Forever Finding You

2

I groaned as I opened my eyes slightly annoyed to be back in my room. Usually a dream like that would be confusing or scary but the man in my dreams was so inviting. I couldn't describe how he made me feel, but it was good. There was something comforting about the man in my dream.

"Wesley." I whispered the name softly still half asleep. I dont know why I gave the man that name. I heard it in my dreams one time. Though Ive never actually seen his face, just an outline of him.

I shook my head and rubbed my eyes.

I must be crazy. I gave a man in my dreams a name. I've been dreaming about this man for a few years and I knew the name but I never said it out loud until now.

The dreams werent always the same but Ive had that dream several times. I blame an active imagination. I just never talk about it.

I grabbed my phone and looked at the time. It was early still, a bit too early to get up and get ready, but I had to. Most people would say it was excitment or first day jitters, but I just could sleep any more. So I got up putting the dream and the man into the back of my mind. I went to take a shower since I couldn't get myself out of bed last night to do it. I wasted some time just standing in the water letting the warm water relax me.

Afterwards I grabbed my hair dryer and snuck back into my room hoping it would be less quiet in there.

I dried my hair turning it off every few minutes to make sure it wasnt bothering my mom. Once it was good enough I went back to the bathroom to look at it in the mirror. I pondered what to do with my long wavy brown hair. There wasnt much to do with it. We didnt own a straightener or curler. It was either down, pony tail, bun or braid. I decided to just leave it alone and tucked it behind my ears.

I added some mascara to help make my green eyes look less tired. I looked at myself in the mirror. I didnt look anything like my mom or my dad. Im sure that my dad assumed my mom had cheated on him and got pregnant with me. Thats why he left one day and never came back. She never told me why so thats just what I assumed. My mom was tall, blonde, blue eyed and extremely skinny. While I was brunette, short, green eyes and I wasnt super skinny like her but I had curves she called them. She would say she was jealous on my hips. I probably get my looks from someone on my dads side. From what I could remember he had light hair and was taller than my mom. But I have no memory of my paternal grandparents or anything. It will always be a mystery to me I guessed.

I walked away from the mirror and focused on getting ready.

I didnt have much hope for an outfit for today either. I didnt have money for back to school shopping before today. So I settled with something king of new. A dark blue dress shirt with white flowers from the thrift store and an old pair of jeans. The jeans had a small hole in the knee so I hoped no one would notice that. Ive already been recognized as an outcast at school because of what I wear and Ive made peace with it.

I had an early breakfast after I snuck downstairs. There wasnt many options to pick from in the fridge. I settled for a granola bar and a glass of milk to hold me over. Luckily my mom made it into her room last night instead of sleeping on the couch waiting for Gus, so I didnt have to worry about being too loud. Maybe he did come back and they went to sleep in the room. I wasnt sure but guessed I would find out later.

I quickly cleaned up the kitchen after my mom's dinner the night before and the living room. It was a daily thing for me. She would cook dinner and forget about the clean up afterwards. I wasnt sure why she didnt just clean it up before bed. I assumed she was just distracted by other things with work and her boyfriend.

After the clean up was done I relaxed on the couch on my phone to pass the time. Face. book was filled with people talking about their back to school outfits and my mom's friends posting photos of their children near their bus stops. One of the girls from my school posted a picture of herself wearing name brand clothes, expensive sun glasses, smiling brightly while standing next to a beautiful red glossy car. She wrote

"It's my last first day of school, better make this count."

My jaw tightened with jealousy making me drop my phone down and force myself to take a breath.

Some people were just born lucky.

The bus was dreadful as always. I was happy to be off of it once it arrived at school. My eyes started scanning the crowds of people looking for one person in particular.

"Layla!" Her voice echoed through the the entry way of the school.

My best friend Britt stood near the wall waving her hand frantically grinning from ear to ear as her blonde curls bounced.

Britt and I have been friends since she moved here a few years ago. She was very out going with a bubbly personality. She saw me sitting alone in Art class and just sat down with me and started talking like we've known each other for years. We were each other's ride or die as she put it.

She threw her arms around me in a hug, her curls smacked me in the face along with the smell of her lavender shampoo. I loved the smell of lavender. It was much better than roses.

"I've missed you so much." She squealed into my ear.

I giggled nervously. Britt lived on the far side of town, too far to walk to. So we didnt see each other over the summer just texted and called each other.

"How was Flordia?" I asked her noticing her fresh tan on her face and arms.

"Beautiful." She told me with a grin and she began to tell me all about a boy she met down there as we walked to homeroom.

"Did you hear about the Hickory Mansion?" Britt asked me once we were settled in our homeroom.

I c****d my head to the side as I became interested in the now current conversation. The mansion was near the center of town. Ive passed by it once and while, sometimes on my way home from work if I felt like taking a longer walk. It was as old as the town itself. Some say its haunted now and the story is if you visit it on Halloween night you can see a girl looking out the window. But thats just stories. Its an old broken down building that sits empty, besides the spiders and mice.

Ive alwqys looked at it whenever I passed by and I always felt drawn to stop and look at it.

"Some one bought it." She shook her head. "I don't know why someone would even bothering fixing it up. The place should be torn down."

I dont know why but what she said annoyed me. It shouldnt be torn down, it has a lot of history to it. It should be fixed up and made to look beautiful again.

"I hope they fix it. Tearing it down would erase a lot of memories." I said softly as I played with a string on my shirt.

"What memories?" Britt laughed a bit.

I froze. I wasnt sure why I said that. I never been inside of the house. I just admired it from the outside.

"I dont know." I told her honestly. "Someone probably has a memory of it."

She giggled again, "Yeah maybe from a century ago. But I agree with you. Maybe they can turn it from an eye sore to something actually worth looking at."

We ended our talk as the teacher started welcoming the class to our senior year.

My mind continued to think about the Hickory Mansion and wondering who could have bought it. It almost hurt to think of someone moving into it or tearing it down. I dont know why I cared though, it wasnt mine.