Redheads are Soulless (14 page)

He laughed. “No. It takes a lot more than a car crash… She was giving us a warning.”

If a car crash was her idea of a
warning
, I
’d
hate to see what happens when she’s really ready to kill me.

We drove home in silence
with
my heart still racing. There was no doubt in my mind that this was just the beginning of what Adrianne has in store for me.

Fifteen

Teach me to dance

Since the “almost ac
cident
”
,
I have felt disconnected from the world… I feel like I’m
asleep
and
nothing can wake me from this
nightmare
that I now call
life
.
Everywhere I go, Adrianne is always there – always staring at me with her ice-colored eyes.
I feel as though I can’t escape her.

I can no longer control my emotions. It seems every day at school I accidently shatter a light bulb, I move desks, and sometimes I even shatter glass windows and doors.

Yest
erday, Todd was bothering me whi
le Jason and Robbie were busy arguing with each other. He made me mad, and I don’t know how, but I moved him 10 feet away from me… He’s a 250 pound quarterback… Though, the look on his face was pretty priceless. I rather enjoyed seeing him scared.
I have
a feeling he
wo
n’t be bothering me again.

Though moving a 250 pound quarterback seems like nothing after I moved the SUV. I guess when I’m in a desperate situation
,
my telekinesis powers work better
somehow.

I hadn’t slept much lately, so I found myself dragging to each class.

“Are you ok?” Robbie asked.

With my eyes half open, I nodded
yes
.

The truth is I wanted nothing more than to
lie
down in the middle of the school hallway and fall asleep. I hadn’t slept more than a total of 5 hours the past 3 nights. It was starting to wear me down.
Even with the NOS
energy drink in my system, I was dead on my feet.

At lunch, I laid
my head down on the table and slept the whole lunch period
… As always, my dreams were full of nightmares. Nightmares of the night my dad died... And the worst, dreams of Adrianne’s ice colored eyes.

After my nap, I didn’t feel any
more refreshed. In fact
,
I felt more tired than ever. Robbie and Jason pretty much had to drag me to my next class.

History – I see that it’s important to know the history of the world, but it
is
boring. Couldn’t they make it more exciting? Maybe throw in a love story here and there? That would make it better.

My history teacher doesn’t make it any more interesting either. Mr. Malcolm’s voice is very monotone, and he
tries
to be funny… He’s not. And even if he was, I don’t think I could laugh after anything he said.
I wanted nothing more than to bang my head against my desk.

I put my elbow on my desk and let my hand hold up my heavy head. My eyelids were only half open, and I wiped my mouth every so often just to check for drool.

For one brief moment, I allowed my eyes to shut. When they did, I immediately saw Adrianne’s eyes staring back at me. I forced my eyes open. My heart sped up, but even the adrenalin
e
didn’t help.
I needed sleep desperately, but my wandering mind wouldn’t allow it.

Determined to keep my eyes open, I sat up straight. I didn’t need to relax.

Finally, I felt confident that I wouldn’t fall asleep.

I felt something wet drip on my head, so I looked up. It looked as if the ceiling was leaking right above my head.

Great,
I thought to myself. But maybe, it will help keep me awake.

The drip became more frequent as it went along. I looked up once more and suddenly it was like an ice cold waterfall pouring over me. I gasped loud, and then
suddenly,
I woke up.

There was no drip. There was no ice cold water. It was just a dream.

The whole class was looking at me,
and Mr. Malcolm gave me a stern
look, but kept going on with the lesson.

The rest of the day, I didn’t fall asleep in class, but I wasn’t really there eithe
r. F
inally, the bell rang and school was over.

Neither Robbie nor Jason said anything on the drive home, which I was thankful for. I was starting to develop a migraine. The
pain shooting between my eyes was
a reminder of that.

As so
on as we got in the house, I lay
down on the couch and breathed a sigh of relief to be home.
I tried to sleep, but every time I began to relax and close my eyes
,
I would have another nightmare.

“You are shaking,” Robbie put a blanket over me.

I looked up at him for a moment, but everything got blurry so I shut my eyes again.

“And your eyes are red.”

“Like yours?”
I asked groggily.

“No – I mean they’re bloodshot.”

“That’s because I haven’t slept much,” I waved him off. “I’m fine really.”

“You’re not fine, Sofie,” Jason jumped in the conversation. “You can’t sleep, you won’t eat, and you’re starting to have hallucinations.”

“Hallucinations,” I laughed. “I am seriously ok.”

From behind Jason, I saw a pair of icy blue eyes coming towards me. A small scream escaped my lips, but then just as quickly as they appeared, they disappeared.

“Point proven,” Jason smarted off. “You’ve
got
to sleep.”

Robbie walked back in the room, though I was unaware that he had even left. He handed me a bottle of water and 2 pills. “Take these,” he said handing them to me. “They’re sleeping pills.
” When I didn’t say anything, he added, “
They will help you sleep.”

I took them from him and hesitated for a moment. “What if they don’t help?”

“They will,” he promised.

I got up to go change into my pajamas, but then I realized I was already wearing sweat pants. “Was I wearing this all day?”

Robbie nodded.

“Wow, I am really out of it.” I lay my head against the back of the couch. “I’m just going to lay here for a little bit.” I didn’t want to get u
p.

