Nightmares Revealed

  The normally blurry persons that appeared inside my nightmares had become clear finally. I couldn't believe my eyes when I had finally figured out who they were. The little boy was me when I was younger and the two adults were my parents. This nightmare was my sub-conscience attempting to resurface a memory that I had suppressed for many years. It all made sense to me now. The reason why every time I  placed my hand on him to comfort him I started crying was because I could sympathize with the child since that was my experience.

I fell to my knees while crying as I remembered the entire moment that produced this memory. After the nightmare ended I saw the younger me walking in my direction. He stopped right in front of me and stared at me in disappointment. "You tried to run away from this memory instead of facing it. Stop running away!" he shouted while tears appeared on his face. "But I'm too scared to defend myself from my dad." I responded. The younger me came closer to me and then hugged me. "It's okay to be scared but don't let that fear stop you from becoming who you want to be." He stated before he faded away.

I woke up the next day with my bed dampened from all the crying I had done. I lied down on my bed while staring at the ceiling as my troubled thoughts were consuming me. I had soon roused from my bed as I couldn't endure thinking about the dreams any longer. I got up bathed, dressed, ate, and then left for basketball camp. I was hoping that training would distract my mind from those thoughts and it temporarily did. I was too busy giving it my all to think about anything else. I wasn't as exhausted as yesterday but fatigue was still present. My stamina was gradually increasing.

I took ten minutes to rest and then walked speedily to the library. Thoughts of the dream which had been ignored for the duration of practice made themselves known. I was so overwhelmed by these thoughts that I wasn't aware of my surroundings. Because of this, I walked into the middle of the road with a truck speeding towards me. I realized at the last minute that I was about to die so I couldn't move out of the way. Luckily I was pushed out of the way. I was curious who this person was that saved me from absolute death and to my surprise, it was someone I knew well.

It was Jasmine Walker, the most popular girl in our year, and I had a crush on her for a very long time. She was briefly followed by her best friend Dacia Moore. "Are you okay Kennedy?" she asked being genuinely worried about my health. "Yeah but only thanks to you. Why did you even do something that risky just to save me?" I asked in pure curiosity. "Well I'm the new captain of the cheerleader team and we need all of our Basketballers non splatted." "Fair enough." "Jasmine we need to get to cheerleading practice!" Dacia firmly exclaimed. "Ok, later Kennedy." They left swiftly as I tried to comprehend everything that had just transpired since it happened so quickly.

I looked at my phone, which now had a crack in its screen, I realized that I was going to be late for my meeting with Ayumi so I rushed to the library. I was only a few minutes late and when I arrived I saw Ayumi writing so I used the time to recompose myself as I waited for her to finish writing. She stared across the room and abruptly put away her things upon realizing that I was in the room. "Why didn't you say something?" she inquired of me still being startled. "I didn't want to interrupt you. Is that the book that I would get to read later?" I asked in pure curiosity.

Her cheeks lit up and she hid it with her hair almost instantly. "So what are you planning to teach me today?" she stated while laughing nervously. She had hoped the topic would change and luckily for her it did. The session started with a brief recap of what was taught previously and then we moved on as soon as possible. I attempted to not allow my dream to distract me especially since I wasn't quite myself in the last session. Thankfully I was able to maintain constant concentration throughout the entire session and a good amount of work was done. "Phew! Work is finally over!" She let out a loud yawn and then stretched. "We were able to do so much more work than last time. I'm proud of us." I smiled genuinely while saying this which felt great especially with what was currently on my mind.

"That's a relief." "What do you mean?" "You really thought I didn't notice?" she said while smiling right at me. "Sam was right. You do keep a lot of things to yourself don't you?" I began sweating. I had underestimated Ayumi's perception and the thought of having her know what's happening with me right now had me inhibited with concern. Immediately, thoughts of lies popped into my head and I felt the urge to bite my nails because of my nerves. "Well to be fair I didn't answer you about the story so I guess I won't pry into your business. I just wanted you to understand that you need to stop attempting to hide your problems and let people help you with them. You can tell me if you want or Sam and Alex. Anyways let's head home."

It was a very silent walk home and the entire way I began questioning things. "All this time I thought I successfully concealed my situation from people but apparently I was mistaken. Did Sam and Alex also realize? Did my classmates realize?" I thought. I discreetly had a mental breakdown and tears almost formed. Fortunately, I felt a comforting warmth that helped me regain my normal composure. I gazed in front of me and there she was crying while embracing me. "I was trying to endure it again but I couldn't anymore."

  My guilt had overwhelmed me. "Fine, I'll tell you tomorrow. Instead of meeting me in the library tomorrow, head to the abandoned building." I said in a soft tone while wiping the years from her face. "Should I tell Alex and Sam to come?" "I'll talk to them later." "Ok." Ayumi stopped asking questions and silently followed me as I escorted her home. "Bye." I continued walking, refusing to look at Ayumi as she bid me farewell. That was probably the coldest way I've ever treated her but I didn't do so to hurt her feelings. I needed time to prepare myself before confronting her again.

  She faintly said goodbye before sluggishly heading inside. "Is something wrong?" Aaliyah asked. "No auntie, I'm just tired after studying. Good night." She felt bad giving her aunt a cold shoulder but her mind was too occupied with concern for me to do otherwise. Her aunt sat down in the chair and stared blankly towards the ceiling. "Asiya, if you were still here now what would you do?" Against her gut, she refrained from butting in. Meanwhile, I had reached home and headed straight for bed. I dropped onto my bed and stared at my cracked phone. I then reluctantly scrolled through my contacts and called them. "Alex and Sam, can we talk?"