The Dream Demon

Chapter 5 - Art Class.

I quickly found my seat, hanging my bag on the back of it and placed my stationary on my desk. I was ready and eager for today's lesson. Anything to take my mind off things. Anything to take my mind off of those dead, black eyes that haunted my dreams last night.

Our teacher, Mr Derrington, briskly walked in to the room. He slammed his coffee mug down on to his desk, breaking me out of my thoughts. Somebody was in a bad mood today! Great..

"Right everyone! Attention please. I'll only be saying this once, so if you get it wrong, you can join me during your lunch break" his voice boomed across the classroom. "I'd like you all to choose somebody to partner up with and choose wisely! Today's task is to think about the light and dark, whether figuratively or metaphorically. You could draw, perhaps, someone of inspiration to you? Something that causes pain. Draw anything you'd like, but you must be imaginative! Decide on which of the two of you will draw the 'dark side' and which of you will draw the 'light'. I want the drawings to be raw and full of emotion. If I feel you haven't given it your all, you'll be joining me in detention throughout your lunch break. Understood?"

"Yes Mr Derrington" the whole class replied in chorus.

I made a beeline straight for Jess. We always did awesome when we partnered up. She gave me a Hi 5 as I joined her at her desk.

"Dibs on me drawing light!" Jess said whilst fluttering her lashes at me.

"Ok. Fine. What did you have in mind?" I asked. Secretly, I wanted to do the 'light' concept. I wanted to keep my thoughts as far away from the darkness as possible.

"Well, Originally I was going to draw my Grandma, but I know I wouldn't be able to do her justice. Right now, I'm thinking, maybe an angel? With big, beautiful wings. something really regal and captivating. Or, we could just draw each other! You with your long white hair, and me with my short black. We are literally polar opposites! Light and dark" she chuckled.

I loved it when Jess was in one of her inspirational moments. She would get word vomit and her thoughts would just slip out of her mouth. She was right though. We were polar opposites, and not just in looks.

Jess was 5'7 and very slim, but she had curves in all the right places. She had flawless chocolate skin and amazing almond shaped eyes, as well as beautiful, full lips. All the boys at school chased her. What they didn't know, is that Jess wasn't in to boys. She had a girlfriend, Raven, who happened to be equally as beautiful as her.

I often wonder how Jess and I became such good friends. She could have rejected me and cozied up to Melody and her crew, but I'm so thankful that she didn't. Without Jess, my life would be pretty lonely.

"Hello, Earth to Abi" Jess teased, snapping her fingers in my face.

"I don't think Derrington would like it if we drew each other and I reallllly don't fancy staying with him during my lunch. You should go with your angel idea. I'll just go with where my brain takes me.. Lets face it. I got plenty of dark moments to choose from" I smiled, trying not to show my hurt.

"Ok girl! Lets do this!" clapped Jess excitedly.

We both took each side of our easel, letting our imaginations take us wherever they wanted to go.

I picked up my charcoal, sketching away. My hands were moving on their own accord. I didn't even have to think about it. Deep down I knew what darkness was plaguing me right now, and for once, it wasn't my parents. The hour and flown by when Mr Derrington had asked us to stop with our drawings. I hadn't even realized how much work I'd done. I was in a complete daze.

"Wow Abi, that's fantastic girl! You've outdone yourself this time!" Jess practically cheered as she joined me on my side of the easel.

I took a step back, looking up at my completed drawing. Staring back at me was him. Typhon. I'd captured his darkness so vividly, I could swear it was actually him looking back at me. His eyes carried so much darkness, so much death, as they stared back it me from the paper.

"Absolutely marvelous Abigail" said Mr Derrington from beside me.

I hadn't even notice him walk over. I was too enamored with my drawing. This drawing was one of the best I'd ever done.

"Jess, you too! Wow! Both of you girls, fabulous work. The two of you have been excelling in my lessons lately. I think a call to both of your parents is in order" he continued, rubbing his hands together in glee.

"Thank you sir" Jess and I replied in unison.

"See everybody! This is the level of work you should all be aspiring to. I hope this will motivate some of you for next week's lesson!" said Mr Derrington, addressing everyone. With a smile on his face, we were dismissed from class and free to carry on to our next lesson, which happened to be Geography.

Thankfully, the rest of the morning passed quickly. I was looking forward to lunch so that I could link up with Jess and finally have a proper catch up. I spotted her waiting for me by the doors of the Cafeteria, face down in a book, as usual.

"Jesssss! Come on, Lets go get some food. I'm starving!" I yelled from across the corridor. She looked up at me with a big smile plastered to her face, running over to link my arm.

"b***h you're always starving" Jess teased.

"Damn straight I am! You're acting like you aren't always taking my food too" I replied back, poking out my tongue.

Being around Jess made me feel so carefree. She was always happy, it rubbed off on me too. The banter that we had would always cheer me up. Even if I'd had a shitty day. Jess helped me find strength in myself, when all I ever felt was weak. For that, I'd always be thankful to her.

We walked over to the queue debating on what we'd be eating today. Jess, as usual, went for a full on junk food fest. She had a slab of Lasagna with fries, naturally, Cookies and a can of Coke. I on the other hand, was not lucky enough to be able to eat what I wanted, without consequence. I decided on pasta salad and a bottle of water. I'd grab a cookie or two from Jess. Whenever it came to food, my mother's voice would pop up in my head. "Remember Abigail, a moment on the lips is a lifetime on the hips."

My mother's words kept circling around in my head as Jess and I sat down in our usual seats. I unconsciously kept an eye out for Josh and Melody. Lunch time was never safe when they were around.

"So, are you going to tell me what's going on? Why did you need me to cover for you with your parents?" asked Jess handing me a french fry.

"Well.. Look, I know this is going to sound a bit crazy, but I had the most random dream last night. It felt so real.. real enough that I want to go to the library after school and do a bit of research" I sighed not meeting her eyes.

"A dream? Maybe you should come over to my house after all. You know how my mum is into all of that kind of thing.. Dreams, Spirits, witchcraft. Maybe you could ask her to help you interpret?" she offered.

"Some other time Jess. Mum wants me home by 7pm. If I go to your house, your mother would never let me leave" I laughed.

Jess broke out in laughter, knowing I was right. Last time I'd visited I ended up spending the whole weekend. I was welcomed home with a black eye from my father, and two weeks extra chores. The thing is, I even called my parents to make sure they were OK with me staying there. They'd agreed! I was naïve enough to think there would be no issue with it.

Jess and her mother were good, kind people. They always welcomed me to to their house, and always helped me when I needed it. Her mother, Leah, also attended our church, although she was seen as 'A bit of a wild one' according to my mum. I couldn't help but smile thinking about them both.

We finished up our food, gave each other a bear hug and made our way to the remainder of our classes. Thankfully the rest of my my school day passed by in a blur. I could now get out of here and make my way to the library.