Aspen and the Dream Walkers (5 page)

Her stepsister reached out and fanned the
money against Aspen’s cheek. It had a musky, sweaty scent, and she
wrinkled her nose.

“Oh, I don’t know. I think I like this game.
I think I’d like to see my dad’s face when I tell him that you took
his cash.”

“I wouldn’t do that.” Aspen swallowed hard.
“You know I’d never steal from anyone.” She glanced around at the
classroom filling up, and tried not to wince at the kids who stared
at them with interest.

“Hmm, I don’t think so. I’m sure my dad would
be curious to know where you got the money to buy food for your
friends in the cafeteria. Dylan ate with you. I thought that your
precious mommy made your lunch.”

Aspen’s heart sank. So this was what the fuss
was all about. Her stepsister was jealous. Dylan had bought his own
food, but that didn’t matter to her.

“What do you want?” she asked flatly.

Miriam pulled the money away from her face.
“That’s better.” She put the cash back into her wallet
carefully.

Aspen’s heart raced and her cheeks burned
with anger.

“So Dylan sat with you at second break
yesterday, even after I asked him to join us?” Miriam spoke through
her teeth as she shoved the wallet into her backpack. “Do you think
it’s fun to be turned down?” She ran her hand through her auburn
curls. “Did the two of you enjoy your little joke?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I
swear. He just joined me.” Aspen shrugged. “I thought you’d dumped
him.”

Miriam cocked her head to one side, and it
was clear that she hadn’t thought about using that as an excuse. If
Aspen weren’t so annoyed, she would have laughed at the manual gear
change obviously taking place in her stepsister’s brain.

Narrowing her eyes, Miriam said, “Well, yeah,
that’s right. I don’t know what he told you, but I did dump him.
But that’s not the point.”

Trying not to roll her eyes, Aspen glared at
her stepsister. Red lip gloss was smeared along the collar of
Miriam’s yellow top, but Aspen refused to say a word. If she had a
real relationship with her stepsister, she would have pointed it
out, but this was the meanest person in the world and she hated the
fact that she was related to her even in the smallest way.

“What do you want?” she repeated.

“I want you to leave Dylan alone. I don’t
want you anywhere near him, or else I’ll tell Dad that you’re
stealing his money.” Miriam then stepped back and put her manicured
hands on her hips. “Stay away from him and I’ll put the money back.
Keep sitting with him at lunch, and I’ll keep the money. My dad
will believe anything I tell him, you know that.” A self-satisfied
smirk spread over her face.

Instantly, Aspen’s cheeks burned. She could
feel the heat as it crept up her neck and into her hair roots. How
did she end up with the stepsister from hell? Her arms tingled, and
she tucked her throbbing fists against her thighs. If only she
could do something to defend herself. She winced as static
electricity shocked her legs where her hands touched her body.

“What have I ever done to you?” she asked,
annoyed to find her own voice trembling. “Why do you hate me so
much?”

Miriam jutted her jaw and crossed her arms.
“Because I want to.” She sneered. “You think you’re so fantastic
with your blond hair and blue eyes. Your mother thinks that she’s
important too. Well, I’ve got news for you. You’re both nothing in
my life, and my dad listens to no one but me.”

Aspen reeled back in shock. Cinderella’s
stepsisters were no match against this girl. How could she feel so
threatened by Aspen? She had no possessions and Miriam had
everything in life. Why would she want to take the one thing that
was special to her?

Anger smoldered inside and she wanted to
scream, but she couldn’t. Fat tears welled up in the corner of her
eyes and caused her vision to blur. She didn’t know what to do.

Miriam laughed as Aspen picked up her
backpack and ran out of the classroom. “Go on, run away, that’s
right,” she shouted after her.

Aspen could hear her mocking laugh as she
shoved open the school’s exit door at a full run. Her feet slapped
against the sidewalk as she ran, then she paused for a second at
the parking lot to shift her backpack behind her shoulder. A car’s
horn startled her as she tried to cross the street, and anger
propelled her forward blindly for the next three blocks before she
slowed down.

Rows of parked vehicles lined the street as
she ran forward in the shadow of large apartment buildings. Crying
openly now, she wiped at her face with the back of her hand, and
made her way to the only safe place she’d ever known.