I felt myself drift off to sleep. I waited for the nightmares. I waited for
her
cold eyes. But they never came. Just dreamless, peaceful sleep awaited me.

…

When I woke up, I was no longer on the couch. I didn’t open my eyes, but I knew exactly where I was – Robbie’s bed. I could smell his familiar cologne on the pillow.

I love his bed. It reminded me of fluffy marshmallow
s
, or clouds, it’s so soft. I wonde
r sometimes if this is what it would feel
like sleeping on a marshmallow, but of course it’s not sticky.
I pulled his black comforter around my face. I could literally
lie
here all day.

I finally forced myself to get up. The clock on the nightstand said
it was already 1p
m.
So much for school,
I think.

For a moment, I wonder why Robbie or Jason didn’t wake me…
But then I remember
that
it’s Robbie and Jason. Of course they didn’t wake me.

I made my way from the bedroom into the living room,
and I was shocked at what I saw
.

Robbie and Jason were sitting on the couch –
beside
each other. They each had an Xbox controller in their hand, and they weren’t fighting.
I decided to stand behind them quietly. It w
as nice to actually have peace.
I didn’t want to interrupt it.

Just then, my phone started ringing in my pocket. Both Jason and Robbie turned around to look at me.

It was my mom calling, so I answered. “Hello.”

She was crying on the other end,
and she was drunk – again
.
“Sofie,” she attempted to say, but her tongue was swollen so it was hard to understand.

“What’s wrong?”

“Steve kicked me out,” she cried
hysterically
from the other end.

I wasn’t at all surprised. Of course he kicked her out, they always do. Only this time, she d
id
n’t have a house to go back to. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m stayin’ at a motel now,” she said calming down a little.

“Ok, good. What about your job?”

“I quit,” she said before crying again.

I wanted to choke my mom, literally. I didn’t understand how she could be so utterly irresponsible and stupid.
Frustrated, I pulled at my hair.
“Go back to Bob and beg for him to give you your job back.”
Bob was my mom’s old boss. He was all the time giving my mom second chances that she didn’t deserve.

“You know what – you’re right. It’s time I got back on my feet.” I heard a thud and glass break. “Whoops,” she said laughing.

“Wait until you
’
r
e
sober
to call him
,”
I demanded her bitterly.

“I miss you, Sofie.”

“I miss you too, Mom, but you’ve got to change some things. I can’t take it anymore. It’s not my responsibility to take care of you,” I blinked and a few hot tears spilled down my face. “You’re supposed to take care of me.”

“I’m so sorry,” she began to sob even harder… I hated when my mom was a “weepy drunk”.

“I’ve got to go.” I didn’t wait for her to respond, I just hung up. Frustrated I pushed my hair out of my face and looked up. Both Jason and Robbie were still looking at me. “I don’t want to talk about it,” I simply said, and walked into the kitchen. After sleeping almost 24 hours, I was starving.

“Want me to cook for you?”
Robbie asked from behind me.

His voice startled me. I wasn’t expecting him to be there.
I jumped slightly. I turned back towards the fridge and stared. “I don’t know. I’m not sure what I want.”

“Well I can make anything your heart desires.” I didn’t have to look at him to know he was smiling.

I closed the fridge and turned around. “Anything?” I confirmed.

He nodded.

“I want
hot
,
fresh brownies with vanilla ice cream on top.”

“Can do – but you need something before you eat dessert.”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine. I want French fries.”

“Coming right up.”

20 minutes later, I was eating the most delicious fries I’ve ever eaten, and the brownies were in the oven.

“You really have to teach me how you cook like this,” I said dipping my fry in ketchup.

He laughed. “I’ve had
many years
of practice.”

“Is there anything you’re not good at?” I asked with my mouth full. Forget table manners, this food is awesome!

He thought for a few moments. “I can’t dance.”

“You… can’t dance?” I repeated.

H
e shook his head. “Nope – but honestly, I’ve never tried.”

“Why not?”

“I’ve never had a dancing partner to practice with.”

“I could teach you,” I said excitedly.

“Sofia Black can dance?”

I nodded. “Yes.
My dad taught me.
”

“Then teach me.
Tonight.
” His voice was very seductive, and made my heart beat erratically. I had to remind myself to breathe.

“I’d like that,” I tried to say evenly, but it came out all wrong. He just smiled and left me to eat my fries.

I tell myself that I hide my feelings well, but the truth is, I’m an open book when it comes to Robbie. I have to admit that I like him more than I’ve ever
liked
anybody, ever. I might even l
ove
…

No.

I’m not going to think that. Not yet anyway. First, I have to know that I
actually
have a future
to plan
before I start planning one with somebody.

After finishing my fries, Robbie, Jason, and I ate brownies with vanilla ice cream on top. Jason opted to put chocolate syrup on his, but I have always thought chocolate with
more
chocolate was just too much… too sweet.
If the saying
you are what you eat
is true, it fits Jason perfect. He
is
too sweet.

I wonder
ed if that was
why I liked Jason so much at first. I wasn’t used to somebody giving
me attention, and I liked it. He
was a friend when I had none. I will forever be grateful to him. He literally changed my life.