"Morning," said Alessa's da gruffly as he sat down with a big mug of black coffee and a pile of toast on his plate. He picked up the newspaper and started flicking rough the pages.
"Morning dad," replied Alessa as she munched on her toast. "Anything interesting in the news?"
"No," said her dad, his head still buried in the newspaper. "Just someone staling canaries from other peoples' sheds"
Alessa went back to eating her toast. She found it weird she did not wake up to a dream as she normally did and she normally did and she had this feeling someone was looking for her. She had no idea who it might be but she felt they were very close.
"Morning," yawned Lily and James at the same time. They looked at each other for a moment before sitting at different sides of the table with James next to Alessa and Lily next to her father.
Alessa had an idea.
"James," she said turning to face her brother. "Can you drop me off at grandmas today after school?"
He nodded sleepily as his head nearly fell into his bowl of cereal. Alessa giggled at the sight.
She gazed at her empty plate. Alessa knew visiting her grandmother would solve her problem that others could not. The countless visits proved this she made to her grandmother since her nightmares began. Her parents had the belief Alessa visited her grandmother because of a granddaughter-grandmother bond. Even James had the similar belief.
However, due to old age, her grandmother's health had deteriorated for the worse but Alessa knew her grandmother always helped her, no matter what health she was in.
A horn interrupted her thoughts and a rush of footsteps was heard.
"Hurry up Lily," shouted Alessa's mother at a frantic looking Lily.
"I can't find the letter," replied Lily with a hint of panic in her voice. "I can't go unless they see the letter."
Alessa's mother held out a hand. It had the letter Lily had been searching for.
Lily snatched it and made a beeline for the door.
Soon after, there was the click of the front door, then a clunk of the car door closing and a quiet purr of the engine fading as Lily was taken to her research facility.
"Finish your toast Alessa so I can quickly drop you off," said her mother as she picked up her bag and her car keys.
Alessa nodded and picked up her plate. A jolt of pain in her head made her stop momentarily by the sink. She shook her head the images, grabbed her bag and sprinted out of the door after her mum.
*
Alessa was sitting with Sarah and Henry's group of friends, listening to one of Henry's friends, a geeky boy with thick-rimmed glasses, talk about Halo: Destiny - a game Alessa knew her brother was addicted to.
Alessa felt the need to do something to drive away the boredom shoved a spoonful of pudding in her mouth and looked at Sarah who had a glazed look. She knew she was pretending to listen to her boyfriend's interests.
Alessa smiled into and pudding at how sweet her friend could be.
Alessa let out a quiet yelp s Sarah elbowed her in her ribs.
She rubbed her newly bruised ribs as she looked up to see Sarah. She had finally given up pretending to listen to Henry's rambling and gave Alessa a mischievous look.
"What was that about?" Sarah asked, her chin propped on her folded hand. Alessa had the same thought that morning when she arrived in school to find Ethan waiting for her.
"Hi, prom date."
"Hi Ethan," Alessa replied, smiling at the nickname now she heard it from Ethan. "What are you doing here?"
Sarah, who had been walking beside Alessa, was now gaping at Alessa and Ethan with a look of disbelief that they were talking like normal friends.
"I just felt like waiting for you," he said, following Sarah and Alessa into the building. "Am I not allowed to wait now?"
"No, you can wait. Just do not bring your followers," replied Sarah.
Alessa and Ethan laughed. Alessa knew Sarah was starting to warm up to Ethan.
Ethan had walked with Alessa and Sarah to the building, chatting about exams in general. Now that Sarah had her and Alessa's prom dresses sorted out, she can concentrate on her exam revision.
"I don't know," Alessa answered Sarah's question with a shrug.
"And he asked you to sit with him at lunch. Did you see the looks of Lily and her crew?" Sarah continued with a gleeful laugh.
Alessa did remember the furious looks on the residence of the table and that was why she refused his offer - she didn't want the bullying to start again. That and because she would never betray her faithful friends.
She looked at her watch and remember her vision this morning. Just as she realised this, a shadow appeared behind Alessa. Immediately, Alessa shifted right to an empty sear.
Splat!
Where Alessa had been sitting moments ago, a plateful of what looked like beans, mashed potatoes and lasagne appeared in a big mess with pieces of beans splattered on the table.
All eyes turned to the culprit standing behind the chair. Stacey, another one of her sister's friends, who tried to copy her sister's looks and style, was standing stiffly with her hands clenched in fists in mid-air where she had held her plate full of food.
"What are you trying to do Stacey?" asked Ethan, his jaws clenched. He was standing in front of Stacey and was soon joined by Hailey, Jack and Jason. Jack put his hand on Ethan's shoulder.
"I'm sure it was just a joke man so chill," he said, trying to reassure him.
"A joke?" he spat at Jack who took a step back. "If it was a joke, it sure as hell isn't funny cause no-one is laughing."
The whole cafeteria went silent.
Stacey was pm the verge of crying as tears pooled in her eyes and Hailey was shooting nasty looks at Alessa whenever Ethan wasn't facing her. Jason, on the hand, was unlike his normal self and was standing there calmly.
Jack too the matter into his own hands and turned to face the sniffling Stacey.
"Apologise to Alessa," he ordered in a cold tone.
Stacey, who by this time had tears running down her cheeks and was starting to hiccup, turned to Alessa. Alessa only had a look of pity on her face.
"I-I-I'm... s-sorry," she managed to stutter through her hiccups.
Alessa nodded in acceptance of her apology.
Ethan wheeled himself and marched through the crowds of people around the table. They shifted to make way for him.
Jason turned to the audience and shouted, "The party's over people. Go back to your lunch." The crowd reluctantly started to thin and once they were seated, they would take a quick glance at the two tables to see if anything else was going to happen and go back to whispering to their friends.