The neighborhood playground lay like a
sanctuary between her house and the school. As she’d done many
times before, Aspen entered through green metal gates and rushed to
a maintenance shed at the end of the park.

Inside the unlocked shed, the smell of wet
grass, oil, and gasoline was almost overpowering. It was filled
with gardening implements such as rakes and garden hoses, hanging
from hooks on a pegboard attached to the walls. A large lawnmower
took up most of its floor space, along with a cluttered worktable
and a wooden bench. Dropping her backpack onto the bench, she sank
down beside it.

As she slowed her breathing in an effort to
calm herself, she thought of all the trouble that Miriam had tried
to make for her. Despite the warmth of the shed, she couldn’t stop
shivering, and rubbed her arms briskly to try to warm them.
Suddenly a shuddering sob worked its way up her chest and got
caught in her throat. With the back of her hand against her mouth,
she let loose her emotions and cried freely.

When her sobs eventually began to slow, Aspen
wiped her face. Shifting so she could lay on her side with her
knees hugged to her chest, she rested her head on her backpack.

Why would Miriam try to stop her friendship
with Dylan? He was special, and she didn’t want to give him up. Her
stepsister could have anything her heart desired, but that wasn’t
enough.

Aspen couldn’t remember her real father, and
Miriam had made sure that she wouldn’t get along with her
stepfather. She wondered if he was so mean to her because of
Miriam.

Finally Stephan’s poor treatment of her made
sense.

Why couldn’t her mother leave Stephan and his
stupid daughter? Didn’t she understand how unhappy Aspen’s life had
become? Her chest ached when she thought of the arguments that
would take place in a few hours’ time if she didn’t give in to
Miriam’s demands. With a heavy heart, she squeezed her eyes shut
and wept silently.

The heat from the shed made her drowsy and,
after a few minutes, her crying subsided and she drifted off to
sleep.

• • •

When she opened her eyes and saw Dylan standing
before her, his hair tousled and an anxious expression on his face,
she knew at once that she was dreaming.

He glanced around the shed, then frowned down
at her. “Aspen, where have you been? I’ve searched for you
everywhere.”

Sighing, she looked away and said softly, “I
can’t be friends with you anymore.”

The words hurt as she said them, and she
realized this was the worst punishment that Miriam could have given
her.

Dylan crouched down on his haunches. “Why
not? What happened?” he asked, and reached out to pull her into his
arms.

Aspen didn’t resist and snuggled into his
warmth. Putting her chin against his chest, she closed her eyes and
breathed in his fresh scent. Her body tingled as though it was
charged, and an unfamiliar but pleasant flutter in her stomach made
her want to smile.

“Miriam is causing trouble for me,” she said,
and wiped at her tearstained cheeks.

“It’s okay, princess. You’ll be fine. Your
sixteenth birthday is just two days away, and she won’t be able to
hurt you then.” Rubbing her arms, he kissed the top of her head
lightly. “You need to get up and go home.”

“She won’t let me speak to you anymore.”

“It’s not that easy to stop me.” A muscle
flexed in his jaw. “She doesn’t have a say in the matter.”

When Aspen looked up at Dylan, he hugged her
tightly again.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you.” He smiled and
brushed a strand of hair from her face, then kissed her forehead
gently.

• • •

Aspen woke up suddenly. Long shadows had formed on
the shed’s dirt floor, and children shrieked with joy in the
playground outside.

Her backpack lay crumpled on the bench next
to her, so she picked it up and dusted off her shorts and top. She
must have slept longer than she thought. The familiar sound of the
school bus rumbled past nearby, which meant that school would be
finished already.

The walk home took about fifteen minutes.
Taking a fortifying breath, Aspen opened the front door and snuck
into the house as quietly as possible. The sweet smell of vanilla
scented the air, a good indicator that her mom had been baking.

As she grabbed the handrail to head upstairs,
her mother called out, “Hey, honey. How was school? Do you want
something to eat? I’ve made vanilla cake and I’m icing it with
caramel.”

“No thanks, Mom. I’m not feeling so
good.”

