Free 3 by Shera Eitel-Casey Page B

guardian or grandmother, I am asking for a
female due to the nature of the illness. She gave me a wink, “it
may be more comfortable for you this way.” 
    I smiled back, I was
definitely more comfortable calling a female, like a man would
understand, but the only person I could call was my mom anyway. I
gave her my home phone number. She continued “This happens to lots
of girls every year. I don't want you to feel bad or be
embarrassed. It happened to me a few times myself when I was in
high school.” She put her hand on top of mine which was resting on
the desk and gave it a little rub. She handed me the phone “Why
don't you talk to your mom.”
     
    That night I had a weird
dream that woke me up, I felt panicked and wonky, like it actually
happened to me, it seemed so real. It was 3:17a.m., this was
becoming a habit. It took me a minute to get my bearings; I had
another dream “not” about me. Again, this one started out
being me but then I was watching the event unravel. I have noticed
the last two dreams I had that came true had something white in
them. The white object was usually the main object of the dream.
The girl in the field had on a white outfit, the man on the
pay phone had on a white trench coat and tonight there was a white
pickup truck, not that this one has come true yet but if it does
then my point will be proven. I made a mental
note; these items are not likely to be white in the reality version
but are labeled white as the significant part of the story. The
fact that I have been waking up at 3:17a.m. may be a factor as
well.
    In this dream, I was driving
a white pick-up truck, it was unusually cold, the heater was on and
it was raining. I put my wipers on, I could hardly see, visibility
was rough. We were speeding up Route 77, north, toward Cleveland.
We were on a bridge near an exit before the turnpike and we were in
the left lane stuck behind a smaller black car that was moving
slowly and wouldn't move over, so we started to pass on the right.
As we were passing, the truck's rear end slipped right then left,
we swerved to miss hitting the small black car and the truck did a
180! I wasn’t driving anymore I was now watching. I watched as the
truck spun out, and I saw two silhouettes in the cab. I couldn't
see their faces as it was all a blur, but I got the feeling I knew
them, they felt familiar. They spun to the edge of the highway, hit
gravel and debris, and the truck started rolling down the man-made
hill. I saw hands pressed on the window. The truck rolled onto its
side and then over and over again.
    The small black car took its
time changing lanes and then finally pulled off to the side of the
road. He backed up a bit and I saw him open his door and jogged
back toward the truck. The truck laid upside down, its wheels still
spinning and that's when I woke up. I wrote it all down just like
Nic and I planned, dated it too.
    The next
day I didn't want to go to school afraid everyone would
tease me about my incident, I was sure the rumor was all over
school by now. I walked in expecting the heckling to begin
immediately. Someone smiled and said the usual "Hi" in passing, no
weird looks from anyone, or name calling either. I realized Declan
didn't say a word to me about it on the bus
either. 
    Declan hadn't mentioned a
thing to me this morning on the bus; not even that he thought it
may have been someone else. So maybe no one knew, then again, maybe
only half the school knew by now. Grin and bear it, I told myself.
I'm sure I'd hear something in first period, no pun
intended. I got to class and sat down quickly vowing
never to wear white jeans again. 
    Class started and class
ended and not one word about yesterday’s incident.
Algebra came, I saw Shelby and she didn't even bring
it up, she acted as though we were new friends and that nothing
ever happened. Shelby must not have told a soul! I guess
she is a new friend, except for the fact that she is dating
Storm. From here on