift first, revealing a new video game. I laughed and rested my hands on the ground. Ethan was obsessed with video games. He never had enough, apparently.

“Okay Drake, your turn,” my mom said. I had earlier snuck in a new pair of clothes for Drake because I took his other pair. I felt terrible about falling in his hot tub and ruining his sweatshirt and pants. Drake opened my gift to him and chuckled.

“Thank you Drew,” he said, gazing up at the camera so my parents could snap a picture of him. I went next, opening a lumpy box that exposed a brand new outfit.

I smiled at my parents, thanking them for the clothes. Rose opened a gift from Ethan, getting a cute shirt that said, ‘He’s mine’. We all took turns after that, spreading wrapping paper throughout the house. When we were done putting our gifts away and cleaning up the mess in the family room, everyone crowded into the dining room for Christmas breakfast.

“Drew, would you like to say grace?” My dad asked me as he entwined his hand with mine.

“Sure,” I mumbled.

“Dear Father, thank you for keeping us together on this great day. Thank you for blessing us with things we can’t even begin to enunciate. Thank you for giving us a day where we all can be together and enjoy one another’s presence. Happy birthday!
Amen,” I said, opening my eyes. My dad rolled his eyes at my short prayer, but sat down anyway.

My parents were extremely strict on Ethan and I. We grew up as a conservative Christian family, but I stopped going to church when I realized the pastor was turning ‘his’ people into a cult.

We all dished up, enjoying the jelly filled croissants and freshly made cheese omelets. It was strange to be with my family again, seeing everyone laughing and chatting. Drake glanced across the table at me and smiled. I blushed, still trying to push the dream out of my mind. I had no idea what was going on, but it needed to stop. Drake was just a friend. If not, he was my brother. It was impossible for me to think of him romantically. Of course he was sweet, but he didn’t compare to how I felt about Pacey. I was so excited to be able to see him within the week.

“Drew, can you help your mother clear the table?” My father asked me. I nodded sheepishly and took the empty plates to the sink. At this time, everyone was pretty much finished with their breakfast. They handed me their dirty dishes so I could put them in the sink to wash later. However, picking up my last dish, I turned around so quickly that I accidentally ran into my father and smashed the plate on the floor.

“Oh Gosh!” My mother screamed, rushing to grab a broom. My dad kicked the plate pieces away from his foot and glared at me.

“Drew, what is with you today?” He said, raising his voice.

“Dad, I didn’t mean to. It was an accident. I didn’t know you were going to be in my way!” I said, trying to not get into trouble. If it was even possible, my dad’s face reddened and his eyes narrowed at me.

“I was certainly not in the way. Maybe if you weren’t so clumsy we wouldn’t have to deal with this stuff,” he huffed.

“I can’t help that I’m uncoordinated dad! I got that from you,” I said.

“That’s it Drew, you’re grounded!” He yelled. “I’m so glad you’re going back to that stupid boarding school,” he mumbled under his breath.

My jaw dropped completely. I never really had a fantastic relationship with my dad. But the fact that he liked that I was several states away from him killed me. I was his daughter. He was supposed to love me. But I should have expected his overreaction. My father always found excuses to get me into trouble, and my mother was always too afraid to stand up to him. I shook my head at my dad, forcing tears back. Stomping out of the house, I heard as someone tried to catch up to me.

I didn’t know where to go, mostly because I didn’t have a car yet. I just started walking. I heard my front door close and footsteps catching up to me. I quickened my pace, not wanting to talk to anyone. But I was too late.

“Drew!” Drake hollered. I didn’t look back. I couldn’t handle someone seeing me with a red blotchy face and tears sprawled all over my cheeks.

Drake started to jog, and I soon felt his sweaty palm on my shoulder. I tried to resist, but he spun me around before I could run and hide. “Drew, it’s okay,” he said, not really knowing how to comfort me. I looked into his eyes, noticing that all they held were sympathy. I knew I could trust him, I was just scared.

“Your dad is just angry. I’ve known him since you were born. He probably is just mad about something at work. Come on, let’s take a walk,” he said, wiping my tears and putting his hand on my back, guiding me down the road.

I looked up and noticed white cottony snow balls falling from the sky. I sniffled softly when one landed on my nose. Drake chuckled. I used to love snow. I liked watching as it gently floated to the ground, almost like the flakes were dancing in the air. I enjoyed making snow angels and having snow ball fights with my brother and his friends. I loved the cold taste of it when I shoved my tongue in the flakes.

Drake and I walked for a couple of minutes in silence until we reached a bench. We didn’t say anything, but we both sat down at the same time. It was weird how well we knew each other. I rested my head on his shoulder, feeling as he relaxed under my touch.

“Drew?” He asked, his voice shaking a bit.

“Yeah?” I said.

“Do you remember when we were younger and everyone told us that we were one day going to get married?” He asked. I laughed at the thought, sitting with Drake under a tree and talking. Everyone teased us about it. They never let it die.

“Yeah, I do. Why?” I asked.

“I don’t know, I just think it’s funny that we’re close like we always have been. I’ve missed that,” he confessed. I smiled.

“Me too,” I said.

We shortly walked back, talking about all of our stupid memories of summer games and late nights. It really made me forget about everything and remember my childhood. Drake had been a huge part of it. He was the only person that could make me so happy. He just had a way of making my day a little bit brighter.

I hated admitting it, but honestly, I was beginning to miss those days where everything was simple. I didn’t want to like Drake, but he kept growing on me.

I knew it was dangerous.

But I was careless then.