“What’s the matter? You don’t look well.”
Norma walked out from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a kitchen
towel and frowning with concern. She climbed the first two stairs
and reached for Aspen’s forehead, which was still warm from her
brisk walk home. “Hmm, you feel a bit feverish. Go and lie down.
I’ll get some aspirin to make you feel better.”

It wasn’t a lie, Aspen did feel sick, but it
was because of the morning’s tension and she wasn’t really acting.
After dropping her backpack on her bedroom floor, she walked into
the bathroom to splash water on her face.

What is Miriam jealous of?

Staring at her reflection in the mirror, she
saw a slim face with a small, slightly upturned nose and full lips.
She dragged one bottom eyelid down and stared at her light blue
eyes. They were probably her best feature. When she was angry, they
changed to a silvery hue. Her face was normally pale, but her
cheeks were flushed from today’s events.

Aspen was pale and fair, with waist-length
blond hair and blue eyes. Miriam, on the other hand, was more
vibrant with auburn hair highlighted with streaks of copper, and
her eyes were chocolate brown. All the boys loved Miriam. Her body
was beautiful and she had a pretty face. Why would she feel
threatened by anyone, let alone her own stepsister?

There was no explanation for Miriam’s
behavior, so Aspen shrugged her shoulders and grabbed a toothbrush.
After she’d brushed her teeth, she changed into pajamas and crawled
under the white quilt on her bed, feeling sore and fragile.

Lying on her back, she stroked the white
bedding, running her fingers along the stitching. Stephan insisted
on the color white to make sure that she didn’t bring food
upstairs. The rule was, no eating outside of the kitchen. He was
always on the lookout to see if she’d cheated and had made a mess
on the quilt.

Her mother switched on the overhead light as
she entered the room. Aspen’s bedroom was the smallest one, on the
back side of the house and shaded by thick trees, so it was dark in
the afternoon. She brought a plastic cup of water with two headache
tablets, and gave them to her daughter to swallow.

“You must be coming down with a virus,” Norma
said as she handed back the cup.

“I don’t feel so well,” Aspen croaked
convincingly.

“If you don’t feel better tomorrow, you can
stay at home. I’ll take you to the doctor.”

“That’s okay, Mom.” Aspen continued to play
with the edge of the quilt while an old Mickey Mouse clock ticked
softly in the background.

“I’ll let you rest for a bit.” Norma smiled
and turned to leave.

“Mom,” she called out.

“Yes, honey.” Her mother grasped the empty
cup in one hand and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear with
the other.

“Do you love Stephan?”

Her mother gasped. She placed the cup on the
chest of drawers and then sat down at the edge of the bed. “That’s
a strange question to ask.”

“Do you, though?” Aspen insisted.

Norma gazed up at the ceiling and thought for
a bit. “I suppose I have to. Don’t I?”

“No, you don’t. You don’t have to do
something you don’t want to,” she whispered. Turning on her side,
she held her mother’s hand in hers.

“Oh, really? Well, just remember you said
that.” Her mother grinned and playfully pinched Aspen’s cheek, then
tucked the quilt under her body and rose from the bed.

“Don’t worry so much, honey. Things will be
fine. Just rest, okay?” Norma blew a kiss at her and pulled the
door shut as she left the room.

Aspen jumped up and switched off the light
before she slipped back under the covers. Not really sleepy, she
lay there thinking about Miriam, and Dylan, and her strange
dreams.

Soon Stephan’s bike roared into the garage,
and she winced when his voice rose in anger at her mother. She
couldn’t hear exactly what was being said since he was downstairs,
but it couldn’t have been good.

Miriam’s bedroom door slammed shut an hour
later, and she shouted, “Great, now my TV isn’t working. Did the
brat come into my room tonight?”

This was followed by more shouts and door
slamming. Aspen squeezed her eyes shut and clutched the quilt
firmly, angry at the way she and her mother were treated.

After a while, the house became quiet again.
In the pitch dark, she finally drifted off to sleep.

First Bolt

“Where were you at lunchtime?”

Aspen opened her eyes and felt the soft green
grass under her hands. She blinked at the two shapes above her and
sat up. Sandy and Dylan looked down at her.

The sky was a familiar lemon color, and the
air was pleasantly warm. It was so nice here; she wouldn’t mind
having this dream every night, even though she kept dreaming of
people at her school.