Free Insomnia by J. R. Johansson

looked at me. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”
    She shook her head and rubbed the pointy tip of her nose that was already red in the cold air. “What are you doing?”
    “What do you mean?” I dropped my arm back to my side and glanced over her shoulder at the stairs again.
    “You’ve been staring at those doors since I came out. I called your name three times. What’s going on?”
    “Nothing.” I shrugged and returned my eyes to the stairs.
    She shuffled her feet and took a step away. “Who is it?”
    “What?”
    “Who are you looking for?”
    I tried to find an easy explanation. “Jeff.”
    “Oh.” I was relieved that her voice sounded more normal when she spoke. “He took Mia and left before last period. She had some counseling thing or something.”
    I couldn’t stop my head from whipping around to her. “Is she in one of your classes?”
    She bit her lip for a moment before speaking. “Oh … it’s Mia.”
    “What?” I shook my head, confused.
    Finn walked up and leaned against the car. “What’s Mia?” He pulled a Dr. Pepper out of his backpack and popped it open as he turned to me. “And why does she keep coming up?”
    I ignored him and opened my car door.
    “Parker likes her,” Addie said softly. Her face was unreadable, like always.
    Finn took a big gulp of his drink, then grinned. “Yeah? Is this the part where we sing Parker and Mia sitting in a tree?”
    I shook my head, uncomfortable with the turn in the conversation. “See you guys tomorrow.”
    “Later,” Finn managed to say around a mouthful of Dr. Pepper. Addie waved without looking directly at me and turned away.
    Sliding into my ragged leather seat, I saw Addie hit Finn’s shoulder as they walked toward the front of the school. I was glad she had swim team practice and Finn tutored in the library today. My mind was reeling from the last forty-eight hours and I needed some time to process—alone.
    I’d already missed my chance for true sleep tonight. Realistically, Mia’s dreams shouldn’t be the same every night, but so far there seemed to be a pattern at least. It was far from a sure thing, but I had to admit it was possible … her dreams might be able to save me.
    Dread and fear of my future had been everything in my life. Everything I said, did—even thought—was tainted by it. For years now, I’d been fading and doing it on my own.
    Now everything was different. Maybe there could be an answer. Maybe Mia was the only way. A kind of manic hope and need was filling the emptiness in me. I tried to ignore the undercurrent of fear that still ran strong beneath it all.
    It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered now but the possibility of a different future.

    The woman at the checkout counter had pale green eyes. As with grass in wintertime, something had sucked the vibrancy away. They were sad even as she nodded and told me to have a nice day. Her nametag said Agnes , and she’d decorated it with stickers of small blue flowers. I hadn’t meant to look her in the eye, but did it really matter whose dreams I watched anymore? If they weren’t Mia’s, then they were still bad news for me no matter who the dreamer was. I frowned as I loaded the groceries Mom asked me to pick up into the back of my car.
    From the moment the dream started, I could feel them. Now that I knew what it felt like with the layers gone, they were more tangible than ever before. Like everyone but Mia, Agnes kept me locked in her dreams and away from my own.
    I hated her and her stupid Pine-Sol-scented dream. Forcing down the urge to bash my head, or even her head, against the floor until I broke through the layers that kept me awake, I dug my fists into my thighs until I felt the anger dim. It wasn’t her fault. None of this was her fault.
    The sound of children’s voices echoed down the hall. A game show was on the TV, but Agnes never turned to watch it. She kept dusting the same tables over and over, even though the room was spotless.
    The